Repairs
Virus and malware removal in Leeds
There is a real difference between a machine that is genuinely infected and a machine showing you a web page built to frighten you, and from where you are sitting the two look identical. So tell us what it says on the screen, and tell us honestly whether you clicked anything, rang any number, or let somebody onto the machine. None of that is embarrassing and none of it will get a lecture from us. It changes what needs doing, which is why we ask. We find out what is really on there for free, clean it without taking your files with it, and quote you a fixed price before we start.
- No fix, no fee
- We come to you
- The diagnosis is always free
- A real person who does the work, not a call centre
Does this sound like yours?
The faults we see most
- A full-screen warning has taken over the browser, claims to be Microsoft, and tells you to ring a number
- Pop-ups and adverts appear over whatever you are doing, sometimes when no browser is even open
- The browser opens on a search page you did not choose, and setting it back does not stick
- Links take you somewhere you never clicked, and pages are covered in adverts that were never on them before
- There are toolbars, extensions or programs on there that you know you did not install
- Your files have been renamed with an ending you do not recognise, and there is a note demanding payment
- The fans are going and the machine is busy from the moment it starts, with nothing open
- Your antivirus has been switched off and will not switch back on
- Somebody rang saying they were from Microsoft, or from your broadband provider, and you let them onto the computer
- Friends are getting emails or messages from you that you never sent
- A program you never asked for says it has found hundreds of problems and wants paying to fix them
Not on the list? Call anyway and describe it. The diagnosis is free either way.
What we do
Name the fault, then the fix, then the price
- Tell us on the phone what is on the screen, word for word if you can, and whether you rang a number, paid anything, or let somebody take control remotely. That one answer changes this job more than anything else does
- We come to you, at home or at work, and it matters more here than on most jobs. We can go through the machine, the browser and your accounts on your own screen while you watch, so you can see what was wrong and what we changed, rather than getting a cleaned computer back and taking our word for it
- Scam warnings first, because many of them are not an infection at all. A page that fills the screen, sounds an alarm and hands you a number to ring is a website pretending to be your computer. Microsoft do not put a phone number on an error message. We show you how to close it without ringing anyone, then check whether anything was actually left behind
- We look at what the machine is genuinely running: what starts with it, what is scheduled to run, what has been added to the browser, and what has been quietly changed. Running one scanner and pronouncing it clean is not a diagnosis
- Browser hijacks: the extensions come out, your homepage and search go back to what you chose, and we deal with whatever has been putting them back every time you restart
- Where there is real malware, we remove it and then go looking for what it left behind, which is the part most people miss. Remote access tools still sitting there, saved passwords, a browser still logged into everything
- If somebody had remote control of the machine, we treat your accounts as the actual problem rather than the computer. Passwords changed from a device we know is clean, two-step verification switched on, your email checked for forwarding rules quietly added so that your post goes to somebody else, and your bank told if it needs telling
- Ransomware: we work out what has really happened before anybody promises anything. We will not tell you to pay, and we will not pretend that files locked with strong encryption can simply be undone. We check whether a free decryption tool exists for that particular strain, we look hard for copies you may not realise you have, and we tell you the truth about the rest
- A wipe and reinstall is our last resort, not our opening move. It is the lazy way to look thorough. Where a machine genuinely cannot be trusted clean again, we will say so plainly, back your files up first, and rebuild it properly
- We do not sell you an antivirus subscription on the way out. Windows already includes Defender, it costs nothing, and for most people it does the job
- One fixed quote before any of it starts, and if we cannot sort it, you pay nothing
How long it takes
An honest answer, not a booking slot
Scam pop-ups and browser hijacks are often dealt with inside the visit, and a fair number of them turn out to be less serious than they looked at the time. A genuine infection that has settled in takes longer, because finding what it left behind is slower than removing the obvious part of it, and that is the half worth being thorough about. If the machine has to be rebuilt, the reinstall is not the slow bit, putting your files and your programs back is, and that is not work to rush. Ransomware is the one where the assessment is quick and the recovery may not be possible at all, and you will hear that from us on the day rather than after a fortnight of billed hope. And if somebody had remote access to your machine, expect your accounts to take longer to make safe than the computer takes to clean. That part is the job, not an afterthought.
What it costs
The diagnosis is free, then you get a fixed quote
We do not publish a price list, because a price list for this work would be a fiction: the same fault costs different money on different machines. What we can do is tell you what moves the number, then give you one fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay.
What drives the price
- What it actually turns out to be, because a scare page that only needs closing and a machine somebody has genuinely been inside are not the same work
- Whether anyone had remote control of it, since securing your accounts afterwards is usually the larger half of the job
- How long it has been going on, as something that has been running quietly for months has had time to settle into more places
- Whether the machine can be cleaned as it stands or has genuinely lost the right to be trusted and needs rebuilding
- How much data has to be backed up and carried across if it does come to a rebuild, and whether the drive is healthy enough to copy from at full speed
- How many machines are involved, because on a home or an office network these things rarely stay on one
- Whether your files need recovering as well, which is a different job with a different answer
- Whether it turns out not to be malware at all, in which case you will hear that from us, and we are not about to charge you for a clean-up you never needed
Where we work
We come to you across Leeds
Home or work, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 7pm. There is no walk-in shop, so we come to the machine, or you can arrange to drop it to us. Start at computer repair in Leeds, or pick your area.
