Anyone have experience with iYogi?

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
iYogi is a company that installs anti-malware software on your computer, and provides technical support, both remotely (from India, I'm guessing).

I was having problems with my laptop several weeks ago, and ended up with iYogi. After paying $169.99, experiencing increasing problems, being on the phone with them twice for 3 hours each, I gave up and took my laptop to a local shop for diagnosis and repair.

There is a corrupt file in there somewhere that won't even allow Windows to boot up. It will cost me a couple of hundred bucks to fix, even if they CAN fix it. And they may not be able to load my stuff back on (I have most of it backed up, but GEEZ).

So, I'm assuming these problems were not just coincidence with my going with iYogi and I'm going to quit them.

Anyone else have or heard of experience with this outfit?

Lee

P.S. I'm posting from my work computer.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
iYogi does not have a stellar reputation on numerous "complaint / reviews" sites.

apparently the software they install is very invasive and does not always "go right"
- then it's a real crap shoot as to whether the tech can fix it or just gives up.

a decent shop should be able to boot your machine from either CD or USB stick using (any number of . . . ) Linux utilities, copy everything off the drive, reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows with very little trouble. you'll likely have to reinstall "other" software you previously installed/used.

don't know how deep you want to get into this - I've been maintaining my own computers since the mid-80's when DOS came on a single floppy disk - currently between the shop and the house I've got a herd of six -XP through Win7 - and since some people have a propensity to click on things they shouldn't be clicking on, I've got the routine down pat (g) - but you should considering taking fate into your own hands and get set up such that these kind of disasters are a 2-3 hour pita vs a major melt down / data loss / etc.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Chowder, I don't understand most of what you said, but it sounds to me as if I should fire iYogi.

Right?

Lee
 

UncleRalph

Quo Fata Ferunt
Site Supporter
hitman pro v3.+, spybot search and destroy, adaware are all you need for free comprehensive computer protection.

When you have to buy a program to "check" if you are infected, it's going to say you are, just so you buy it. Read up on the reviews.
 

bigjim

Mess Cook
Super Site Supporter
hitman pro v3.+, spybot search and destroy, adaware are all you need for free comprehensive computer protection.

When you have to buy a program to "check" if you are infected, it's going to say you are, just so you buy it. Read up on the reviews.
I agree, and to that I would add Malwarebytes. All free.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
Chowder, I don't understand most of what you said, but it sounds to me as if I should fire iYogi.

Right?

Lee

in a word, yes.

this has a recap of the major options:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2326191,00.asp

it isn't too harsh, but note the statement:
"To get the service you need, however, you have to be vigilant and know what questions to ask."
huh? thought that's why one calls the expert???

more at:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/c/0,2817,2325453,00.asp
 

iYogi

New member
Dear QSis

iYogi is an independent provider of remote tech support services and we have recently serviced our two millionth user. Our customer satisfaction ratings are amongst the best in the industry. Our BBB rating is A and since you wanted to know the opinions of anyone who has experience with iYogi, we urge you to visit our page on Facebook – www.facebook.com/iyogi.

With reference to the tech issue you are facing, we’d be happy to escalate this to our Active Response Team technicians who will do everything in their power to resolve the problem. If you’d like for the Active Response Team technician to contact you then kindly send an email to iYogiCare@iyogi.com with your account information, contact number and preferred time for contact.

We hope to hear back from you.

Regards
Active Response Team
iYogi
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
>> free comprehensive computer protection

I do agree - very most excellent "basic protection elements" can be had for free - but Lee has a different issue and question at this point.

I've been running totally free first rate top notch Avira since the mid 90's.
XP/Vista/Win7 - both 32 and 64 bit versions.
native firewall.
I use Spybot & MalwareBytes as needed.

once something gets past the defenses, one may need help. how does stuff get past the defenses? well - rather to near exclusivity, it's "user enabled" altho as the many many many "security updates" to many many many applications indicate, it is possible to get whacked by total innocence.

and there is quite expert help available on-line, free - but the "DIY thing with expert help" does require a degree of computer proficiency which not everyone has.

note that there are many ways to mess up the operating system - it does not required a virus or malware - Microsoft itself has put out "patches" that will turn your computer into a brick - and more than once.

or hardware failures - I had a stick of RAM go bad while the machine was running. you know that "Windows is shutting down" screen . . . ? well, it's writing several kazillion pieces of info to the hard drive and if the RAM is trashed,, the "info" is garbage and oh what a mess that makes - that event took a full fdisk plus reformat & reinstall to fix.

the "remote" services cannot put your machine back exactly the way is was this morning because,,,, drum roll please..... they don't have a copy or an image of your hard drive. if you're backing up your files "to the Cloud" you could give them your password/info/ etc and they might retrieve the data, but if you had "Aunt Bee Quilting Design II" installed, it ain't coming back.

ps: there's a major difference between "backing up your files" and a "disk image"

if the problem is especially severe, all remote services can do is put the machine back to "out of the box" condition. you might not think you've done too much to your computer since you plugged it in, but when it crashes, mebets you'll have a different perspective - even if you have all your "data" backed up.

if you read reviews about these "services" you'll find mostly unhappy campers with a few glowing reviews sprinkled in. can anyone spell "shill"?

