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You are quietly browsing the web when suddenly an alarming message appears. It tells you that unwanted software is trying to infiltrate your computer.

To get rid of it and allow you to regain control of your device, you are asked to enter your credit card number. You are held hostage by malicious software that masquerades as an antivirus and whose sole purpose is to extract money from you.

To eliminate this intruder from your Computer Repair Services Survey, the solution is simple. A technician can erase it using specialized software, “in less than an hour and for less than $ 100,” according to Daniel Descheneaux, a computer consultant who collaborated on our study.

We evaluated repair services at major electronics stores and online repair services offered by MicroBytes, Best Buy (Geek Squad), Future Shop (ConnectPro), and Bureau en Gros.

In department stores, most computer repair shops favor complex and expensive solutions. The problems Protégez-Vous presented to them were simple, but many did not resolve them. See all the results of our field surveys to avoid companies that make unnecessary interventions.

Even to fix rather benign problems, department stores often offer the expensive reinstallation of Windows. However, one banner stands out.

As in our 2011 survey, this chain specializing in the sale and repair of computers finished good; its technicians have solved all the problems submitted at a reasonable price. In store, all the technicians quickly suspected that a fake antivirus was the source of the slowdown of the computer. When we got the device back, they had erased the bogus antivirus and temporary files.

In two branches, technicians even installed free antiviruses (AntiVirus Free 2013 from AVG and Free Antivirus from Avira), software that provides acceptable virus protection, according to our most recent test of security software. Of the four chains visited in our survey, MicroBytes is the one with the most consistent prices: in its three shops, the bill was around $ 75.