# Pcbeginner tools reviews/comments



## iaavagent

I posted this in another thread but thought I'd do it as a new one.

Anybody know anything about the {seems to be} all in one tool on CD at pcbeginner .com= http://www.pcbeginner.com/tools/pcdoctor.htm
I find it hard to believe that it can do all they claim it does, even clones???
The CD is indicated to be 650MB in size which does seem to be a bunch!

Anybody know if they're ligit or a scam ie; a CD just loaded with basic utilities and many sites to go get downloads of various other utilities?
That which sounds to good to be true usually is!

Anybody bought this and knows about it. I've googled it but can't come 
up with any reviews. 
Thanks


----------



## josdegr

buyer beware. from reading their very short FAQ/Help page. i would not buy from them. especially when you get towards the bottom.

 where they offer FREE tech support for 1 WEEK by EMAIL.

We have served millions of happy customers worldwide! 

I bet they have..............lol


----------



## dhollacher

Basically, this $30 utility CD does what it says.

It booted, found the bad sectors on my RAIDed
SCSI drive and repaired them. Unfortunately,
the damage was in a OS dll, but it still allowed
me to recover all the data and re-install.

Simply amazing !!
:up: 

I don't understand why someone hasn't responded
to this post before - since it pops up on Google at
the top of the list. -- Maybe its because you
have to join the forum to post -- but I want other
people to know that PCBeginner is not a scam.

Its very cool.

respects,

d.


----------



## tuliothx

Bought the downloaded version on Monday 10/31/2005 for $29.95. The download was successful and burning the CD image with my Roxio CD burning software was also successful.

However, the CD did not work. The function of the CD was to allow any computer to boot from that CD rather than from its own operating system; thereby allowing troubleshooting problems. Contrary to their website advertisement, the CD that they are selling does not have the capability to boot other computers.

On 10/31/2005 at 9:16pm I send an e-mail to PCbeginner.com asking for help. Their website indicates that they will respond within 1~4 hours. On 11/01/2005 at 12:11am, I received a response from PCbeginner.com essentially repeating some basic instructions that are listed in their website. On 11/01/2005 at 11:51am I send a response explaining in more detail the trouble with the CD. After waiting 5 hours with no response, I sent another e-mail at 4:53pm asking for a status to my earlier question.

As of today, I have not heard from PCbeginner.com regarding their non-working product. 

$29.95 thrown down the toilet!!!!!!!!  :down:


----------



## dhollacher

I think your problem may be that you didn't burn
an 'ISO image' CD. The download is tagged as 
a '.iso', but not all burning software recognizes 
that this is an 'image' of a CD - NOT a file to
burned on a directory.

I've used my CD on: Windows NT, 2000, 2003,
XP, and 98 SE machines - also on dual and 
single boot SuSE, Fedora Core and RedHat
servers and laptops -- NO problem. The CD
works, you just have to correctly burn it.

respects,

d.

p.s. of course, you have to set your machine's
BIOS to boot from the CD drive first.


----------



## tuliothx

I looks like you are connected with PCBEGINNER is some way. If this is the case then can you tell them to reply to my e-mails. If you are not, then I apologize.

The downloaded ".iso" file was burned correctly by Roxy. When I do a dir on the CD that I burned here are the files I get:

10/19/2005 07:01 PM DiskTool
10/10/2005 09:33 PM Help
10/06/2005 07:05 PM WinTool 
08/18/2004 05:37 PM 2,048 BOOT.CAT
08/18/2004 05:37 PM 1,722 BOOT.MSG
10/10/2005 10:48 PM 280 CanYouSeeMe.txt
08/18/2004 05:37 PM 1,833,415 INITRD.GZ
08/18/2004 04:36 PM 9,400 ISOLINUX.BIN
08/01/2004 08:58 AM 219 ISOLINUX.CFG
07/31/2004 06:17 PM 972,885 VMLINUZ 
10/10/2005 07:16 PM 1,166 Readme.txt

Obviously, either the ISO image that they suppled is incomplete or I need to do something else to make it bootable. There has to be an INSTALL or SETUP executable file present or it is worthless.

I either case I cant proceed without their help and after their first e-mail they stoped responding.