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." - so if you're into believing that sort of stuff, then indeed the service operated websites/Facebook, along with those probably run/paid for by the service with all glowing reviews - those are a sure bet. makes you wonder why all those other "users" have such unhappy experiences to post on non-service complaint sites.

there are very simple approaches to protecting yourself from computer disaster:
- partition the hard drive into more than one logical drive letter; keep the operating system on C: -all your data files on D:/E:/F:
- yes, you _can_ specify a "default directory/location" for any decent program/application that is other than "C:\My Documents"
- create a "disk image" of the C: drive with the operating system and your installed programs. basically on any day of the week at any hour of the day your operating system can get totally toasted and using that "disk image" you can be back to where you were in 30 minutes or so.
- use an external USB powered hard drive to back up your data from the non-OS/C: drive. burn the USB drive contents to CD/DVD once a quarter, clean off the USB drive, start over.

"oh dear I had 300 years of photos and letters on my computer and it was all lost when they reinstalled Windows"

if you're running without backing up your data files, you may as well consider it lost - it is going to happen.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Whew! I really don't like thinking or talking about this stuff. I just want my computer to work like my TV - I turn it on and it works. Always.

I thank you all for the thoughtful and caring and intelligent responses! I wish I could hire you guys to keep my computer safe!

The local company I took my laptop to gave me the low-down, presented me with several options, and given the condition of my laptop, I went with ordering a new one, to my simple specifications.

I am going to contact iYogi to terminate their services (maybe I can get reimbursed??) and will follow youse guys' recommendations re: malware.

In the meantime, my roommate let me borrow her son's laptop, so I'm still HERE!

Thanks again, everyone!

Lee
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
I'm with you Lee. Turn it on and it either works or it's broke...that's all I know :lol:

A few years ago I got a virus on my desktop ( I had Norton Anti-virus). Took it to Geek Squad. Cost me $200 to have it fixed.

If it helps, they told me the best protection to get was Kaspersky. I have it on my desktop and on 2 laptops. I haven't had any issues in several years now. I think it's like $40 or $50/year.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
>>the best protection to get

nope. utter BS.

there is no "the best" - the top names are within hours of each other in issuing new virus definitions. there's years of "testing" where the top names/brands/freebies swap out Place #1 thru Place #x on a regular basis - like everytime they get tested....

there _are_ differences in how much overhead an anti-virus puts on your system.
several of the "top names" leap tall and proud directly onto their swords - putting so much "garbage" into their programming that it noticeably impacted users. I think most of them have "learned" - pending the next marketing MBA - that more and more and more is not what users want.

if you update once a day, you should be good.
 

UncleRalph

Quo Fata Ferunt
Site Supporter
>>the best protection to get

nope. utter BS.

there is no "the best" - the top names are within hours of each other in issuing new virus definitions. there's years of "testing" where the top names/brands/freebies swap out Place #1 thru Place #x on a regular basis - like everytime they get tested....

there _are_ differences in how much overhead an anti-virus puts on your system.
several of the "top names" leap tall and proud directly onto their swords - putting so much "garbage" into their programming that it noticeably impacted users. I think most of them have "learned" - pending the next marketing MBA - that more and more and more is not what users want.

if you update once a day, you should be good.

For such a computer savvy gent, I would expect you to know how to quote on a VB board:wink:...

Updating once a day should be done automatically, by the computer os, and done in the background so that the common, everyday user is only aware when the little balloon pops up stating "important updates have been installed, and a restart was necessary for these changes to take place".

As you hit on, the more major the name, the more inherent BS there is associated with it.

Freeware can be just as good ,if not better than Consumer grade products. It seems that those in open platforming have user safety in mind more so than the big name companies(pretty sad).

As is stated by folks here, Computers are like am interactive TV, you turn it on, want it to work, and expect it to work, and that. is. great. So much of the stuff can be so intimidating that it turns some folks off to the thought of a comp in the house all together.

When I get in my car, I want to go. . I don't want to have to 'update" it everyday. That's why some programs are a GREAT first line of defense for the average joe on a home PC. Freeware just makes things more accessible.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
For such a computer savvy gent, I would expect you to know how to quote on a VB board:wink:...

Updating once a day should be done automatically, by the computer os, and done in the background so that the common, everyday user is only aware when the little balloon pops up stating "important updates have been installed, and a restart was necessary for these changes to take place".

As you hit on, the more major the name, the more inherent BS there is associated with it.

Freeware can be just as good ,if not better than Consumer grade products. It seems that those in open platforming have user safety in mind more so than the big name companies(pretty sad).

As is stated by folks here, Computers are like am interactive TV, you turn it on, want it to work, and expect it to work, and that. is. great. So much of the stuff can be so intimidating that it turns some folks off to the thought of a comp in the house all together.

When I get in my car, I want to go. . I don't want to have to 'update" it everyday. That's why some programs are a GREAT first line of defense for the average joe on a home PC. Freeware just makes things more accessible.

you probably don't want to hear my opinion on quote-backs (g)
 
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