Malware/Virus From Opening Site- Windows Security Detected Tons of Threats?

Need some advice here. Dell windows laptop for many years. I have windows ten pro and also use bitlocker. I am pretty careful with what links I click on and what I download on it.



I only have the default windows security that comes with windows and malwarebytes but thats only the free version.



But recently when I was on google I clicked on something and then it reopened a link to a website. That website seemed to be similar to a phishing link I believe because instead of an official site that ends in .com it goes to a similar site except it doesn't end in .com but another three letters. The thing though is when I went to that site, I just closed it. I didn't see any program open and any program downloading.



Now I then ran windows security and clicked on virus and threat protection. Previously any full scan I done.. it would take almost two hours and it would rarely if ever show any malware. Now I notice when I clicked on it, after not many minutes it showed detecting threat. I forgot if I waited till I stopped the full scan or not. But I do know is it had a threat. I then clicked on trying to remove the threat. That took a bit.

But afterwards, I saw something like




Last Scan :

Over 7000 Threats Founds



I then did a full scan again which took like almost two hours. It showed no threats. No current threats. But then it now shows



Over 10000 Threats Found.



I then did a few full scans and it shows 0 current threats. But it still shows that Over 10,000 Threats Founds.



When I click on Allowed Threats and Protection History, you see a few threats but they immediately disappear. The only one that displays is


This app has been blocked Low



Previously I had clicked on clean/fix these threats earlier where it had more than just the


This app has been blocked Low

 

In the Protection history on windows security, I have it on



All recent items Filter


This app has been blocked Low





I could click on the low and open it. Do I do that? I did something like this with another threat earlier when I did the scanning a while back.


The reason why I think I have malware/virus is because now



Antimalware Service Executable is very high. Its 50% when i restarted my laptop and stays around that even with no chrome or anything opened. It does go down to as low as 30% but its not suppose to stay this high. The antimalware service executable is over 65% CPU now and staying this way. Chrome CPU literally is like 0.5%


The other thing is after I open a ton of chrome tabs, I typically have a lot of tabs saved so when you open chrome, cpu would go up to 100% for a bit before it goes down which is normal.


But after opening the chrome tabs, I have ton of them opened, it shows me using like 0.5% cpu or even 0% which is not normal. Example I have a few chrome tabs windows open and each one has a lot of tabs. So imagine me having like 50 tabs opened, why is the cpu for chrome this low? It does use like 2gb of RAM though but normally it uses much more. So basically the antimalware service executable is staying between 35% to 50% of cpu usage but chrome barely shows any % cpu which is not normal.



Can anyone please give me advice on what I can do here? Did I remove all those threats earlier? I'm concerned if I got malware/keylogger etc. What can i do here? I'm typing this from another computof mine.'

 

Okay so when I click on protection history, I took a video of it since that is the only way I could capture what it shows because it immediately goes away.


Shows this


Detected:UADIManager:Win32/InstallCore
Status: Removed
A threat or app was removed from this device


Date: XX XX XX
Details: This program has potentionally unwanted behavior


Affected Files


Shows like two different files etc.



But this certainly can't be the 10,000 Threats right? Again right now the Antimalware service Executable is literally 65% and the chrome is using 0% CPU when I have like 50 chrome tabs opened. You also hear my laptop as well because of the CPU usage. Do I have malware/virus? Thing is I haven't done a windows scan in a while but I feel like me going to a site earlier caused this. Anyone have advice here? I read online this is something relating to browser hijacking and keylogging?


I also have the website that I went to as its still in my chrome browser history. Would be posting that specific link website here tell you guys if it indeed is a dangerous site?


Thus that site was a phishing site link that I clicked on. But I closed the site after clicking on it. Is there a way to make sure I do not have any malware/keylogger etc? I am very upset right now.

 

But you play poker games on your laptop that are malicious yet complain about malware and security every other day.

 

All the poker programs I ever downloaded do not have malware. These are legit sites and those software I download are legit. These are the programs that are the most reputable.


What I did had nothing to do with that. I was basically web browsing on my computer and then I clicked on a link to a site and this happened. Imagine you were checking your email and then clicked on a phishing link etc. That is basically what I did. I then just closed that website. I was just web browsing and nothing else.


My question is would me posting the exact link url I clicked on... could anyone here find out if it indeed has malware/keylogger etc? Again the main issue is I did a windows scan after it and it detected that malware and it showed 7000 threats. Then another scan later it showed 10000 threats. But I then did few multiple scans after that and showed no current threats. But why does it still show 10000 threats found right under my last scan? I mean its possible i had these threats before this but very unlikely because any scan I ever did on my laptop, I rarely if ever had any threats. So i believe the culprit was me clicking on that dangerous link. If you can offer feedback on this, I would appreciate it.

 

Right, firstly, for the future, I highly advise you to install an adblocker like AdGuard or AdBlock Plus and make sure in the settings to turn off Allow acceptable ads as well.

