Hardly a big-enough deal to debate about though, just curious about the turn. Maybe you have never met a person like the one in my example though.
It sounds like the person you are describing, if I was supporting their computer use would just nod their head when I told them my suggestion about getting malware off of a machine and then turn around and do the same thing that got them infected before.
Whether it be running their computer without AV, just clicking yes on every pop-up or just downloading and installing programs without a thought as to whether they really want it.
I've been fortunate enough not to have met more than a couple.
As for my opinion about wiping and reloading the OS when a person comes to me for help with a malware infestation, I've done the multiple scan routine and had a few of those customers/friends return later with the another malware infection in short order.
On wipe and reinstalls the one time the person came back was because of their negligence in installing crapware. They didn't admit it first though.
It's situational. If you're working for a company and the policy is something other than just wipe and reinstall (perhaps because of data concerns) or if the person turns out to have no backups of their data that is on the machine, then yeah I understand.
But if it's a one time customer or a friend I'm going to recommend the "nuclear option" more often than not.
If they just want scans then yeah I'll do just that, but going from personal experience I do push for re-install option a bit before just going with scans and removal.
On my personal machine it depends sometimes I'll wipe and reload or I'll run multiple scans and just be satisfied with that.
However, I have a spare machine that I use much much except to install updates. I only use that one for when I do need absolutely secure (at least from my machine) access to the internet. It's a laptop that I keep locked up in a locking computer case which goes inside of a locked footlocker when not in use.
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