To me this signals a SCAM and I dont recommend for anyone to buy this product; unless they would like to go thru this aggravation

Tulio :down:


----------



## brendandonhu

The CD boots fine, your computer isn't setup up to boot from CD or it wasn't burned correctly.

Not sure why you'd buy a linux CD when there are about a hundred free ones though.
http://www.knoppix.org/
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/


----------



## tuliothx

I think you just found the problem. What they gave me was a Linux CD. What I order from their website was a Windows (XP/98/95/ME/2000) CD. In fact, they don't even adverstise for Linux in their website, so it is their mistake.

They responded to my first e-mail telling that I needed to setup the BIOS to boot off from the CD-Drive. I know that. That was done. The problem is with the CD image that they gave me. 

But since they are no longer responding, I'm stuck with a Linux CD when I ordered a Windows CD.

Tulio


----------



## dhollacher

I bought the CD because I had a particular Windows 2000 SCSI-raid problem - and the utilities I know of to repair/clone such are more expensive. I was surprised to find all the Windows utilities BESIDES the standard VMLINUS stuff - I use a variety of Knoppix images culled from Linux Format DVD's, but finding usable Windows stuff is more of a chore than spending $30 -- oh, and to Tulio - No, I'm not affiliated with PCBeginner, just happy with their stuff. Did you notice the p.s. about making the BIOS boot from CD ? Brendandonhu correctly notes that either your burn or that is your problem.


----------



## brendandonhu

Its not the wrong CD. They sell bootable Linux discs, not copies of Windows.


----------



## tuliothx

It is the wrong CD. Go to their "Ship & Download" web page http://www.pcbeginner.com/tools/tools.htm and you can see how they are advertising their WINDOWS cd "You can use it to Install Windows easily ...." goes the blur.

There is NOTHING there that says anything about Linux. Nothing.

Tulio


----------



## brendandonhu

Yes, you can use it to install Windows. You're still going to need a copy of Windows to do that.


----------



## tuliothx

No, I Can No use it to install Windows because there is no INSTALL.exe or SETUP.exe in the root directory of the CD. 

Last nite I burned a new copy using the CD Burning utility that PcBeginner provides, and I got the same exact CD copy as before. There is noting in the CD for Windows to grab and boot.

You are right in that I need a copy *WITH* the necessary executable to boot for Windows. But with them not responding, I'm stuck with a CD that is incomplete.


----------



## dhollacher

Tulio,
You still don't get it. You boot from the CD, it runs Linux in RAM, and all the utilities execute in Linux -- EXCEPT for the Windows specific utilities, which you can run directly off the CD, WHEN you're booted in Windows -- you can use the CD to install Windows -- but read the .txt files in those directories on the CD for instructions.


----------



## tuliothx

I appreciate your help. Just to be clear, here are the steps Ive done so far with this CD. I downloaded the CD .iso image. I successfully burned my own CD copy using Roxio and their own supplied CD burning software. When I do a DIR on the CD that I burned, I see 3 directories and 8 files (Their content are listed in this thread).

I set the BIOS in the computer to boot from the CD-Drive. I place the PCbeginner CD in the CD-Drive and boot the computer. I get this error: 

"Boot Failure: System Halted". 

And the CD is ejected. 

On that same computer, when I place the original Dell MS Installation CD, the computer boots just fine. It places me on the Welcome window to choose Recovery Console or Installation option. But I dont want to use the recovery console or re-install the OS. 

Ive read all of the readme files and .txt files and there is nothing to guide me in any direction.

The CD just does not boot up, Linux or not. So either the image that I got is incomplete (and dont tell that is burned incorrectly), or there are other steps I need to run to make the computer read Linux boot information.

In any case, PCBeginner stop responding to e-mails after their first response and Im stuck with something that appears to be quite worthless.


----------



## Stoner

Let me add my 2 cents worth of confusion 

Not all bios are fully el Torito compliant for all bootable cds:
( cashed link to exemplify )
Barts PE
excerpt>>>


> New mainboards come out all the time. I see that more and more new mainboards do not support multiboot images configurations.


And that sounds like the cd at pcbeginner.