Now,

Download and run Adwcleaner = https://toolslib.net/downloads/viewdownload/1-adwcleaner/

let it scan, once it scans it will prompt you to reboot for cleaning

Next, download and install the FREE version of SUPERAntiSpyware and do a FULL system scan not just quick then let it clean: https://www.superantispyware.com/download.html

Finally, download and run Malwarebytes Free and do a scan: https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download

Make sure to right-click on the files you just downloaded, go to Properties, then hit Unblock from the bottom right as it may be blocked since it was downloaded from the internet, if you don't do this before you run the file or extract it, then it may not install correctly due to insufficient privileges.

To prevent this automatic blocking of files in the future so you don't have to go unblocking every file you download to ensure it runs properly, check the guide in this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/are-you-sure-you-want-to-run-this-file-yes-or-no.825668/

 

I do have adblock plus on.


I do have malwarebytes free. I scanned it and found nothing. It was only windows defender that found these things earlier. But again the amount of threats was in the thousands.


So those two programs you mentioned, if it shows nothing on those programs, then there is nothing at all? Surely malware/keylogger could be hidden? The thing is those programs are free so wouldn't they be not that effective? I remember using superantispyware a long time ago and removing it because people said you didn't need it and only need windows defender and malwarebytes.



The link you gave me for the first one... can i just download it from this link? Its the same one right?

https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner



For the superantispyware, do i download pro x free trial or free version? I assume the pro-x?



But what about programs like total kapersky? So do those programs you posted just as good as those expensive kapersky ones? i do know there is free trial for kapersky but as of now, I do not care about it as I want the best way to scan my machine.

 

AdAware was recently bought by Malwarebytes, it is a very gold and good tool that detects thing which other Antivirus programs and/or anti-spyware programs miss.

SUPERSAntiSpyware while not the best at detected those things, it is still wise to run a scan and see what it finds, it's free anyway and what it excels in is finding stuff that's hijacking your web browser like bad extensions and/or cookies

 

Seriously ?
You STILL doubt that online gambling is infested to the nines with malware-spyware-virals ????
I hate to put it this way and will probably get bad feedback for saying this....but it needs said.
You need your head checked dude.

 

Okay so will that link i post for adwcleaner work? I googled it and found your link but also the link i posted?


The thing is i dont want to download so many of these virus programs because well what if some of them contain malware if you know what i mean. So i want to stick to the best ones right now. But you still suggest these two. But what about kapersky? So the windows defender is good still right?

 

I am beyond frustrated right now and you guys are blaming me. First off, those gambling sites that I play on... I download them to my computer. These are legit sites and are clients. Ask anyone who plays online poke rif those things have malware. I am talking about those top legit sites. So anytime I play on those sites, I open client and log in and play. I have not ever had issues with these sites because the sites I play on are legit sites.


But this has nothing to do with it. I accidentally clicked on a link while web browsing and it got me to this website. Had I saw the answer to a question was going to direct me to a link, I wouldn't click on it. Or if I saw that site url, I wouldn't click on it. I was just checking a question on google and clicked for the answer and it brought me to this website. Imagine you were on google and checking for an answer and then it brings you to a website like this. Or like you clicked on something and it was a phishing link and you didn't know. So had this been say an email link i clicked on and was phishing, it would be very similar. Many people have accidentally clicked on links etc. So imagine the link they clicked on was this which has nothing to do with what they do.


So I want to know what is the best solution to this right now. Again, the big issue is I saw tons of threats detected and then saw that program that was there which is why I"m concerned. Do i download kapersky and check my computer? Are only those two programs mentioned above good enough?

 

The the anti-malware programs may contain malware but Poker games don't.

I'm outta here. Good luck man.

 

I'm confused. I downloaded Adwcleaner and its the same thing as malwarebytes? I downloaded it from the link i posted and installed it. But this is exactly the same malwarebytes free program im currently using?

 

No matter what advice we give you you refuse to listen and the fact that you're still using an infected computer for months is mind boggling..... It doesnt matter its a poker app and/or you clicked on a phishing link, most likely its both are the reasons why you're infected with malware and yes it is your fault. Hell Windows Security is telling you you're badly infected especially with that many threats detected or it could a fake windows security program that was installed by the malware because i never that many threats on a single computer before unless you're going on some crazy sites.

The only solution you can do for your situation is to reinstall windows and you should of done it months ago like me and others suggested before in your previous threads.

That's all.

 

100% eradication of infestation and virus:

- Format all drives, install fresh OS.
or
- Put the laptop in an oven at 250 °C for 2,5 hours.
or
- Inject an antiviral serum, available for HD & SSD.

 

This is just beyond ridiculous from the replies I am getting. I have mentioned to you... online poker is my sole source of income. That is what I do for a living. I been doing it for many years. Thus I play on certain clients and programs and use software but all these programs and software are legit.


Me clicking on a link has absolute nothing to do with this even if it was to a gambling site. That is the main point here that you guys are not getting. What if it was some other spyware site or something that I clicked by accident while on google? What you going to say about that?


