Odd startup process?

Hey guys... have an oddity I discovered.
Namely, I ran Malwarebytes and it came up clean (same thing with Windows Defender and Avira), but these two entries showed up in startup of Windows, and there are no such directories that exist in those paths.

I disabled and deleted those startup entries (there are also no programs - at least to my knowledge that could be generating these nasties).

 

I have a strong feeling that your computer is infected.

Please run the ESET Online Scanner from this page then post the results: ESET Online Scanner

 

Nothing out of the ordinary showed up on ESET Online Scanner.

Though it could be that once I deleted it in CCleaner from startup... along with corrected the registry files... its gone.

 

You can download ESET SysRescue Livecd to scan for malwares via usb boot. Download Dr.Web LiveCD in case ESET doesn't detect NVMe drives.
ESET is very fast and Dr. web is somewhat slower but both do their job perfectly.

 

We don't have an NVMe drive in gl702zc. Ours are m2 data drives

 

The M.2 slot supports both SATA and NVMe drives.

 

specs however indicate we have an M2 Sata drive inside (not NVME).

 

Not on your SKU, but BTOs from boutiques can be configured with NVMe, and you could also upgrade yourself.

 

Now that this seems resolved, for future reference use AV test sites like this below before choosing an AV product as they constantly test various suites every few months for detection rates etc. Some of the AV suites listed are free.
https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-10/april-2018/

ESET used to be decent at one time but some av test sites had shown its detection rating is middling at best now. Same with Malwarebytes which was one of the go to detetction apps at one time.

I personally stick to Windows Defender though as I’m pretty careful.


FYI if you live in the United States the major ISPs (Comcast and Centurylink I know for certain) provide free Norton/Symantec Anti Virus / Internet Security via download on ISP Account page, if you can’t find it call and they will provide the download link.


If there is one I hate with a passion it’s Norton. It was required for using University internet when I was in college here in the states. Damn thing would detect something then keep spamming that it detected something, wouldn’t resolve the cause and wouldn’t stop, granted that was years ago (More than 10 Years) and it may have improved but that still left a sour taste and I managed to convince the University of Minnesota to let me avoid it.

 

I sincerely doubt that Laptopsdirect modified the unit. They are simply resellers of the laptop. They aren't a boutique shop.
Some other resellers (that offer the GL702ZC) as a unit you can customize on their website, yes, but otherwise, per Asus specs, it comes standard with M2 sata drive.