pjp wrote:

I notice an ad on tv for a "FixIt" stick which is a usb thumbdrive.
I'm wondering if anyone here has had opportunity to look at one of
these.

I'm guessing it's nothing more than a bootable Linux distrib which
automatically runs various "scanners". Just trying to find out given I
certainly won't spend the money they ask for it

An offline scanner, can only use signature analysis.
This isn't quite as good as some of the best
real-time scanners, that use not only signature
analysis, but also heuristic (hook) detection.

http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussio...drives-633160/

You're paying a lot of money, for half a solution.

The best way to remove malware, is still "guided help"
on one of the malware removal sites. I've seen some
of their staff spend days helping people. Like, their
best guy, dealing with a brand new threat, and
consulting with others (off-thread) to figure it out.
That's much better than some stick that isn't even
going to detect that malware. I'm continually impressed
with their ability to select just the right scanning
tool for the job, to root out stuff. They must work
from one hell of a long flow chart :-) Not everyone
has the patience though, to wait for their turn to
get help.

Paul