I wasn't even trying to download any program. Imagine someone who was just reading about something online or anything and just clicked on a link on google and then they went to that phishing poker site because they were just web browsing. You going to blame it on them even if they don't gamble or anything like that? They could literally be looking at food cooking recipes and then the link got them there. The same with tons of phishing sites that are out there etc and many people mistakenly clicked on. You going to blame them as harsh or not?


What I'm asking is what can I do right now? Yes i know i could just wipe my computer clean and do clean install. But I don't have much things backed up. And obviously I don't want to back it up now on a hard drive if my computer is compromised.


I want to know if there is any virus program I could download now where it could scan and possibly find any malware/keylogger/browser hi jacking. And thus if so, could it possibly remove any type of malware on it. Someone else on another forum suggested that I download kapersky total. But would it be able to remove every single thing on my computer. That to me is the most important thing right now.

 

There are a couple of steps that can be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. I always follow my own checklist since several years and it goes like this (for browsing):

1. Avoid mainstream browsers (Google Chrome and Firefox are the 2021 mainstream browsers number one) since they are the most exploited and targeted.
2. Use a more privacy focused browser such as Brave Browser or Vivaldi, alternatively Waterfox.
3. Install uBlock Origin with extra lists enabled paired with NoScript (scriptblocker), HTTPS Everywhere, Skip Redirect (NoRedirect with Waterfox), Bitdefender TrafficLight and a cookie manager that delete cookies.
4. Check the links before clicking, i.e. " [email protected]" as a sender who claim the need for your credit card information due to a "security breach" or "Gogle.com.in" or "goglemail.com.in" is with 100% certainty not Google.com or Gmail.com.
5. Using something like NextDNS or Adguard DNS with blocklists provide an extra layer of defense.

Further security can be obtained by running the browser in a sandbox and also use different browsers (such as one browser for shopping where all data is deleted when it is closed and the only sites visited are the exact stores where a purchase will be made) together with AppLocker rules (this is in order to prevent execution of inappropriate .exe or .vbs etc outside specifically allowed locations).

The best solution to clean up a "mainstream browser induced infected PC" is to take a backup of documents and pictures to an external drive and then simply wipe the whole thing clean followed by a newly installed Windows with hardening measures taken.

Before plugging the backup drive in, make sure that Autorun is disabled on all drives and scan it with a decent scanner.

I wouldn't rely on an antivirus application to be able to clean a system that has been compromised through unhardened mainstream browser use (i.e. a PC that suffer from malware infestation after running Google Chrome without any adblocker where the user is running with admin rights, thus allowing said malware to do what it want without restrictions).

It is way better to just backup documents and pictures to an external drive and start anew.

 

How malware can infect your PC - Microsoft Support

Only a clean install will give you peace of mind. But its your computer and your choice.

 

You’re peeing up a rope here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The average person doesnt have thousands of threats detected on their PC like you do, i would say more about you being concerned about security and viruses and yet you still got badly infected but i'll leave it there. Windows defender does a good job of preventing most malware infections and also if anyone click on a suspicious link yes it still be their fault if they got infected. Personally i dont care figuring out what is the main cause of your malware infection because it doesnt change the fact your laptop is badly infected and you refuse to listen to any advice you've been given. Btw poker apps are easy target for hackers for obvious reasons....

"What I'm asking is what can I do right now? Yes i know i could just wipe my computer clean and do clean install. But I don't have much things backed up. And obviously I don't want to back it up now on a hard drive if my computer is compromised."

That what you be doing right now and that your only option, in fact you should of done that in your last thread back in October and yet you continue to use an infected computer since then and who knows what personal information hackers got from you. Also Malware is not going to let install any AV on your system and the damage has been done already. Cut your losses and reinstall Windows and if you can go on safe mode and backup your important files before doing so like everyone have suggested before or continue to use your laptop like you've been doing for months. The choice is yours.

 

Comments I want to make. I did not know chrome and firefox are dangerous browsers. Back then I use firefox and then chrome. I never used microsoft edge because I thought it was like internet explorer and slow etc. Also, I might have heard brave browser just once or twice. Again I'm not that tech savy with those things. I always used chrome to search for things. I didn't even now about other options. I did recall using opera years ago but that was it. I do have adblock plus on my chrome browser. Does that mean much? So I have windows defender, malwarebytese free and adblock plus. So what is the best browser to use in case in situation like this? Is there a way to web browse and it block every dangerous site or is that not possible? I know with my chromebook, no issue with this.



To those of you that are talking down about me downloading poker programs online... I already mentioned this. The online sites I play on are legitimate sites as long as you are downloading it from the official software. So for example if its pokerstars, well it should be from pokerstars.com. If its partypoker, its from partypoker.com. If its some tracking software like holdem manager or pokertracker, make sure you download it from the official site. I have those programs downloaded on this laptop years ago. None of these programs have malware and people here keep saying it does. Do you have any clue how many customers these poker sites have? You think they going to put malware on people's computer? Of course not. Now if its those shady poker sites or shady third party software... that is a completely different story. Again I play online poker as my sole source of income and done that for many years. So what you want me to do. Never download these programs again so how will I earn an income? I have never gotten malware/virus from a poker site ever since I am downloading and playing on legitimate sites. Are you going to say a site like www.wsop.com which is an official site in the US malware as well even though its a legalized site in the US?



