How much to charge spyware removal pc cleanup etc...? Bah!

LeperousDust · 25-04-2010, 18:37

Arg the usual problems! I don't really know the guy, but he's a new boyfriend of a good friend of mine. Took two of his laptops and they were ridden with everything under the sun, autorun ruined, system restore ruined, couldn't access microsoft.com and other security websites etc... Really it needed a format and start from scratch but he can't find his original CD and actually its not a legit copy on the laptop anyways. Many reason why i can't easily format.

So instead i renewed his VLK license to buy him time and i've literally told him that's all it'll do, gave him SP3 and updates from maybe the last two years. Cleared all the spyware from both of them, installed chrome and working anti virus apps. Generally uninstalled toolbars startup programs and crap. So they're both like new again, but it's taken me on and off a good few hoursof work, yet not intensive work just me sitting near a computer running things and checking things over and over again.

Thats all great. Now how much do a i charge? I feel a bit iffy charging, because i don't feel i've "done" anything i've just run a lot of programs and used google essentially, made sure its all clean. But he can't do this, and i can't really do this for free otherwise i'll end up with a million laptops of his friends, and since he's from poland i could end up with quite a lot of work! But whats fair? I don't want to undersell myself either...

I got one laptop back to him that very same night because it was "important" and the other was done over the space of the next day and we are talking a solid 24hours but thats including waiting for SP3 to download install numerous restarts random spyware etc....

£50? More? £50 maybe feels like i'd be offering him a very good deal for two laptops? I hate doing things like this for friends/family...

Oh and i'm quite clearly on "callout" "forevermore" from now on as well, so i might have to factor that in...

Burble · 25-04-2010, 18:41

Tough one. I always tell people up front that I charge £50/hour and they obviously wouldn't want to take advantage of my good nature...

£50 sounds a bit cheap TBH. Say £65?

Dymetrie · 25-04-2010, 19:02

Two complete system cleansings..

£50 for each.

Keep the second one until he comes up with the cash.

It may seem harsh, but I charge a standard £50 (plus hardware costs) for each machine I rebuild for people. Sometimes it's nice and easy and takes me half an hour, sometimes it's a bitch and takes me a day or two.

It'll ensure that he doesn't take your help for granted (and nor will his friends) and it'll make it worth your while to do a few repairs for them if they want to stump up the cash.

Possibly give a 50% discount on the second one, if it was pretty much the same issues/resolutions, as a goodwill gesture.

The only people who get freebies from me are my family, but then they buy me beers as thanks

Mark · 25-04-2010, 19:09

Within reason, what you've done isn't relevant - it's how long you've spent doing it (or, maybe, how much time you couldn't do other things because you were doing it).

Sounds like several hours 'work', which would be on the wrong end of £100 at retail rates. That said, it's mates rates, so £50-£100 is a reasonable range. How high or low within that is your call.

divine · 25-04-2010, 19:11

I find its better to arrange things like that beforehand, its never easy to do after the event as he might not have wanted it done if he'd known you'd ask for £100 for example.

LeperousDust · 25-04-2010, 19:33

It was really the time beforehand i sort of had them thrown at me whist we were both busy, i opened them up and one was fairly new (aspire one) other was old but was running chrome (which i was impressed with). It later turned out the old one was the hooky copy , obviously, and was in a lot worse condition than i first expected. For instance i plugged my thumb drive in and nothing happened (as in no autorun pop thingy which i dislike anyway) then i realised all the spyware programs and installers with their defualt names had been deleted! Which is pretty fragging clever tbh, then i just shot it with a renamed combofix and had to pick up the pieces in a recovery console. I never could have really worked any of that into a price

I'm happy charging £50 so i'll see how i feel when i see him later

NokkonWud · 26-04-2010, 01:24

You're not charging him for your time, you're charging him for your knowledge. I'd probably charge £60 judging from the errors you've reported.

LeperousDust · 26-04-2010, 01:57

Meant to post back ages ago. Well took it round and charged him £60 it felt fair, and i set his wireless up properly since they were just using the cable from the router into the laptops instead of their wireless, few other little niggles like they couldn't get a cheapass webcam working without the supplied CD. Whilst doing this they beered me and even offered me a takeaway dinner (shame i already had stuff waiting for me at home) so defo nice chap actually

It would seem i'm probably going to get a LOT more business though, not sure if thats good or bad yet though i guess i could do with the money though!