I have had one pc that wouldn't boot from specific boot cds unless that pc was fully turned off and restarted.

tuliothx, here's a free download of a bootable diagnostic cd that's well respected. It lists all the available apps and tools by name and even gives linkage to the sites they were gathered from. Most are well known.
And it's free. :up:
I have used it. It works.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Give it a try


----------



## ohyes

This is a copy of an email to the PC Beginner support team:

========================================================

OOPS !

I should have read the instructions in the CD - you provided everything I needed to know on the download page AND in the CD -- I feel really foolish. I was so excited that it works (repaired my IBM 'raid'-ed SCSI drive and allowed a 'Repair' by the Windows 2000 disk utility) that I over-looked all your excellent instructions.

In posts that responded to mine on the 'Tech Guy Support' forum, I see that other people are even more oblivious than I was. 

Thanks again for a great tool set and your patience.

respects,

d.

==========================================================


----------



## ohyes

Ultimate Boot CD: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
PC Beginner CD: http://www.pcbeginner.com

I have both of them. I think the difference is:
If Ultimate Boot CD is $1.00, PC Beginner CD should be $100.00.

So, "FREE" never can be as good as "Non-FREE".

By the way, the PC Beginner CD is not a linux boot CD. It is for PC and Windows. The linux file at the root of this CD is necessary for this function: remove Windows admin login password.


----------



## brendandonhu

ohyes said:


> By the way, the PC Beginner CD is not a linux boot CD.


Yes, it is.


----------



## tuliothx

Here is where I am with this PCbeginner painful experience. John from PCBeginner offered to ship me a CD at no cost. When the CD arrived, it did boot the computer. 

However, I tried the UltimateBootCD while I was waiting for the CD shipment and UltimateBootCD was fantastic. It does everything PCBeginner does and more. Except PCBeginner costs $29.95 and UltimateBootCD is free. 

I wish I had known this before wasting $29.95.

BTW, both disk use Linux to boot in order to bypass the Windows boot mechanism. This is the only way to get at the machine if Windows is broken.

To everyone, thanks for your help  

Tulio


----------



## ohyes

tuliothx said:


> ...It does everything PCBeginner does and more. Except PCBeginner costs $29.95 and UltimateBootCD is free.
> Tulio


Hi, I have both of them. I have compared them. PC Beginner CD does much much more than UltimateBootCD.

For examples,

(1) PC beginner CD has better boot menu and more functions options.
(2) PC beginner CD has many owesome password tools, while UltimateBootCD nearly has nothing on password.
(3) PC Beginner CD gives you the license keys for these softwareisk Genius (www.DiskGenius.com), DriveWizard Professional (www.CompuApps.com), Captain Mnemo (www.refog.com). And I found the license keys are really working and they are full functional. That is nearly $120 value!!! I cannot believe it!!!
...


----------



## ohyes

I have gotten a demo version link from a friend: 
http://68.178.180.36/downloads/demo/pcbeginner-dm.iso


----------



## Stoner

ohyes said:


> Hi, I have both of them. I have compared them. PC Beginner CD does much much more than UltimateBootCD.
> 
> For examples,
> 
> (1) PC beginner CD has better boot menu and more functions options.
> (2) PC beginner CD has many owesome password tools, while UltimateBootCD nearly has nothing on password.
> (3) PC Beginner CD gives you the license keys for these softwareisk Genius (www.DiskGenius.com), DriveWizard Professional (www.CompuApps.com), Captain Mnemo (www.refog.com). And I found the license keys are really working and they are full functional. That is nearly $120 value!!! I cannot believe it!!!
> ...


Your links are dead.


----------



## Stoner

Looks like you typed the ')' too close to the urls.


----------



## Stoner

I don't know if promotions at TSG for keyloggers, password spy apps are against the rules 
refog.com seems involved


----------



## jiml8

dhollacher said:


> Basically, this $30 utility CD does what it says.
> 
> It booted, found the bad sectors on my RAIDed
> SCSI drive and repaired them. Unfortunately,
> the damage was in a OS dll, but it still allowed
> me to recover all the data and re-install.
> 
> Simply amazing !!
> :up:
> 
> I don't understand why someone hasn't responded
> to this post before - since it pops up on Google at
> the top of the list. -- Maybe its because you
> have to join the forum to post -- but I want other
> people to know that PCBeginner is not a scam.
> 
> Its very cool.
> 
> respects,
> 
> d.