Also, I clicked on a link and I had no idea it was going to direct me to this link. This doesn't have anything to do with gambling. What if I told you guys I accidentally clicked on a link for a cake recipe and then it went to this site. What you going to say then? I clicked on a question that asked something like what countr ycan you play on the site and when you click on it normally, it would display the answer and thus the countries but instead it opened up a link to this website. Again I never had this happen one time. And to the person that said why am I not careful with my laptop? Do you have any idea how careful I am with my laptop? I had this laptop for over 5 plus years. Not once have I clicked on something where I got malware/virus. There was only once or twice I clicked on an ad by accident in 5 plus years because it suddenly showed up but windows scan didn't find anything. I also use a chromebook normally when i web browse so anything I click on.. well no concern. But I did this while on my main dell laptop and this happened. Again this is the first time it has happened.

To the person that said the average person doesn't have thousands of threats like I do. I already mentioned this is the first time this has ever happened to me. You talking to me like I get threats found on windows computer every month or something. Let me ask you this. In the last 5 years, have you ever gotten any threat or virus or anything found on your main computer? Because I think all this time with my laptop, I do not remember windows scan ever finding more than one threat at the most and this was maybe one time. And that was a false positive. I never recalled windows defender ever finding any threats at all. How many people can tell you that? Again off the top of my memory, I don't even remember it scanning and finding any threats in these years. If I did, it was one time probably and it was removed.


I also bought a cheap windows laptop to try to log into some of my accounts because of this reason. But its not fast enough to do much. The dell laptop will still be my main laptop whether I do a clean reinstall or not. My main concern is if I log into my password manager on the compromised laptop, then they would have access to all my passwords.


So my question is... is there a way for me to somehow backup my files to an external hard drive safely? Or doing that is risky if my files are infected? Because if so, I would then clean reinstall this laptop. But there is no way for me to do that backup image with macriem reflect anymore right since this situation is like this? Also what about going to a restore point if it created one? Or would that not work in this situation? The thing I wanted was to get kasperky or bitdefender and scan for every malware/keylogger/trojan and if it could possibly remove it, then I would use my computer as is. But nobody here say this is good idea which I understand. But would these two programs have protected me? Or is the web browser very important? The person that mentioned Ublock origin... I have never even heard of these things. Only thing I'm familiar with is adblock plus.


Because if I did an image backup of my computer with macreium free say once a month and had that... then this would be very easy to fix right? Clean reinstall it and then put that image backup and I would have the computer looking like how it was at that backup?


There was only one or two posters in this thread who responded me with advice like geekbear. The rest of you kept blaming it on me and keep talking about gambling sites which has nothing to do with this. How is this different from opening a site by accident in your email when clicking too fast or looking for a recipe online and clicking it only to have it go to a site like this? I basically haven't touched that laptop in days because I'm overwhelmed of where to even start because I don't have backups.

 

In 2023 it will be 25 years since the last time a computer I owned was infected with any sort of virus or malware. Your problems have everything to do with your online habits and behavior, not to mention you not having any sort of backup of your critical files is the absolute height of stupidity. Denying this reality and asking the same questions expecting a different response is not going to change that. Either take the L and start over or don't. Now go away.

 

Do you have any idea how rare it is for anyone to not have a virus/malware for that long? You are a very rare exception. The average computer user will get malware much more often. But again, I am much careful compared to the typical user. You keep saying it has everything to do with my online habits and behavior. Explain to me what I have done before clicking on the link?


I even have a separate chromebook for web browsing and use that mainly for it. But I got a bit lazy and was just web browsing on my main computer which I rarely do. Again, I didn't click on an actual link that was right there... I clicked on an answer to a question and then a link popped up. I never had this happen ever on google.


Yea me not having backups of my critical files in stupid. I agree with you on this. Thing is I was going to do a backup image of macrieum reflect but never did it. If I did, then a clean reinstall and copying that would solve this issue easily.


Now is it possible that link I went to... did not contain malware and I already had this? The thing is I do virus scans on windows defender periodically and it doesn't find any threats. I don't remember the exact time I did a last scan but it was probably a few weeks before that. The thing however is I am positive I did not click or download anything before this time. Again my cpu didn't act up with the high cpu etc until this happened.


What I"m asking is what options I have now besides a complete reinstall? Could I transfer my files on the computer using safe mode or whatever mode there is... to transfer files to an external drive? Or those files are most likely infected if my machine is so I don't want to carry those files to the new cleaned computer?

 

I have never had a virus in my life a well. All I have ai a good antivirus and an adblocker because most of these malicious links are from those scammy ads (ie. click here to speed up your computer or check for errors)

You seriously need to switch to ESET NOD32 Antivirus as it has a built in HTTP scanner so it will not only scan your files, but it will catch and stop any malicious download or website before you even access it as it blocks it on the fly.

