Solved Check PC For Malicious Programs

Haydon · Dec 24, 2022

glasskuter said:
The balance is easing his uneasy feelings. If he has run the scanning tools that everyone has suggested and still has those feelings, then a clean install is all that can 100% ease him.

The clean install is what @DigitalGoat already said before us in the above posting #15, for a one time occurrence.

That's not what I meant with balance for an on-going situation, you can't do a clean install (or a full battery of testing) every time you have an uneasy feeling.

kado897 · Dec 24, 2022

WAI said:
What I use is SUPERAnti-Spyware, SpyBot, and Windows Defender Full Boot scan

SUPERAnti-Spyware will always show some tracking cookies, this is quite normal and doesn't mean your PC has been infected with a virus. Just about all websites will drop them on you.

csun · Dec 24, 2022

Mitch said:
Hi,
We just got our laptop back from repair. It was initially accessed remotely by the repair shop and it was found that a part needed replaced and the machine was collected and returned. There have been no changes to the OS and a clean install has not been performed by the repairers.
Other than doing a clean install of Windows 11, can anyone suggest how and where to check the machine for spyware etc? I have done a full AntiVirus scan which has returned no adverse results.
Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Mitch.

One final thought, Mitch. If you have not, may want to change your passwords, insure 2 step verification or more for financial accts, and google for other actions to take including considering a clean install.

A great piece of advice posted earlier was to check the Task Manager for suspicious activity and unknown processes.

I am not well read on the subject, but what I have read is the danger when permitting access is not placing a tracking device, but obtaining information that was already on the computer.

glasskuter · Dec 24, 2022

@csun Yes, very, very good advice and good job on making that observance when none of the rest of us did.

@Haydon Sorry, I did not understand what you meant. You, too, are so, so right. For sure, one can't install Windows every time they are uneasy. The best offense is defense, and in computing the best defense is ourselves. Safe computing habits, not saving passwords on our computers, not giving remote access to strangers, and making regular system images is the user's line of defense. Sadly, not everyone practices this. As I said in my previous post, common sense practice is if one let's one's computer out of his own hands, unless the user knows and trusts completely who he's giving it to, Windows should first be imaged, then reset to default.

clam1952 · Dec 24, 2022

glasskuter said:
Reading through this thread, there are several things of concern for me. First of all, we do not know what problems the OP had to start that provoked him to contact a repair shop as the OP did not give that information. The OP says "It was initially accessed remotely by the repair shop and it was found that a part needed replaced." I cannot see how the repair shop could have come to this conclusion remotely. Does the OP know he is dealing with a reliable and trustworthy repair shop? What repair shop did he use?

I would NEVER send my machine off for repair unless I knew something about who was getting access to it. Even if I was sending it back to the manufacturer, I would first make an image and then reset it back to default to remove my data. In fact, the manufacturer wants their customers to do this.

It has previously been suggested he backup his data and do a clean install. I agree with the clean install part, but I would not trust that his personal data had not been infected with erroneous code. The only data I would recover is that which I backed up myself BEFORE the laptop was shipped. Just my opinion.

The part replaced and why is in post 13. And is quite possible to have been detected remotely as it wasn't charging properly, next step would be to physically check the charger and socket for problems, thus the need to take to the repairer, sounds perfectly reasonable to me as long as the repairer is known and has a good reputation. All the same better to clean install where it's been worked on elsewhere, removes the "is or isn't it" factor.

Hi. The part was a faulty power connector inside the PC which caused the battery to charge intermittently. It was replaced to fix the problem and to prevent any shorting out of the motherboard.
Mitch

kelper · Dec 27, 2022

@Mitch Did you contact the repair shop, or did they contact you out of the blue? What was the first problem you noticed?

Mitch · Dec 28, 2022

Hi. Firstly, thank you all for your replies. We have run a virus scan + Malwarebytes which are negative so we are happy with that. We have become aware of online security risks recently when my daughter had unknown charges for a large sum on her Credit Card - the bank is refunding her. We are unsure if it was her laptop or her smartphone, which tends to have less protection than a PC, that caused this. We don't want to be paranoid about this but just to take precautionary measures where we can. We have changed our passwords etc but don't store them. If you buy a PC from any of the major manufacturers and you have an OS or potential hardware fault, you will almost certainly be asked to grant remote access for the issue to be diagnosed and resolved - indeed it is written in to the warranty T & C's. I wouldn't imagine there would be any issues with this?
@kelper. I contacted the repair shop, which advertises on our local social media page and has an address. The charging light was turning off and back on randomly and the battery wasn't charging fully. We checked and discounted the AC adaptor and the shop ran a battery report which showed the battery to be healthy. They collected the PC and replaced the power connector which was faulty.
Thanks again. We appreciate your advice.
Mitch

kelper · Dec 28, 2022

I'm relieved to hear that you initiated the conversation with the repair shop. I think you have no need to worry. You can get very good anti-malware programs for any smartphone.

Fabler2 · Dec 28, 2022

Mitch said:
Hi. Firstly, thank you all for your replies. We have run a virus scan + Malwarebytes which are negative so we are happy with that. We have become aware of online security risks recently when my daughter had unknown charges for a large sum on her Credit Card - the bank is refunding her. We are unsure if it was her laptop or her smartphone, which tends to have less protection than a PC, that caused this. We don't want to be paranoid about this but just to take precautionary measures where we can. We have changed our passwords etc but don't store them. If you buy a PC from any of the major manufacturers and you have an OS or potential hardware fault, you will almost certainly be asked to grant remote access for the issue to be diagnosed and resolved - indeed it is written in to the warranty T & C's. I wouldn't imagine there would be any issues with this?
@kelper. I contacted the repair shop, which advertises on our local social media page and has an address. The charging light was turning off and back on randomly and the battery wasn't charging fully. We checked and discounted the AC adaptor and the shop ran a battery report which showed the battery to be healthy. They collected the PC and replaced the power connector which was faulty.
Thanks again. We appreciate your advice.
Mitch

Very interesting about your daughter's credit card unknown charges. Same happened to my son's card... twice. I believe that the card was 'scanned' somewhere crowded and then the info was used to set up a subscription. Both times the Bank gave a refund. I don't believe it was from the mobile phone but from the card itself. We've invested in these blocking cards now for the wallet/purse and will wait and see if it happens again. This is an interesting video for info,

Your Credit Card is at Risk because of this hacking device!

glasskuter · Dec 28, 2022

@Fabler2 Good advise on the rfid sleeves. Several years ago a friend of mine bought a sheet of mu-metal and made 2 sleeves for all her friends that block the entire wallet since we didn't have rfid wallets. I tend to believe more card theft comes from those instances when one verbally gives their card number or buys things over fly-by-night sites. I have stopped purchasing with a credit card any place that doesn't take Paypal. I also advised my bank to limit my debit card transactions. Most people think a debit card is one of the safest ways to pay, but in reality, unlike credit cards or Paypal, debit cards carry only $50 of loss. In today's world, consumers are damned if we do and damned if we don't. The thieves are smarter than we are.

Haydon · Jan 12, 2023

I re-read this thread "Check PC for Malicious Programs' and wonder if it is worth the effort 'cleaning' a (any) device. May be just buy cheap devices and if something bad happens to it, just toss it!