Solved Scam or real?

Hazel123 said:

and it came from an infected usb stick.

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This is kind of off topic but a few years ago I received a no-name external DVD player in the mail. One I didn't order. I just stuck it in a box of stuff. Recently I remembered I had it and tried it. It was one crappy DVD reader. And then I was like, wait, what if the point of it was to hack me? That someone explicitly targeted me? This is less about my paranoia and more a clever way to hack someone. Give them an anonymous gift and then wait.

Sorry - at one earlier point it was solved. Then the problems started after that.

I "unsolved it" thanks.

I went to MWB and saw "Chameleon" as a download. When I say D.L. it looks like it gives me a download for the whole MWB program. I have it on my jump drive. I can try sticking it in the HP and see what happens.

glasskuter said:

As safety measure, go to MS account link in this article and change her MS password. Change your Microsoft account password - Microsoft Support

Hold down shift key and power on machine. (Keep shift key held down until you see recovery screen) Reset the machine choosing "reset and remove everything" option.

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Hi - just saw this -- will try that. Thanks.

Nope... don't know what to do next. HP wanted us to pack the pc up and ship it to them for repair. I declined. She has a lot of stuff on there that they could probably access so was nervous about doing that.

Malwarebytes chameleon might need you to be able to boot into windows so might not work if you can’t start the computer up.

The trend micro rescue ysb will scan windows without it booting up or running. It’ll also scan the ssd generally.

I can understand you not wanting to send it back to Hp with all the files on - and you can’t really remove them without infecting the storage device they are backed up on.

So ideally it sounds like malware removal is needed first.

Will it actually turn on and boot into Windows at the moment - not sure I understood earlier messages If it will - Try Malwarebytes chameleon. But even if that works it would still be good to get help from Bleeping Compuyer tonnage sure the system is completely clean.

Patsy1011 said:

I can try sticking it in the HP and see what happens.

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If that computer is not starting then nothing will happen.

Are you still getting direct assistance from the computer maker as you reported earlier?


Denis

Patsy1011 said:

HP wanted us to pack the pc up and ship it to them for repair. I declined. She has a lot of stuff on there that they could probably access

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If you send the computer to HP for repair, they will wipe the existing contents of the disk.
And none of that is backed up?

You could choose to take it to a local repair shop but:-
- You will have to trust them with the private data that you said concerned you when you referred to returning it to HP.
- You will have to explain to them all that has happened.
- You will have to decide what you want them to do:-


All the best,
Denis

Patsy1011 said:

Nope... don't know what to do next. HP wanted us to pack the pc up and ship it to them for repair. I declined. She has a lot of stuff on there that they could probably access so was nervous about doing that.

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Patsy1011 said:

Nope... don't know what to do next. HP wanted us to pack the pc up and ship it to them for repair. I declined. She has a lot of stuff on there that they could probably access so was nervous about doing that.

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Maybe try looking at why the All in One does not turn on ? lots of problems with that HP all in one doing what you Look...

Denis - no not dealing with HP support any longer. Their solution was to send for repair. Don't want to do that. I am ordering a new ac adapter. Maybe it is faulty. It gets a brief light up when I hit the power button - then nothing. I've also tried different outlets - nothing doing on that either.

I have looked at many solutions for all in ones by HP - tried many. I'm beginning to think it is the power supply more and more.

If it's known you have a virus it is likely to be that stopping the computer starting it. So do you mean it won't stay powered on long enough to even boot from something like the Trend Micro usb? Presumably your friend has another copy of all her files, if she transferred them onto this computer?

She doesn't have a lot of files on it to be worried about. We don't know if it has a virus. All I know is when I downloaded the MWB program to it, it didn't show up in the download file - then the pc shut itself down. Has not started since.

My friend started her pc this morning and a beeping noise and a large alert window from Windows Defender came up. "For security reasons, your pc has been locked"!

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I think most people on here think she has a virus! This isn't normal. If it happened when you downloaded malwarebytes then the virus was probably trying to block it from running. Viruses disable antivirus if they can. Assuming it was from the official Malwarebytes site.

I've read this thread twice. See if I have it right. A week old system that won't power on for whatever reason. The OEM tells the user to return it under warranty for repair yet the user chooses not to do so even though he/she seems ill-equipped to deal with it. This makes little sense to me.
Too much dickering with the system could well void the warranty then the user is in a real pickle.

glasskuter said:

I've read this thread twice. See if I have it right. A week old system that won't power on for whatever reason. The OEM tells the user to return it under warranty for repair yet the user chooses not to do so even though he/she seems ill-equipped to deal with it. This makes little sense to me.
Too much dickering with the system could well void the warranty then the user is in a real pickle.

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I did not want to return it for repair out of concern for sensitive password files that are on there. Trying not to dicker by the way.

Have you tried to reinstall Windows from scratch?

That might be classed as dickering I suggested booting from the Trend Micro rescue disk - it is simply an off disk virus scanner. If it finds and removes the virus (or two) then it might switch on.

I grow weary of my long day with all of you kind helpers. I do not think I did the Trend Micro rescue disk - I will do that anon. Thank you all.

Patsy1011 said:

I grow weary of my long day with all of you kind helpers. I do not think I did the Trend Micro rescue disk - I will do that anon. Thank you all.

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@Patsy1011

This may be thought of as dickering, but maybe not. Hear me out, then make your decision:

1. Re-contact HP and reactivate the issue with them
2. Inform them that you have sensitive information you don't want to lose on the drive in the machine.
3. Ask if you can pull and keep the current hard drive from the machine and replace it with a comparable drive.
a. If the drive is a Seagate 500 GB SSD, replace it with a Seagate . . .
b. You can find the hard drive (that's inside the computer) for your HP 24-DF1046 all-in-one on the HP site. Or, if you reactivate the issue, they will know which drive you have.
4. Worst case scenario, if they don't want you going inside the computer, ask if you can leave the hard drive inside, but send a replacement drive along with the computer so your files will stay intact.
a. If they agree, you can request that the extra hard drive you sent have Windows 11 installed on it and the original (intact hard drive) be used as a second drive for your files and folders.
5. HP is a reputable company and will not look at or steal your files. The only thing they will do is wipe the hard drive; of course, you will then lose your files.

Good luck!