A disclosure here would be good. You show up, make a handful of posts (search feature is now down; I can't find your other ones) then leave. This pattern is often employed by shills.

Are you affiliated in any way with the company that produces the product?


----------



## jeff11

I need to create a mirror of a computer on a USB hard disk thart is bootable. Any suggestions for how to do this? Is PCBeginner a good program for this? 

We want the USB disk to be the movable computer and the PC that makes it to be the back up. That way we can have our computer on a portable USB drive.

Operating system is XP.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Jeff11


----------



## dennis20

The menu window has an item for antivirus; however, clicking on it does nothing but give a blank screen.


----------



## iaavagent

dennis20, not sure what you're referring to?
-------------------------------------------------------------
ohyes, are you and dhollacher one in the same? Your status here are identical and your post above, #17, is very revealing since you had not 
posted here previously but dhollacher did! Yet you say you did?
Maybe you should make a disclosure also as jiml8 suggested to dhollacher, but since it "appears" ya'll are one in the same then one 
would cover both. Right?


----------



## dennis20

Season's Greetings iaavagent;

I'm running the dl version while waiting for the purchased disk. 

I was referring to the first screen after PC4B boots there is a main menu and one of the options is AntiVirus. When I select the AV, the screen goes blank ( black) and the program doesn't come back. I'm new to this program and don't know if that is what is supposed to happen. I'm also running Avast; would there be a conflict there?


----------



## iaavagent

Hope the holidays treated you well dennis20 and the new year even better.
Sorry I can't help you as I didn't purchase PC4B. 
Shame that one of it's advocates on this thread haven't responded to you since they have it and apparently thinks it's the best!

Maybe by now you have received the Disk and your problem resolved?
Good luck and my best to ya.


----------



## Emil

iaavagent
I purchased pcbeginner utility before I read this post, but while I am reading all the discussions about this utility I was downloading the 230MB(not 630MB) image and feeling suspicious because of the post.
But finally I burned the image to CD with their recommended burner when finished I double click on the CD and saw some file folders.
Boot with it and everything runs fine. Maybe they are all collections of freeware, but it beats searching one by one and organize it in one place. Since I forgot my password on one of my laptops I hope this utility will help me, if so it is money well spend.
Hope this help make your decision.


----------



## iaavagent

Hope it turns out well for ya. Keep us posted on how it does and maybe some of us will 
give it further consideration. There is a free one posted in this thread and you may want
to download it and make a use comparison.
Thanks and take care.


----------



## eyes_h

i borrowed dis CD yesterday from one of my friends to recover my old seagate 60G (serious bad clusters and majority data lost...), and it made effective result!!! thank to dis awesome cd~my important account data of my company is resured:up: and the awesome tools in the cd are useful to me although some of them could download from internet, but time is everything right?~ wats more...i really get the license of the cool driver wizard pro!!    so....i think i will pursue one today and personally highly recommend it!:up:


----------



## jenlifer.s

ohhhh~~wAT A old thread~but still HHHHinhly recommend dis Great CD~~~~~cos my old father's house is 70Km far away from a computer store,and everytime the CCCCumbersome 586 needs to be repaired, he need 2 drive such a long long distance with his presbyopia, but sice i brought dis PCbeginner 4 him~~~~He can easily fix the problems now~~~~~~Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Stoner

It's a miracle  ..........


----------



## nantwijs

Could you give me precise details how to make a bootable CD with UBCD4WIN with contains all the (freeware) tools and the necessary drivers ?????

Thanks :up:


----------



## nantwijs

Please ... Could you explain precisely how I make a bootable CD with UBCD4WIN filled up with all the (freeware) tools and the necessary drivers ?????

Thanks !!!!


----------



## Stoner

UBCD4WIN is a version of UBCD that is inclusive of Bart's PE
Sorry, I have not tried that combination.

I have made a bootable CD of UBCD at http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html . Download the iso and burn it to a CD. I use Nero 5.x so I choose "Disk Image" in the drop down menu.

