[Swordmaker]

But, on the other hand, if you say to someone, for an hours worth of work, and you charge $70 minimum charge to work on their PC, most people will pay that to get back to where they were before they were infested, rather than have a whole new Windows install with all that goes along with that.

Sometimes being professional is knowing WHEN to toss in the towel, quit applying band-aids and recommend major surgery... and maybe eat the hours you have already put in trying to resurrect a lost cause and just charge for the re-format/re-install.

[rlmorel]

I agree completely. A lot of cases of adware and spyware that are killing performance can be fixed for short money, but you are right on about knowing when to cut your losses.

[rmlew]

Sometimes being professional is knowing WHEN to toss in the towel, quit applying band-aids and recommend major surgery... and maybe eat the hours you have already put in trying to resurrect a lost cause and just charge for the re-format/re-install.

Arrogance counteracts professionalism. Lose two days banging head. ;-)