Help please - virus, reinstalling OS

chopandchange

Oh dear.

Worry, worry, panic, panic stress, stress...

Maybe it would be best to just stop using the Internet!!

closed

have a glass of wine, leave it scanning, and fix anything found

Browntoa

I'm suspecting theres nothing infecting the Laptop as it goes , maybe just some niggly faults that we may be able to sort

if Malwarebytes finds nothing then there is probably not an ifection

chopandchange

Thank you!

Well I don't drink wine. I will go and do some cardio instead.

I wish I could give you all a hug for helping me.

Before I came on here for help I had already run Ad-Aware, and it found a trojan. So there was something there.

I am a paranoid person in any case though. It's very hard when you're a paranoid person already, and you've just discovered that there is something to worry about, as well as all your imaginary/hypothetical worries.

My webcam is always covered up, just in case someone is remotely accessing it and videoing me! :rotfl:

chopandchange

closed wrote: »

your machine may have a factory restore partition or a means of creating a windows disc

That would be clever of it!

It's an Acer 5735.

I've been doing some phoning and someone is coming round at the weekend with an XP disc - but they have apparently lost the code for it. I thanked them politely for their kind offer of help whilst realising that you need a software code to install Windows.

Sigh...

*tries to stop stressing and decides to go and do cardio*

closed

launch acer erecovery, but check and double check your data is backed up first.

http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/online-support

Browntoa

your laptop seems to have a recovery partition you can use after saving all your photos


reboot the Laptop and while the ACER logo is showing hit ALT and F10 at the same time to start the recover process then follow the simple on screen instructions to reset the Laptop to the same as it left the factory

if ALT F10 does not seem to work then reboot the laptop again and hit F2 at the acer logo to enter BIOS , check to see if ACER Disk to Recovery is enabled , make sure D2D Recovery setting in MAIN is Enabled

chopandchange

The Malwarebytes full scan has ended. It found nothing. Does that mean I am OK, or should I run yet more? I have already done Superantispyware and Ad-Aware and Avira and now Malwarebytes. Between them, they found one trojan and 53 tracking cookies (maybe harmless but I told it to delete them anyway).

Browntoa wrote: »

saving all your photos

As in, put them back on the laptop, as well as having them on the external HD?

reboot the Laptop

does that mean A. restart or B. shut down and then turn on again?

Thank you everyone for all your help. I think I have had enough for one day! I may attempt further things tomorrow!

Phew!

Browntoa

make sure the photo's are definately on the external hard drive by plugging into another PC if possible

just restart the laptop when ready , make sure its plugged into the mains when using the recovery option

I would say it was probably clean as it goes and there is no virus left

chopandchange

Oh dear I don't have another PC.

Edit: but the pics are gone from the laptop. So they wouldn't show up on the HD unless they were really there, would they? They can't be "phantom" pics. Or can they?

Thank you very much for all the advice.