[Gmanson]

For hijackthis. Just want to see if there is room for that if my site for training gets to heavy.

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Hi Gmanson,

For hijackthis. Just want to see if there is room for that if my site for training gets to heavy.

GeekU is one of the biggest malware removal schools around, and ran right here on this site. Are you saying you have a site where you train others, or are you training at another school?

[BHowett]

Hi Gmanson,

For hijackthis. Just want to see if there is room for that if my site for training gets to heavy.

GeekU is one of the biggest malware removal schools around, and ran right here on this site. Are you saying you have a site where you train others, or are you training at another school?

[Gmanson]

Im in control of another tech forum but yes I train others on the site that sign up if any ever do. Then i can make a course for people to work on and study. Want the link?

Edited by Gmanson, 03 March 2009 - 10:56 PM.

[sari]

You're training people in malware removal? I'd like to see the link. There are some recognized training sites within the malware removal community, and self-policing and cooperation to ensure that people are receiving proper training in the use of tools and malware recognition. It's not really something that just anyone can open a training site for.

[Gmanson]

http://techforum.ipb...php?showforum=2

Members are small and growing. Me and the main admin of the site both have our own computer business and we know alot about malware removal and good techniques on how to remove it without formatting. (Only if completely necessary.)

No one has signed up yet because i guess no one wants to sign up yet or doesn't want to learn or just does not have the time. I havent had time to post the training time needed to help others on forums but when i do time required will be at least 6 months or more before helping others on site and other sites.

Also on another not sari you may want to update sp2 to sp3 on your profile unless you still have sp2 or you have an AMD processor.

Edited by Gmanson, 03 March 2009 - 10:29 PM.

[sari]

I'll be honest, I don't think you understand or have the resources available to really train people in malware removal. The biggest training sites have multiple teachers, quite a few of which teach at multiple sites. In addition, all of us (meaning training sites) have access to many of the experts that analyze malware and help to develop the tools that are used to combat it. When our students reach the level of actually performing real fixes, they can draw on the expertise of all the experts that are active here, including asking questions directly to the developers of many of the tools we use. There are a number of forums that are larger than yours that don't attempt to teach, preferring instead to refer people to the larger training sites. You state that your students won't be allowed to help on other forums until they're trained, but it's unlikely that your students would be given helper status at a lot of the forums I know of, as they would have no familiarity with you or your school and therefore have no way to evaluate your students' abilities. While all of the training sites have different ways of training, there is enough communication and cooperation among them that someone who is trained at one site might be able to gain helper status at another site. I'm trying to be realistic here - malware removal is extremely complex and becoming more so all the time, and I don't see you as currently having access to the resources necessary to really teach it.

[Gmanson]

I'll be honest, I don't think you understand or have the resources available to really train people in malware removal. The biggest training sites have multiple teachers, quite a few of which teach at multiple sites. In addition, all of us (meaning training sites) have access to many of the experts that analyze malware and help to develop the tools that are used to combat it. When our students reach the level of actually performing real fixes, they can draw on the expertise of all the experts that are active here, including asking questions directly to the developers of many of the tools we use. There are a number of forums that are larger than yours that don't attempt to teach, preferring instead to refer people to the larger training sites. You state that your students won't be allowed to help on other forums until they're trained, but it's unlikely that your students would be given helper status at a lot of the forums I know of, as they would have no familiarity with you or your school and therefore have no way to evaluate your students' abilities. While all of the training sites have different ways of training, there is enough communication and cooperation among them that someone who is trained at one site might be able to gain helper status at another site. I'm trying to be realistic here - malware removal is extremely complex and becoming more so all the time, and I don't see you as currently having access to the resources necessary to really teach it.

I sort of agree but all of this is a work in progress. I have all the tools necessary but there just isnt enough time that i have yet to post them on site. Many sites are missing the deep malware scan programs that remove rootkits quickly and without trouble. Not many businesses or sites that i know of offer remote assistance to fix a problem that the user cant understand or follow correctly or just doesn't want to mess something up. And to sum this up most schools that i have visited do not offer enough training and knowledge to use Hijackthis and ccleaner as well as partly atfcleaner. Thats just my opinion and many of my friends agree.

[sari]

Many sites are missing the deep malware scan programs that remove rootkits quickly and without trouble.

And you know this how? This is completely incorrect, by the way.

And to sum this up most schools that i have visited do not offer enough training and knowledge to use Hijackthis and ccleaner as well as partly atfcleaner.

Not that you've seen, anyway. You're not going to have access to what any school offers as just a member. Believe me, we know enough about ccleaner that we stay away from it, we know enough to know that there many tools available now that are far more indepth than HJT, and we have access to all of the developers of those tools, not to mention the developer of ATF Cleaner, who has been an expert here for a long time.

Thats just my opinion and many of my friends agree.

And you and your friends are who? People who have been at the forefront of the malware fight for years, like many of our teachers and experts? Microsoft MVPs who are recognized for their work? I'd be careful about coming into forums and claiming that we don't know what we're doing.

[Gmanson]

"And you know this how? This is completely incorrect, by the way."

Not from what ive gone through on this site and another one or two.

"Not that you've seen, anyway. You're not going to have access to what any school offers as just a member. Believe me, we know enough about ccleaner that we stay away from it, we know enough to know that there many tools available now that are far more indepth than HJT, and we have access to all of the developers of those tools, not to mention the developer of ATF Cleaner, who has been an expert here for a long time."

True but ive been above a member and didnt find it well enough on two training sites. Know enough about ccleaner to stay away from it? lol Thats funny.