25-04-2010, 18:37	#1
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	How much to charge spyware removal pc cleanup etc...? Bah! Arg the usual problems! I don't really know the guy, but he's a new boyfriend of a good friend of mine. Took two of his laptops and they were ridden with everything under the sun, autorun ruined, system restore ruined, couldn't access microsoft.com and other security websites etc... Really it needed a format and start from scratch but he can't find his original CD and actually its not a legit copy on the laptop anyways. Many reason why i can't easily format. So instead i renewed his VLK license to buy him time and i've literally told him that's all it'll do, gave him SP3 and updates from maybe the last two years. Cleared all the spyware from both of them, installed chrome and working anti virus apps. Generally uninstalled toolbars startup programs and crap. So they're both like new again, but it's taken me on and off a good few hoursof work, yet not intensive work just me sitting near a computer running things and checking things over and over again. Thats all great. Now how much do a i charge? I feel a bit iffy charging, because i don't feel i've "done" anything i've just run a lot of programs and used google essentially, made sure its all clean. But he can't do this, and i can't really do this for free otherwise i'll end up with a million laptops of his friends, and since he's from poland i could end up with quite a lot of work! But whats fair? I don't want to undersell myself either... I got one laptop back to him that very same night because it was "important" and the other was done over the space of the next day and we are talking a solid 24hours but thats including waiting for SP3 to download install numerous restarts random spyware etc.... £50? More? £50 maybe feels like i'd be offering him a very good deal for two laptops? I hate doing things like this for friends/family... Oh and i'm quite clearly on "callout" "forevermore" from now on as well, so i might have to factor that in... __________________

25-04-2010, 19:02	#3
Dymetrie A large glass of Merlot Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Letchworth with a Lightsaber Posts: 5,819	Two complete system cleansings.. £50 for each. Keep the second one until he comes up with the cash. It may seem harsh, but I charge a standard £50 (plus hardware costs) for each machine I rebuild for people. Sometimes it's nice and easy and takes me half an hour, sometimes it's a bitch and takes me a day or two. It'll ensure that he doesn't take your help for granted (and nor will his friends) and it'll make it worth your while to do a few repairs for them if they want to stump up the cash. Possibly give a 50% discount on the second one, if it was pretty much the same issues/resolutions, as a goodwill gesture. The only people who get freebies from me are my family, but then they buy me beers as thanks __________________ Khef, Ka and Ka-Tet....

25-04-2010, 19:11	#5
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	I find its better to arrange things like that beforehand, its never easy to do after the event as he might not have wanted it done if he'd known you'd ask for £100 for example. __________________

25-04-2010, 19:33	#6
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	It was really the time beforehand i sort of had them thrown at me whist we were both busy, i opened them up and one was fairly new (aspire one) other was old but was running chrome (which i was impressed with). It later turned out the old one was the hooky copy , obviously, and was in a lot worse condition than i first expected. For instance i plugged my thumb drive in and nothing happened (as in no autorun pop thingy which i dislike anyway) then i realised all the spyware programs and installers with their defualt names had been deleted! Which is pretty fragging clever tbh, then i just shot it with a renamed combofix and had to pick up the pieces in a recovery console. I never could have really worked any of that into a price I'm happy charging £50 so i'll see how i feel when i see him later __________________

26-04-2010, 01:24	#7
NokkonWud BD Recruitment Officer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Smogville Posts: 3,880	You're not charging him for your time, you're charging him for your knowledge. I'd probably charge £60 judging from the errors you've reported. __________________

25-04-2010, 18:41	#2
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	Tough one. I always tell people up front that I charge £50/hour and they obviously wouldn't want to take advantage of my good nature... £50 sounds a bit cheap TBH. Say £65?

25-04-2010, 19:09	#4
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Within reason, what you've done isn't relevant - it's how long you've spent doing it (or, maybe, how much time you couldn't do other things because you were doing it). Sounds like several hours 'work', which would be on the wrong end of £100 at retail rates. That said, it's mates rates, so £50-£100 is a reasonable range. How high or low within that is your call.

26-04-2010, 01:57	#8
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	Meant to post back ages ago. Well took it round and charged him £60 it felt fair, and i set his wireless up properly since they were just using the cable from the router into the laptops instead of their wireless, few other little niggles like they couldn't get a cheapass webcam working without the supplied CD. Whilst doing this they beered me and even offered me a takeaway dinner (shame i already had stuff waiting for me at home) so defo nice chap actually It would seem i'm probably going to get a LOT more business though, not sure if thats good or bad yet though i guess i could do with the money though! __________________