Here is the UBCD4Win link that is a "How To".... http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm
Good luck


----------



## ekim68

Thanks again Stoner. It's nice to have all those resources in one place. I've had
hard drive disk managers in different disks for some time. I can now retire them.


----------



## dadherb

iaavagent said:


> I posted this in another thread but thought I'd do it as a new one.
> 
> Anybody know anything about the {seems to be} all in one tool on CD at pcbeginner .com= http://www.pcbeginner.com/tools/pcdoctor.htm
> I find it hard to believe that it can do all they claim it does, even clones???
> The CD is indicated to be 650MB in size which does seem to be a bunch!
> 
> Anybody know if they're ligit or a scam ie; a CD just loaded with basic utilities and many sites to go get downloads of various other utilities?
> That which sounds to good to be true usually is!
> 
> Anybody bought this and knows about it. I've googled it but can't come
> up with any reviews.
> Thanks


Save your money!!! I bought the cd using Paypal..thye won't ship the cd to me. They keep wanting my mailing address, claiming the post office lost it, they will "ship special"...still no CD. You don't really need any emails from them, you could not believe them anyway!!!!


----------



## nantwijs

Sorry for the late reply. 

I tried the solution of Stoner. :up: I burned UBCD on a CD. And indeed, it boots on XP.:up: 

I tried some menu-entries and they work. Others don't. :down: 
Which menu-entry to choose to have a 'good' DOS, so that I can walk around on the the hard disks ? So that I can recover files to an extarne Hd ? Is this possible after all on UBCD ? 
Or do I have to try the complicated UCB4WIN solution ? 

Thanks for your patience.


----------



## ohyes

well guys i received the CD timely, no delay at all, and it is very useful for me.

It is not a perfect cd (no perfect cd, right? even Windows 95 was not perfect but we still bought it, right?) but so far it is the best boot cd in the world.

It is much much much better than UBCD or whatever.

Actually even if it is $199 instead of 29.95, I will still buy one. It has helped me much!

According to my experience on using this handy CD, this CD will do at least 80% of what the website states.

I think most bad feedbacks about this CD mainly becasuse those people may not know how to use it. It is simple: Put it on a working computer and read the readme.txt files and you will know! This CD can boot up a bad PC; you can also use the tools in this CD on a good PC.

However, this is just my opinion. It is yourmoney and it is up to you


----------



## ohyes

oh yeah I was talking about the PC beginner CD (2006). www.pcbeginner.com


----------



## Stoner

nantwijs said:


> Sorry for the late reply.
> 
> I tried the solution of Stoner. :up: I burned UBCD on a CD. And indeed, it boots on XP.:up:
> 
> I tried some menu-entries and they work. Others don't. :down:
> Which menu-entry to choose to have a 'good' DOS, so that I can walk around on the the hard disks ? So that I can recover files to an extarne Hd ? Is this possible after all on UBCD ?
> Or do I have to try the complicated UCB4WIN solution ?
> 
> Thanks for your patience.


 mornin'

Sorry, can't really help you on that aspect of UBCD. I haven't had the need to use it much and don't remember any problems......
If you are considering Bart's PE at all and your intention is to copy over files from a drive that won't boot .....to an external drive, you don't need UBCD4win as Barts will boot as a windows platform and do a copy paste to an external drive.
For recovering files from a damaged drive, I'll have to pass as I have not experienced that problem. If the comp bios can recognize the drive, Barts should be able to read it. Perhaps there is a recovery app that will install to Barts. Probably not a freebie, though.
Many free tools can be incorporated into Barts and the ability is there to use many powerful retail tools, also.
Visit Barts to see what is possible.
I used Barts along with several security apps in a short flirt with win95 used on line. Many of those security apps would not install to win95, but would run on Barts. A good way for me to double check the effectiveness of the installed security....all the while using known and respected security apps.