"And you and your friends are who? People who have been at the forefront of the malware fight for years, like many of our teachers and experts? Microsoft MVPs who are recognized for their work? I'd be careful about coming into forums and claiming that we don't know what we're doing."

Im someone who has been working with computers and malware for over a decade. Friends are someone who works for the US Department of defense, techs in large companies up north and linux and second in command of Microsoft . But yes some of that.

Ill leave for now with all of that said if you say be careful then ill be back when site is very ready for learning if people do start joining.

On another note why would someone advice a user to run combofix three times?! Thats overdoing it.

[sari]

For the record, if you're only using CCleaner to clean temp files you're fine. However, since it also has a registry cleaner, the majority of us stay away from it, as registry cleaners aren't necessary and can be extremely dangerous. I would much prefer to use ATF Cleaner.

Your friends don't have any more access to the schools than you do, so I'm not sure how they're qualified to judge the adequacy of our training.

[Kat]

I sort of agree but all of this is a work in progress. I have all the tools necessary but there just isnt enough time that i have yet to post them on site. Many sites are missing the deep malware scan programs that remove rootkits quickly and without trouble. Not many businesses or sites that i know of offer remote assistance to fix a problem that the user cant understand or follow correctly or just doesn't want to mess something up. And to sum this up most schools that i have visited do not offer enough training and knowledge to use Hijackthis and ccleaner as well as partly atfcleaner. Thats just my opinion and many of my friends agree.

I guarantee we know how to use ATFCleaner, since the creator of it is an Expert member here, as well as a good friend of many of us. We're quite knowledgeable in how it works, I promise you.

We aren't missing any deep malware scan programs here. They are used only when necessary. If you are trained properly, you know what signs to look for in HJT and other logs, that would point you towards needing to run further scans.

How would you begin to know if we offer enough training and knowledge if you haven't gone through our training? Our school is quite comprehensive, and teaches far more than what you'll likely find anywhere else.

I'm sure you have spent time cleaning malware from computers, I don't doubt that. However, many people feel they know what they're doing, until they learn the proper ways to do things. Just because you no longer "see" parts of malware (such as in a HJT scan log), doesn't mean remnants are not still there. I'd be willing to wager many of the systems you "cleaned" are not 100%.

[Gmanson]

For the record, if you're only using CCleaner to clean temp files you're fine. However, since it also has a registry cleaner, the majority of us stay away from it, as registry cleaners aren't necessary and can be extremely dangerous. I would much prefer to use ATF Cleaner.

Your friends don't have any more access to the schools than you do, so I'm not sure how they're qualified to judge the adequacy of our training.

I have a strict guide on ccleaner that i everyone in a while post on different sites. No backups are needed with it and i have seen moderate improvement on computers that i have ran it on.

I have taken classes on this site before and two or three others. Of course that was almost five or more years ago. I have tried to take a training several times to see if anything has improved years back but everything is full so o well.

[Gmanson]

"I guarantee we know how to use ATFCleaner, since the creator of it is an Expert member here, as well as a good friend of many of us. We're quite knowledgeable in how it works, I promise you.

We aren't missing any deep malware scan programs here. They are used only when necessary. If you are trained properly, you know what signs to look for in HJT and other logs, that would point you towards needing to run further scans.

How would you begin to know if we offer enough training and knowledge if you haven't gone through our training? Our school is quite comprehensive, and teaches far more than what you'll likely find anywhere else.

I'm sure you have spent time cleaning malware from computers, I don't doubt that. However, many people feel they know what they're doing, until they learn the proper ways to do things. Just because you no longer "see" parts of malware (such as in a HJT scan log), doesn't mean remnants are not still there. I'd be willing to wager many of the systems you "cleaned" are not 100%. " Kat

Each computer and each clients pc i work on after i fix it etc and free it of malware i teach them how to clean it with a guide and show them what to do and give a good deal of instructions on how to keep it clean and in good shape. The average guide i write for each pc is about four to six pages on average.

"I'd be willing to wager many of the systems you "cleaned" are not 100%"- If you'd like i can list my entire folder of stuff i use. I think its overkill personally but it works well the list that is. If all the stuff i post does not clean it up 100% (which im sure some dont because i usually go through registry and files to make sure) ill be in a bit of shock .

Rarely i have to go into the registry and edit things myself including system policies and the registry permissions. Sometimes that solves the problem as well as command prompt.

One last thing i havent really found though. Is there a safe way to edit the MBR meaning Master boot Record without flushing or zero'ing the hd? Is there a tutorial for that or a class?

Edited by Gmanson, 04 March 2009 - 11:37 PM.

[Elliot]

These may be good reasons as to why you aren't getting many/any people to sign up for your "school:"

http://techforum.ipb...p?showtopic=557
http://techforum.ipb...p?showtopic=302 -- I especially love this:

There are no "symptoms" of a virus other than slow performance.

These are questions and comments from Admins on your site?

Compare the credentials of the teachers/staff/helpers here (Microsoft MVPs) versus the staff on your site (Donkey Kong Champ). This is no contest! I would rather learn from the true experts than stumble through malware removal with someone who is unable to figure out how to run a Ventrilo server.

However, you did accomplish that which, most likely, was your ultimate goal: you got me to your website!

It is my (very humble) opinion that you should "re-enroll" in the training here, scrap the repair/removal portion of your forum and just utilize it for your gaming contacts.

Elster

[Kat]

Very well said, Elster.

Gmanson, as you well know, you were never in training here under this nickname. That's interesting. What name was it you trained under?