What I would do if I were in your shoes?

1) have another computer near me which has ESET NOD32 installed + Malwarebytes Adware cleaner which I showed you before

2) Copy all my current data like documents, pics, music, videos, etc to an external USB drive

3) connect it to the computer with NOD32 and Malwarebytes Awcleaner and let them both scan the drive and clean it

4) Format your laptop

5) copy back the data from the drive after it has been cleaned

6) Install NOD32 and a good adblocker in your browser such as uBlock Origin (google it)

 

Okay so I bought and downloaded kaspersky total as I read very good reviews on this. I read that it would remove any virus/malware and said it picks up to 99% of keyloggers. I am scanning the dell laptop right now. Is this better than the ESET NOD? I read Kaspersky and Bitdefender are the best antivirus out there.


I did every scan ... the full scan, vulnerability scan and the background scan. It found 0 threats on my dell laptop. So what is your opinion on this now?


As of now, I have a desktop windows 10 computer that I just did a clean reinstall on. This is a very old desktop that has that slow hard drive and not ssd.


I also had bought a cheap windows 11 laptop that I just bought recently. This laptop however is very limited in that it has very little ram and hard drive. I had done this to log into some accounts of mine to see if it was compromised etc.


Okay so when you say copy all data like documents/pics/music/video etc to an external usb drive. I cannot do a macrieum reflect image now right? So the computer you want me to connect this external hard drive to... it needs to be a clean computer right? Thus use the windows 10 desktop of mine for this? Also you say use malwarebytes Awcleaner. But this is a free one. So wouldn't the kaspersky total I just bought be better? Also, I did the scans now with it and it shows 0 threats. But is it possible when I move all these documents/files to an external drive... then use kaspersky total on it in another windows computer, then it would find something? So those two programs you mention could scan and clean it. You mean wipe those files clean? But can kaspersky total do the same thing?

 

There is minimal diffences between the better AV software. And you can still risk get an infected pc with whatever AV software you use. No antivirus software will give you 100% security. User errors is still main reason for being infected (download malware/click on everything).

The rise and fall of Kaspersky? US government have banned Kaspersky

See also... https://www.tomsguide.com/news/new-log4j-flaw

"Likewise, criminals may use Log4Shell to corrupt websites to distribute malware or use them in phishing attacks to steal your personal information".

 

I have heard about US gov banning kaspersky years ago. I read a bunch on this but many people say that has not been a concern for the last few years and kaspersky is very good. I see that its mentioned it and bitdefender are pretty much the best ones out there. So would you say that is true? Again, im sure a program like avast is no where as good etc.


Well if you have malware/keylogger, kaspersky should pick up a very high percentage though right? Article I read said it picks up 99% of it. I basically bought the most expensive virus program to scan my computer and it showed 0 threats.


Are you saying even with that logshell, that if you have kaspersky and use all the protection, you could still catch malware?

 

As I said. Most of the better AV software is good. All boils down to what AW software you prefer.

Again. No antivisus software can give 100% security.

And you shouldn't be so worried about Log4shell https://www.askwoody.com/2021/december-2021-patch-tuesday-arrives-say-goodbye-to-2004/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/log4j...devices-at-risk-says-us-cybersecurity-agency/

I posted it so you can see new threats pop up here and there. And more will come in the future. In loads.


Microsoft Patched 887 Known Vulnerabilities in 2021

Edit. Use also the free tool on the web
VirusTotal - Home

 

So I turned off my computer last night. Now turn it on. This is how it looked last night after windows full scan and this is what it shows now



Current Threats

No current threats

Last Scan : 12/14/21 10:35pm (full scan)

-10856 threats founds

Scan lasted 2 hours 02 minutes

195555 files scanned.



Current Threats

No current threats

Last Scan : 12/14/21 10:35pm (full scan)

-11236 threats founds

Scan lasted 2 hours 02 minutes

195555 files scanned.



Notice the threats found changed. That makes no sense because why is that number keep going up if there is never anymore current threats fond? Whenever I do a full scan, it shows no current threats found. Then the threats found number. But the next day I turn on computer, the threats found is always a bigger number. Any reason for this? Example say I do a full scan right now again. It will most likely show no current threats. Tomorrow when I turn on computer, instead of 11236 threats, it will be 11682 threats. So am I picking up new threats? Kaspersky shows 0 threats.

 

Okay I will most likely clean reinstall it. But before I do this, I need to make sure confirmation of all this.


Again my issue is I have lot of files that I need to copy/paste to an external hard drive. How do I know these files are not infected? Again Kaspersky total scanned my entire laptop and it found nothing. I ask this because say after I do a clean reinstall, then when I transfer these external files back, how I know for sure they aren't infected before I transfer these files to the clean reinstalled laptop?


Then with all the programs I have installed... just write down every single program name I have installed so I install it again after I do the clean reinstall right? Again its my mistake I did not create a macrieum reflect backup image because if I done that... then I know I can just clean reinstall windows and then copy the image and my laptop will look like how it normally does.