I prefer to use apps that are widely known, myself. Easier to tell the 'good guys' from the...... 'others'


----------



## nantwijs

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.  
It is not difficult to make a BOOTABLE CD. Everyone can. Use Nero Burning Rom and choose a bootable CD instead of a ISO CD. Then Nero will put a special file on the CD and he will boot !!!
But then I want to put MY OWN tools on the CD, to execute them from the boot CD. Like testing the CPU, disks, RAM and so on. ... I have these tools but the PROBLEM is to know the right DOS to burn on the CD. Because all these tools have to be executed under DOS.

I tried a few DOS, but after booting and executing a program under it, they all tell :

NOT ENOUGH MEMORY !!!!   

So, can anybody help me trying to find the right DOS ??????

Have a nice day, guys.


----------



## localyokle

download may contain freeware and shareware
it seems to do scanning and reporting best
site seems to have loop in help dept.
problem now is recovering a double charge on credit card


----------



## captain5555

It seems to me that some people are complaining about the PC Beginner CD because they don't know how to use it.  I don't have it myself but it sounds pretty good. There is a link on their website to a User's Manual which I haven't seen anyone even mention!  My guess is that no one has even looked at it. Unfortunately, you can't view it directly from the website. You have to own the software. The URL to their support site is listed on the sleeve of the CD and in the email that they send you after you buy the CD. When you go to the "secret" site, you have access to the User Manual. Seems to me it would be well worth looking at if you're having any problems. I'm thinking about purchasing it because, from the website, it looks like it could solve a lot of problems and save me, as a tech, a lot of headaches! Let me know if you have had a chance to look at this manual and tell me what you think of it.


----------



## Stoner

Post #47 kinda says it all.


----------



## ohyes

The User Manual for the PC Beginner CD is here:
http://www.pcbeginner.org/pcbeginner/pcb.htm

My girl friend computer was down and I bought the CD. It is cool. Do nearly all they said. Worth the money!!


----------



## Stoner

Just took a look at their web site, again, from your link.
They've really spruced up their site, doesn't look so amateurish/nonprofessionl anymore :up:

However, most of the reviews over at download.com aren't very kind.


> Absolutely worthless!!!!!!!
> 
> 29-Nov-2005 02:27:32 PM
> Reviewer: milo48buster
> 
> Pros: If you have too much money, you can waste it on this.
> 
> Cons: This looks like a scam. Freeware collected, repackeaged and sold to the unsuspecting.
> 
> __and the freeware programs don't even work!
> 
> Shame on these people!!





> garbage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> 14-Nov-2005 02:01:00 AM
> Reviewer: zapple43
> 
> Pros: nothing
> 
> Cons: No Limitations! BS.... The program shows you what it can do....but you can't do anything all functions are disabled!





> a dollar and a dream is what you got here so save your dollar
> 
> 10-Aug-2006 10:13:27 PM
> Reviewer: Neo_361
> 
> Pros: I loved what it said it could do
> 
> Cons: It didnt do anything they want me to take it on faith that it works this demo sucks you can say anything but this demo shows me nothing a bag of hot air





> A waste of money - be suspicious, be very suspicious!
> 
> 29-Aug-2006 11:47:15 AM
> Reviewer: mistree_man
> 
> Pros: Absolutely nothing. All promise, no delivery.
> 
> Cons: CNET doesn't have a zero-star rating so I had to give it a one-star in order to post. I bought the downloadable version on-line late one evening, but I was never able to get it to download. The free download accelerator also interfered with other software that I have to keep my PC safe. By the next morning, my credit card was already showing a charge. Since I became increasingly suspicious, I've also canceled that credit card.


Yes, there were a couple reviews that said it worked perfectly ....but considering the contrast of opinions, I do wonder who's posting ...

C|Net ranked it 2 out of a possible 5

Link

Another review:
Link


> guest wrote:
> I got the disc & found it to be the most useless set of programs available.
> There was nothing on the disc that I found benificial.
> I also did not find out that there was a ´no refund policy´ until after I had received the disc. They don´t tell you up front!
> And watch out for the ´ads´ programs that will sneek in as you use the disc.
> Buyers beware!


Interesting.


----------



## johnpro2

I was red alerted to the PCBeginner site by 'McAfee Site Adviser'.

The claims by PCBeginner sounded too good, especially coming from a site where a warning was given by a trusted security outfit such as McAfee.

