Solved Scam or real?

Patsy1011 said:

I am going to uninstall McAfee. and just go with Defender for the HP.

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How did that go? Did you use the Windows uninstaller, or go with the McAfee Consumer ... Uninstaller?

Did not do yet. Will go with the link provided-I guess that's the McAfee Consumer gizmo.

Well a Pup is something it found - it shouldn't be on a new system - so that's probably what it was.

@Patsy1011

They advise trying the standard Windows Installed Apps uninstaller first. My guess is that if you use that, and then go into Program Files, Program Files (x86), and ProgramData and delete everything that mentions McAfee, and then check your <username>\AppData\Local and Roaming and do the same, you'll be in the clear. I don't know whether you have or use CCleaner, but if you do its Registry cleaner is very good when used wisely and conservatively. I'd set it this way, and run it, and take 'em out:

CCleaner Free Portable (no installer, so nothing to uninstall if you just want to get it and use it once) is here:

I've uninstalled the free trial of McAfee a few times and just done it via control panel and had no issues At the time of uninstall there is a tick box or similar to ask if you want to uninstall the whole thing.

@Hazel123

I'll bet you that if you do a Registry search for McAfee, you'll find a ton of stuff left over from those installs on that machine.

It won't do you any harm, really, but it's trash.

I would think the Control Panel function would do it fine. Looks a lot more straightforward than the McAfee Consumer gizmo. Thanks to all again.

Patsy1011 said:

I would think the Control Panel function would do it fine

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Sorry, but you would think wrong. Uninstalling using "programs and features" will NOT get rid of everything. Either use an uninstaller like Revo or use the MCPR tool. In fact, I always uninstall with Revo and then run MCPR afterwards for good measure.

By uninstalling from control panel and opting to tick the box to remove everything, it stops it running on your system and reminding you and removes the application. I accept there may be more thorough ways that remove every trace, although when I do a search, nothing comes up. And I've not had any issues installing different antivirus. I don't think it's quite as bad as it used to be for that.

This makes me suspect UEFI-BIOS contamination by malware!

I suspect that your BIOS has been corrupted by malware. UEFI-BIOS seems to often be at higher risk than legacy-BIOS, this is why updating the BIOS is more important now! Back in the legacy-BIOS days, it looked like a higher risk of a failed BIOS update, but even back in the legacy-BIOS days, I never had a BIOS update failure.

RJARRRPCGP said:

This makes me suspect UEFI-BIOS contamination by malware!

I suspect that your BIOS has been corrupted by malware. UEFI-BIOS seems to often be at higher risk than legacy-BIOS, this is why updating the BIOS is more important now! Back in the legacy-BIOS days, it looked like a higher risk of a failed BIOS update, but even back in the legacy-BIOS days, I never had a BIOS update failure.

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This computer was fixed by a new power cord. There was no actual malware.

Just the one Pup Just out of interest, when the computer was first turned on, what actions were taken before the large Defender pop up appeared? Were any websites visited or anything downloaded? And was Edge opened?

I wish I could be more accurate but we were both stunned by this thing beeping and telling us bad stuff on her brand new pc! I believe Edge was open as that was the browser she always uses - she clicked on an ad, I believe and that is what started the alarm going off.

Patsy1011 said:

I wish I could be more accurate but we were both stunned by this thing beeping and telling us bad stuff on her brand new pc! I believe Edge was open as that was the browser she always uses - she clicked on an ad, I believe and that is what started the alarm going off.

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Strange . . . I just got one of those! I finally had to sign out to get rid of it, but due to prior experience with this crap, I knew what to do.

Clicking on an ad or purported news article sets the thing off. . . .

We weren't too sure but thought it had been an ad that was the culprit. And you also got one. Wow...

It does sound like the ad then. You were lucky it was just one PUP found really! It is bizarre the power failed at the same time.

@Patsy1011 Make sure that the computer is free of malware before creating a backup. Or else, the malware is in the backup and upon restore, it is back in the computer.

Run a malware scan before creating a backup

Hazel123 said:

It does sound like the ad then. You were lucky it was just one PUP found really! It is bizarre the power failed at the same time.

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No kidding!! We are true novices so it was a great relief to be able to stop that malware with Task Mgr. The power cord thing is REALLY annoying. We would have been fine with everything but that really threw a wrench at us. So far all working fine. Thanks for your comments.

Haydon - will do - haven't had a minute to deal with the backup -- when I do it will be re-scanned first. Thanks.

Now you've got it turned on again you could do a Trend Micro online scan - in addition to any others. Just for belt and braces.

No installation needed.