I do have a spare windows computer.

 

Because its true, i never heard of anyone that have thousands of threats detected like you. You continue to go on dangerous websites and downloading software that are filled with malware and you been infected with it since October and maybe longer than that because you made the same threads about your Dell Laptop. I had threats detected like most people but i havent had a malware infection on any computer in over 10 years and yes that was my fault and the same with yours. The Best Antivirus software out there is yourself but since you wont change your habits you'll end up getting infected again.

"Now is it possible that link I went to... did not contain malware and I already had this? The thing is I do virus scans on windows defender periodically and it doesn't find any threats. I don't remember the exact time I did a last scan but it was probably a few weeks before that. The thing however is I am positive I did not click or download anything before this time. Again my cpu didn't act up with the high cpu etc until this happened.

What I"m asking is what options I have now besides a complete reinstall? Could I transfer my files on the computer using safe mode or whatever mode there is... to transfer files to an external drive? Or those files are most likely infected if my machine is so I don't want to carry
those files to the new cleaned computer?"

High CPU Usage is caused by malware like you been told over and over and also it slows your pc to a crawl.

That what safe mode is for, Again transfer your important stuff to a USB flash drive or External hard drive and then reinstall windows like everyone been telling you to do for months, Your OS is damaged behind repair by the malware along with other issues that escalated since then. Afterwards reinstall your apps and install AV software, install an adblock addon on your web browser and change your habits so you wont get infected again.

Thats all.

 

What is true? In over 5 years with this laptop, I think it found a threat once or twice and that was it. One or both times it was a false positive. I am extremely careful with my laptop. Windows scan has never detected any threats besides these two situations in 5 years until recently. And only this time... it showed thousands of threats. You talking to me like I find thousands of threats once a month or something. Yea you haven't gotten any malware in over 10 years. How would you feel people keep talking down to you very hard the way you guys are talking to me right now? Imagine they say... i never gotten malware in 20 years... and put you down.


Explain to me how I keep going to dangerous website and downloading software that are filled with malware? Give me some examples right now of which ones you mean specifically? Are you talking about pokerstars.com and partypoker.com which are the official sites that you have to go to do download it? Or you mean something else? These programs have been on my computer for years. How many times do I have to tell you I play online poker as my income? You can't play poker online if you don't have these program clients installed. So if someone is a stock trader and had to download a client for stocking trading, you going to blame them on that if they got malware even if it has nothing to do with it and he clicked on some other link? I rarely download any new programs and before I do, I am very careful when I install a new program.


Where did I ever said my computer had malware and infected with it since October? Find me the thread or post that I mention this because I never mentioned this.


Okay, safe mode. I have heard of this before. Yes that is information I would want. But there is no way for me to do a macrieum reflect image backup of my pc now as that is too late right? Again i know if I done this before this all happened, situation would be much easy to fix as it would just require a clean reinstall... then copy it and my computer would look like how it looked before. That is correct right? So transfer all the files to external hard drive. After reinstall windows... make it go to safe mode. Then I connect all these files from external hard drive to the clean reinstall laptop... then which program do I scan it with? Kaspersky total? Windows defender? Again I already paid for kaspersky total because of this mess.


I never had to reinstall windows months ago. When did I had this issue? The only thing I remember was a while back I mentioned my computer when I power it on... sometimes it didn't turn on or was on the dell screen for a while. I never had malware before just recently.


But if someone can give input to what I posted two posts before this with the threats number keep increasing daily from windows scan... I would appreciate it. I am confused why it does that yet it find no current threats and kaspersky finds nothing.

 

This has already been answered for you. Repeatedly.

 

Because you refuse to listen to any advice we've been giving you. Over and over we've been telling you that you have an malware infection and it'll continue to get worse and you still wont do anything about it. You're not extremely careful when you have an malware infection as bad as this. You have over 10000+ Threats detected, think about that!. If you think we're being harsh try to take your Dell laptop to any repair service and the technicians will ask what the hell kinda websites you've been going to and they'll bring up the poker apps as well.

Your previous threads of the same issue your Dell Laptop back In October
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...background-processes-lagging-computer.836966/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/your-pc-ran-into-a-problem-blue-screen-message.837022/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/add-remove-program-issue.836972/

If you follow our advice back in October you would of solved your issue back then and now its December and god knows what else happened..

Yes its too late to do an image backup because you'll carry over the malware infection on a clean windows install. Also malware can hide themselves from detection on a infected computer. Again follow the advice you've been given.

 

In all my previous windows defender scans before this, I believe only twice in 5 plus years did I found any threats. Each time it was one or two threats and in both situations, these were false positives because those programs were not threats.