Questions
The things people ask
A warning has filled my screen telling me to ring Microsoft. Is it real?
No. It is a scam, and a well made one. Microsoft do not know your computer has a problem, they do not put a phone number on an error message, and no genuine warning has ever asked you to ring anybody. What you are looking at is a web page designed to look like your computer breaking, usually with an alarm sound on it, because a frightened person does not stop to think. Do not ring the number. Close the browser, and if it will not close, hold the power button in until the machine goes off. The pop-up itself is rarely the real question. The real question is whether you rang them, and if you did, that is worth a call to us today.
I rang the number and let them onto my computer. What should I do now?
First, do not feel foolish. These people do it for a living, they are convincing, and it catches careful and sensible people all the time. Now treat it as an account problem rather than a computer problem, because that is what it has become. Get the machine off the internet. Then, from a different device you trust, change your email password first, since your email is the key that resets everything else, and then your banking. Ring your bank and tell them what happened. Do not let anyone back on to put it right, including anyone who rings you back offering you a refund, because the refund call is the second half of the same scam. Then call us and we will go through the machine and the accounts properly with you.
My files have been renamed and there is a note demanding payment. Can you get them back?
We will be straight with you, because this is where people get sold hope. If your files have been locked with strong encryption, no repair shop can simply undo that, and anyone who tells you otherwise is either mistaken or is not being honest with you. What can be done is still worth doing. We identify which strain it is, because free decryption tools have been published for some of the older and weaker ones through No More Ransom, the project run by police forces and security companies. We look for copies you may not realise you already have, on a backup drive, in cloud storage, sitting in your email. And we make the machine safe before anything is put back onto it. We will not advise you to pay. There is no guarantee it gets you anything back, and it pays for the next one.
Will I lose my files if you clean it?
Keeping them is the aim, and on most of these jobs your files are never in danger in the first place. Malware generally lives in the programs and the settings, not in your photographs and your documents, so getting it out does not have to take them with it. Wiping the machine is not our opening move, whatever it might do for the appearance of being thorough. If we do reach the point where the computer genuinely cannot be trusted clean and a rebuild is the honest answer, you will hear that before we do it, your files get backed up first, and they go back on afterwards.
My computer is just really slow. Does that mean I have a virus?
Usually not, and this is worth saving you some money on. A machine that has got gradually worse over years is far more likely to have an ageing hard disk, too little memory, or a pile of software that has decided to start itself every time you switch on. None of that is an infection, and a clean-up will not fix it. Malware slowness tends to look different: it arrives suddenly, the machine is busy while you are doing nothing, and there are normally other signs next to it, such as pop-ups or a browser behaving strangely. We will tell you which of the two you are actually dealing with at no charge, and if it is the first one, then it is a speed-up job and not a clean-up, and we will say so.
Do I need to buy antivirus software?
For most people at home, no. Windows has Defender built into it, it is already switched on, it costs you nothing, and it is genuinely decent. We are not going to turn up and sell you a subscription on top of it. What actually keeps a machine safe is duller than any product: keep Windows and your browser updated, keep a backup of anything you would be upset to lose, and learn to recognise the trick, because nearly everything we are called out to clean was let in by somebody being pressured into clicking or ringing, and not by their antivirus failing. If your antivirus has been switched off and will not switch back on, that is a different matter. That is often a symptom of the very thing you should be calling us about.
Is your work guaranteed after the repair?
Yes. We stand behind the repairs we carry out. If the same fault we fixed returns within a reasonable period as a result of our work, get in touch and we will put it right. That does not cover new or unrelated faults, accidental damage, liquid damage, or problems caused by other work carried out after ours, and nothing in it affects your statutory rights.
Worth reading first
A plain-English guide before you spend anything
Related repairs
You might also need
Data recovery
Deleted files, a failing drive, or a laptop that will not start. We tell you what can honestly be recovered before you spend anything, and what cannot.
Computer upgrades and speed-ups
An SSD, more memory, and a proper clean-up can make an old machine feel new. We measure what is actually holding yours back before you spend anything.
PC and desktop repair
Dead tower, black screen, random restarts, roaring fans, or Windows that will not start? Free diagnosis, fixed quote, no fix no fee.
Small business IT support
A machine down, email stuck, Wi-Fi dropping, or a new starter with nothing to work on? We come to your premises, fix it, and quote before we touch anything.
Tell us what is wrong.
Call and describe the fault. We will diagnose it for free, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay. A real person who does the work, not a call centre.