PCBeginer is very similar to another dubious site called " idownload.com " which also has similar miracle tools to fix your computer ..naturally for a fee with no refund and no demo.

Scammers are everywhere and when your PC is defective, you are often not mentally alert to make the best choice.

Try to arrange breakdown software before your PC crashes.

btw, McAfee site alerter is free and seems to work well.

Often testimonials are written by folk who are involved in the company. Beware, if too many negatives, look eleswhere.


----------



## PeteHoang

Their product does not even work. I used Windows XP Pro SP2 on NTFS partition and needed to reset the password. Their tool fails. I tried it nearly 30 times rebooting and trying again. I contacted their support and they basically called me a liar claiming that their tool always works. They refused to return my money. Most of the claims of what their product can do is false. Their "product" is a graphics screen with menu options. However the option to reset password does not work. The their helpful instructions to "help you install all versions of Windows" is to pop up a message that says "Please insert Windows disk now to do the installation." That's all the product does. These scammers steal people's money. They need to be put in jail.

Pete Hoang
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (NT 4.0)


----------



## johnpro2

There is so manyfree utility software products available that folk should not pay for so many dubious/bad products around.

Always do a 'Google' search if you really feel motivated to part with your hard earned cash.

Most products, especially the bad ones, have reviews from folk who have got caught the hard way.

Once again, even free products can be a trap. Go to a trusted site like http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/

There is enough free stuff here to keep anyone happy.

Install SiteAdviser http://www.siteadvisor.com on your browser. It is free from McAfee and is a real gem to tell you who are the bad guys.

JP


----------



## cujo45

I am very experienced and can do almost anything with a computer. This is the only help program I have ever bought. I have used it a few times including yesterday this new IM virus that is the first one that has ever brought me to my knees and I still can't get rid of it.
This guy is good I bet he got the gold stasr in his hackers club.
Any help on that would be appreciated. Trojan Horse Collected.11.B and I need real help done everything as I say very experienced. 
Back to PcBeginner it is fun program to play with I downloaded iso file started using. Received disc no problems. Needed one to cover older hard drive they sent me another disc asap. Used their tech support many times answered back right away.
I would give this program the thumbs up for experienced users to have fun with and it does help if needed but for a novice user it would not be a benifit as you would need to know what you are doing to run certain programs such as windows recovery etc. or you could do damage.
It delivers what it says and is fun for the price and support I recommend it any questions feel free to email me.
If you want to see more on how I recovered my hard drive yesterday when the swap file could not be found and per anywhere on the www and pcbeginner it tells you forget it reinstall windows I got around it and about to email pcbeginner to tell them to notify customers before they reinstall and lose all.


----------



## johnpro2

The best real on line help I have found is to use the free program called "hijackthis".

Run a scan with this program and paste the results of the log into one of the forums that specialize in finding malware etc on your hard drive.

You can do a google search if you wish but a trusted site is http://www.castlecops.com

"Hijackthis" program can also be downloaded for free from this site. http://www.castlecops.com/downloads

These sites are genuine help sites with no hidden catches to try to get your money or even worse, infect your PC with more spyware.


----------



## cujo45

Thanks I will try them I just purchased Norton 360 and can not unistall windows defender but have been told this should fix me up and I can back up and reinstall


----------



## Lazaris

:up:  i have been using both aforementioned programs for since 05 to date PC Beginner has helped me save a heap of data and a few pc's to LOL  how can people forget their passwords LOL

Also as to "Hijack This" its a great program and is the only one that has allowed me to remove spyware and other crap that has managed to get in but not sure i would recommend a rookie to use it would back up you HD or setup an old HD to mess with so you dont lose data and then you learn more by actually doing it. Me personally i love both programs and i have been using PC's for a long time now building upgrading and repairing and those 2 will help


----------



## Stoner

A lot of one time posters seem to recommend this app


----------



## Lazaris

i know what you mean but having used it for 2 yrs to date have had not one problem with it all its done at least 90% of stated. havent tried later versions maybe they are not so good


----------



## Lazaris

but if you do know fo anything better wouldnt mind hearing bout it Stoner


----------



## Stoner

Lazaris said:


> but if you do know fo anything better wouldnt mind hearing bout it Stoner


I suggested this free one http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

There is Bart Pe , which is free, and the ability to add plugins for many various tasks.
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

There have been many posted by other members in other threads.