The only thing that could possibly triggered this 10,000 infections was me going to this website. Again I didn't built these threats since months ago or years ago. Why do you keep saying this? These legit poker apps in my machine has nothing to do with these threats. I installed these programs years ago. What part of this don't you understand? You go ask anyone who plays poker for a living online or seriously and tell them those programs have malware... I'm talking about the legit sites and they will talk to you exactly the way I'm talking to you guys. I didn't develop these threats from back then till now.
I got them from that one time I clicked on the link at least that is what I'm positive of. Are you telling me this isn't possible to get this many threats from going to one site? I did a virus scan immediately and then saw this.


The background processes lagging issue, I believe the answer to this is because one of the poker software made a big update to the software which causes lots of lagging. There was a huge complaint on this issue and that was the reason why. This is not malware.


The pc ran into a problem blue screen message was due to me having too many poker tables opened and playing when the new software they upgraded to couldn't handle it and that is why I got those issues. Their old software never had this issue.


The add remove program issue - I do not know why I had that issue but I was able to remove the program with another option in control panel. This again has nothing to do with me downloading malware.


So none of these situations had to do with me downloading new programs. Now in the first scenario... whenever there is an update on the poker software, when you run the program, it will update itself and take some time. That is very normal and any poker site that does a big update, you will have to let it update until it's done. That is how it works. The only difference here was this update was a very bad update by them which caused lot of players to be upset with the software issues such as crashing etc. The software updates itself within the software so you can't get malware or download from the wrong source.

 

Okay I am not going to argue anymore with this as it doesn't serve any purpose. I am going to most likely clean reinstall it with the method you all suggested.


Now, I'm going to copy all the files/pictures/videos that are in my pictures/downloads/documents on the compromised laptop etc to a usb/external hard drive. I do have a big 1 tb external hard drive that I believe is empty. I believe I deleted everything off of it a while back. But there is a chance there is still some files there. Now if I"m not for sure if that external hard drive is infected or not... what should I do before I transfer these files from the potentially compromised laptop to it? Is there any risk of me just connecting it straight to my usb port on the compromised laptop or not? If my laptop is compromised, my usb ports on laptop shouldn't be?


Do i need to go into safemode on the laptop before I connect the external drive to it? Or if you go to safemode, you don't have access to documents. I do not want to make a single mistake here and going to take every precaution available. Also I have bitlocker enabled and a windows password. Do I need to turn these off before I do anything?

 

Do I need to turn off bitlocker before I do this whole process? I read that if you have bitlocker on, there might be conflicting issues.


I will go into safe mode on the computer and then copy the files to an external hard drive of mine. But I do not know for sure if my external hard drive is for sure clean or not. Its a big 1 tb external hard drive. I remember a while back deleting everything on it but don't recall if I formatted it. Will this be a big issue? I did remember years ago when my old laptop went bad, a computer repair shop was able to copy some of my files from the ssd in that laptop to an external hard drive I provided them. That is the same external hard drive I"m talking about now. So it is recommended to format it first since that computer has been in a repair shop computer years ago and I don't remember if I formatted it or not?


And wouldn't this take a very long time though? Because I recently had formatted a 64 gb usb flash drive recently and it took almost 4 hours.

 

Drew1, applications necessarily update from time to time. I find it highly unlikely that the apps you are using to play poker are untouched installations from several years ago. Additionally, and as several other users have pointed out, the fact that you engage in online gambling does indicate that you visit a more exploitative side of the internet. You've mentioned having false-positives get flagged in the past, which also indicates certain risky behaviors. To be clear, you aren't talking to a bunch of Luddites. When I get a false-positive, I know exactly why that happened.

You don't seem to understand that you are engaged in risky behavior and ultimately any online engagement has some degree of risk that comes with it. You've been told, numerous times how to solve your problems but you don't seem interested in the answers you've been given. I'm going to give you my approach and leave it at that:

1. Determine the bare minimum files you need to save from the infected laptop
2. Copy those files to a portable HDD or thumb drive
3. Turn bitlocker off
4. Perform a clean W10 install (delete all partitions, create a new partition for the new install)
5. Install an AV suite of your choice (MalwareBytes or BitDefender would be my choices as they are both good and have free versions)
6. Scan the HDD or thumb drive you moved your important file to
7. Follow whatever remedy the AV suite recommends (purge/quarantine/etc.)

That's it.

FWIW - I've never had an infection in the 20+ years I've been working with computers either. You make an explicit decision when you download or install software on most, if not all modern computers. Rarely do bad actors put on black hats and actively attack a person's personal computer, be it for amusement or financial gain. If you've gotten attention from those people, then you are playing around in parts of the internet that you'd better know exactly what you are doing if you decide to visit. If you don't, then don't go there.

 

Also, because you seem committed to engaging in said risky behavior and ignore all pleas to stop, if you intend to continue online gambling, then you need to protect yourself. This isn't meant as a poke, but I'm guessing that because you are using a XPS 9550 that's five years old, you aren't winning enough to get a better laptop? I'd get something that can easily run Windows in a Virtual Machine, grab another license, and then you can go hog wild and not worry too much about what illness your VM catches. A better set up would be to dual boot Linux and Windows with your poker habits on the Windows partition and your personal stuff on the Linux side.

