Virus help for a non techie please

soolin

My Virgin email (but not my broadband) was disabled today and when I finally got to talk to Virgin they said it was for security as I had either got some malware or someone had tried to hack me. They said I needed to change my password (which I’ve done) and also run a full scan and remove any virus.

I should also mention that my PC is running slower than solid custard , half the time I try and do something in Firefox it freezes for a minute or two, Chrome is a little better but often freezes as well. So a virus or somehting could be possible despite me routinely running scans.

I’ve done a malwarebytes scan and that shows nothing, I’m 25 minutes into a Panda Dome scan but that seems stalled at 1% and I’ve left it to see if it moves past that percentage. The last scan only shows as 3 days ago anyway and was clear.

Many years back when I had a virus, someone recommended something online to try, I remember it found a lot of minor issues and one more dangerous, and I was talked through getting rid of the nasty stuff- can anyone suggest what I can use.
I’m running Windows 10 (home) on an Aspire XC-704 

EDIT I've just checked the status of the Panda dome scan and it had stalled on 1% so I have come out and gone back in and am starting again but having sat here for a few minutes it looks like it has stalled again on 1% and 523 items scanned. 

TadleyBaggie

Sounds more like a failing hard drive

soolin

TadleyBaggie said:

Sounds more like a failing hard drive

I am looking to replace my PC very shortly (and I’m sure I’ll be on here asking for advice!) but that doesn’t explain Virgin’s insistence that I have a virus . 

Just checked, Panda dome stalled on 1% again

soolin

I’m uninstalling Panda and installing Avast as I can see that has been recommended on here 

forgotmyname

I would not put much hope on Virgins support.  Know someone that had their account locked for receiving
an email with a virus. They did not open the email so not actually infected. Account locked because they
received the email.

If someone is trying to hack you then what has that got to do with a virus?  If I tried to hack you I would be
looking for ways into your machine or network.  Unless they have some data on emails being sent from your
system I would discount that idea.

If you turn off the router for a while do you get a new IP address or is it fixed? Leave it off for a good 20 or 30
minutes. If its a dynamic IP.

Try the free Norton scanner, think its called power eraser now?  Not used it for years so not sure if its really free.
Used to be an online scan where it told you if you were infected and which files but you paid to remove them.
Because it told you which files were infected you could easily remove them without paying.

grumpycrab

soolin said:

I should also mention that my PC is running slower than solid custard , 

I know you're replacing computer soon but it may be worth removing existing disk, sticking in a SSD, and clean intalling Windows10. That's a 30minutes job (get a computer-friend to help)  Data will be accessible from your old disk (e.g. via a caddy) and you can install apps as and when you need them.

soolin

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have scanned and checked and can find nothing at all.

Strangely though after removing Panda dome and installing Avast my PC runs a lot better, so something positive has come out of this!

Jenni_D

As you're running Windows 10 then you don't need Avast or anything - the built-in Windows Defender will do fine. (Unless you're click-happy and don't think about what you're looking at or clicking). Install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (free) for occasional scans.

mksysb

Once you get everything sorted, you might think of moving off Virgin mail.  It's never a good idea to use the one associated with your isp, as you'll have all sorts of problems, if you decide to change to another isp.  Gmail is very good, but there are others independent from your isp.

Sicard

I use Defender which I find is excellent but I used to have Avast and that has the ability to do a bootup scan (in DOS) avoiding any nasties in Windows that put the kibosh on being detected. There is also an app called Rkill which stops any malware from preventing a proper scan: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/ then you can proceed with a scan. There are also nasties hiding in DOSand Malwarebytes has an anti rootkit app https://www.malwarebytes.com/antirootkit

It may be a hardware problem you're having but try those and see.

IvanOpinion

Have you checked your drive for any dodgy sectors?  You can do this by Opening File Manager; right click the relevant drive; select properties; select the tools tab and then select Check now.