In my opinion, the most valuable tools are for drive imaging/cloning.
Restoring is far quicker than repairing a hosed system.
The prices go from free (DriveImage XML....XXcopy) to ~$32 for Acronis.
And I would never use an imaging tool at any price with the rep I've seen of PCbeginners.
For spyware/malware issues......see the TSG security forum for the lists of freeware from firewalls to anti malware and members trained to read hijackthis logs.

Link to a brief list of things PCbeginners does........http://www.pcbeginner.org/pcb2007/index.htm
With all the experts at this forum, I'd rather ask them for help 
I know a lot of them and I have trust in them


----------



## neos1

I've read through this thread twice now and I would say 3 of the "junior members" are one in the same.


----------



## hooya_jman

I ran Shield Deluxe antivirus program the other day after downloading PCBeginner and it came up with a Trojan horse in the password recovery software, CaptainMnemo. Has anyone else run into this same issue?

Trojan program Trojan-Spy.Win32.Agent.bk	File: D:\Misc. downloads\pcbeginner-full.ISO//WinTool/Password Management & Recovery/Password Recovery/Key Logger/Professional Key Logger/CaptainMnemo.exe//ci-temp1.cab/WinSystems.exe
deleted: Trojan program Trojan-Spy.Win32.Agent.bk	

File: D:\Misc. downloads\pcbeginner-full.ISO//WinTool/Password Management & Recovery/Password Recovery/Key Logger/Professional Key Logger/CaptainMnemo.exe//ci-temp2.cab/pl.dll


----------



## pcsnr

I have used pcbeginner cd as a repair tool for quite some time, all tools does work and there is software with serials that is worth a lot more then the $30 you pay for it, I burned the DL ISO, worked great, also got the CD in mail and have used the auto boot feature and I can do just what the FAQ's say.


----------



## [email protected]

It did look like there was a shill here on the forum back in '06. 

I'm a newbie here but not a shill. I bought PCBeginner about 3-4 years ago and did have some problems with them right off. It comes with 3 programs that require a key but they didn't send them until I emailed them a couple times. The first time they insisted it didn't need any. Once I had the keys and installed them, then I had trouble getting the download onto a CD but I didn't need to talk to them, figured it out on my own using their not-so-good instructions (but I don't remember how I did it).

The CD has worked as promised, boots OK and all the programs work as well as you might expect from lots of freeware but overall I'm pleased with the CD and the $30 it cost. I'm a full time computer consultant (retired) so once it saved one of my clients data, it had paid for itself.

But it looks like they went out of business because their web site is gone...

Which brings up a question, I'm trying to burn a new copy of PCBeginner with some extra utilities and that Trojan removed, but lost my instructions. Does anyone have a copy of PCBeginners instructions for making their disk bootable?

:up:


----------



## JohnWill

I've never seen one thread with so many shills for an obviously inferior product!


----------



## dr911

Stoner said:


> I suggested this free one http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
> 
> There is Bart Pe , which is free, and the ability to add plugins for many various tasks.
> http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
> 
> There have been many posted by other members in other threads.
> 
> In my opinion, the most valuable tools are for drive imaging/cloning.
> Restoring is far quicker than repairing a hosed system.
> The prices go from free (DriveImage XML....XXcopy) to ~$32 for Acronis.
> And I would never use an imaging tool at any price with the rep I've seen of PCbeginners.
> For spyware/malware issues......see the TSG security forum for the lists of freeware from firewalls to anti malware and members trained to read hijackthis logs.
> 
> Link to a brief list of things PCbeginners does........http://www.pcbeginner.org/pcb2007/index.htm
> With all the experts at this forum, I'd rather ask them for help
> I know a lot of them and I have trust in them


To : Stoner & others,

Seems like this PCbeginners site is up for sale, or "parked" by GoDaddy.

Link: http://www.pcbeginner.org/pcb2007/index.htm


----------



## JohnWill

I'm going to close this one, it's pointless and most likely SPAM in more than one location.


----------