 

Hi thanks for the response. I will post on the other thread as this one has gotten off topic. Yes those old poker installations do update from time to time. So when I open a program, it might show an update and then install. This is safe because you are basically letting that client update. This is very normal. If you don't let it update, well you can't log in.


It wasn't an infection... it was a threat. So isn't that a big difference?


I am using my old xps 9550 that's five years old mainly because this computer is more than fast enough to play online poker. I want to stick with this xps laptop series only. I do not make that much money from playing anymore. Buying another xps laptop would not been an issue. I had considered to get a new dell xps laptop last year but eventually just upgrade the parts... battery, ram and ssd.


But the main issue was I didn't want to deal with having to save all my files and copying everything again. I had used samsung magician to copy my old ssd into the new ssd and it worked when I replaced my ssd on this machine last year. So if I were to get a new xps laptop now, I would want to copy the entire ssd into it... which would not make the new computer a clean install so I just upgraded the parts. Yes I heard of the virtual machine before. I actually have a chromebook to do personal stuff on. So for example when I web browse, it's on my chromebook. But this time, I did it on my main laptop and it opened a link to a site.

 

This is the problem that others are trying to get you to understand; online gambling invites its own host of bad actors. These actors realize there is a lot of money to be made exploiting people like you, that have money to spend and not a lot of technical savvy. While you openly question those on these forums with technical knowledge about the safety of downloading and running software designed to detect and remove malware, you simultaneously trust, explicitly, software vendors that this community knows as a harbor for PUPs, spyware, and other bad applications. That irony isn't lost on me, but does appear to go over you.

Threat = infection. You have something on your computer that the AV suite sees as a problem.

Just an observation, that's what my comment was.

That's fine. Just make sure you stick to your protocol then. Malware has become exceedingly sophisticated. Yes, simply opening a web page can create problems when images or scripts get loaded into memory. It doesn't need you to download something or run an executable anymore.

 

I posted the link of the site I went to.


https://www.pokerstars.bet/?no_redirect=1


People mentioned this link is safe. If you check virustotal site, it shows its safe. The thing was had windows defender not find anything, I wouldn't been concerned at all.


Is it possible when I went to that site at the moment, it had malware, but bit later on, that person changed it to where the site is now safe?


Okay didn't know threat meant infection. Because I thought well if its false positive... well its not infection.


Well if you open a web page with images and scripts loaded... even with ad block plus, that doesn't do anything? I had used chrome during this time. But if you used kaspersky with firefox, then the odds of something getting into memory is a lot less?

 

This is the issue that I keep noticing. So I did a full windows defender full scan and no current threats. Look at picture 1. Picture 2 is basically me going back to Virus Threat and Protection where you see Kaspersky Total being the primary virus program. Below it, you see how I just did the scan and no threats.


Then I close windows security and reopen it. Look at picture 3 and 4. You see how you see 10,225 threats found? Picture 4 is when I click on scan options for the windows scan. Why does it shows 10,225 threats when there is no current threats? Each time I do a full scan of windows scan, this would be happen. No current threats, you close it. Then reopen it, it will show up with a different amount of 10,000 threats on it.

 

@Drew1 , We're going to look at a couple of things here. Windows Defender has a curious habit of repeatedly identifying the same threat as a new one, which if you could imagine would only take a couple of weeks to go from one or two actual threats to several thousand. We are going to see if that's the case here. Please perform the following steps and report back what the findings are. I'm going to be clear about one thing; I've seen you dodge around and not do what other folks have asked you to do. If you decide to not follow my advice, cool. It will be here on this thread if you decide to come back to it. However, I'm not going to waste either your time or mine trying to ask you to do stuff you aren't interested in doing. If that sounds patronizing or condescending, it isn't meant to be. I'm just telling you what the expectations are here.

What we're going to do is delete your Windows Defender analysis history and run a new scan with Kaspersky. What I think you're seeing is Windows Defender repeatedly flagging its own discoveries, creating thousands of hits for something it dealt with a while ago.

Here are the instructions:

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog
2. Copy and paste this into that field - C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Scans\\History
3. Select the Service folder and delete it (you might get an elevated access warning, click yes or continue)
   
4. Now press Windows key + I and open Windows Security
5. Select Virus & Threat Protection option on the left pane and open Manage settings option
6. Slide the toggle to Off and then return back to On

Once you've completed this, run the Kaspersky full scan and then run the Windows Defender Offline full scan. Please report back what it finds.

 

I copied and pasted that. It opened up to


Local drive C: Program Data Microsoft Windows


Tons of Folders Show Up like

AppRepository
Caches
ClipSVN
XXX
XXX
Appxprovisioning xml document.


Where is the service folder?

 

Re-read step 2.

 

I copied and pasted this in the field...


C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Scans\\History



Where is the service folder? There is nothing show that.

 

Mine does not show the scans.

 

This is the page that opens when I copy and paste that in the run. Note, I did erase some folders under pictures due to privacy issues. Where is the service folder here? After I entered it, it was highlighting the appsprovisioning file at the bottom.