Windows 10: Malware on start up

Hello Guys and gals *Smile, its been a while since i have been here , i have unknowingly installed a piece of malware / spyware, i have tried all the known removal process, and still unsuccessful i do have a backup of the C:\ folder. under the c:\ Properties. i was wondering if i restore the folder ( before i caught the malware ) would that resolve my issue ? (See Attached Zip file )

I do have a Image of my C:\ from 3 weeks aga

Thanks in Advance

:)

 

Pop up malware

Please see my post above for additional tools from bleepingcomputer (adwcleaner, etc). (Note also, Malwarebytes has changed, to activate the free after install, go to settings->'My Account"->click the button at the bottom to 'deactivate trial', check also
to make sure it is not starting at 'Windows startup' (under the protection tab in settings).

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12373/windows-update-faq

As Michelle noted; it is critical to 'keep your Windows updated'... Manually check for Windows updates (Settings->Updates and Security->Windows Update), in Advanced options - make sure the box is checked 'Give me updates for other Microsoft products...".

The Browser features to combat Browser Hijacking are getting better, with Chrome x64 features/changes, Microsoft's Digital Loop Protection, etc., but these browser feature will do you no good, if the popups are being generated from malicious software or
installed plugins resident on the computer. It is a good idea to check the system with your antivirus program (Windows Defender), after running at least Adwcleaner, and Malwarebytes at a regular interval or after strangeness...

Never call the number on the Malicious Popups/Browser Hijack -no matter how authentic it looks.

 

Pop up malware

Other than the nuisance of the continual pop-ups, is there a danger of information being stolen, if you don't call the number? Is it necessary to uninstall the browser?

 

Yes. Restoring the backup image will fix your problem as long as you are sure that your malware issue happened after that image was created.

 

Hello Guys and Gals. i was successful in restoring my Image from 2 Months ago, took all of 15 mins, Saved me Months of time to reinstall everything, I also have a couple of incremental, Differential and full (smart backup), would restoring the ( Full smart backup ) dated 5/6/16 bring me up to Reasonable state before i was infected,, the smart backup was done before i was infected

Thanks in Advance

 

If you think you are good and not missing anything or that much, just ignore those backups.

Otherwise, go for it. If you get the problem back, then you just have to restore the image again. As long as you have a working image backup, you don't have to worry too much about trying anything. That's essentially what backups are for.

 

Hello Guys and Gals. i have Restored the backup and i am now back to normal. Thanks for everyone's Help. i will be more Careful in the Future, glad i had an Image to restore from,

Thanks

 

It wouldn't hurt to run TDSSKiller to make sure the last malware didn't leave a rootkit. And yes, having an system image can be a lifesaver for your data & save you a lot of headaches.

TDSSKiller Download



Note When running TDSSKiller, launch the program, click on the blue text "Change Parameters" & check the box marked "Detect TDLFS File system." Click OK & then run the scan.

 

Hi there
A good idea is to take a FULL backup say once a week and then daily / nightly incremental / differential ones. Then every second or third week delete the OLDEST backup plus the incrementals / differentials -- i.e keep 2 sets --one current and the previous one.

Cheers
jimbo

 

I disagree on the incremental ones. If one incremental goes bad, you're screwed on the whole linked bunch.

 

My approach is different. My data is always on a separate hard drive (not mixed with OS drive). So all of my images are purely system data (OS + main programs). If something goes wrong, I just image right away without having to worry about my data as they are intact on separate drive. If I need to re-install some of my programs, it's not an issue. I just reinstall them when I need them. I have all my installers on the same drive as data. It's so quick to install programs on M.2 SSD.

 

Hi there

I always take a complete backup / image of the OS - it's on a separate SSD on my system. I always fully back that up.

@simrick as far as incrementals go I was assuming that this refers to DATA (Music, Video etc). These sorts of files shouldn't change very often so the incrementals once a week should be quite safe --you don't really want to back up say a multi-media library of 10 TB every day !!! - usually unnecessary. Even if you were with a bad accident to lose one set of incrementals you probably wouldn't have lost too much data.

Re-creating a complete multi-media library though would be a mega pain

--re CD / DVD rips, re-tagging music files, recovering stuff from iTunes etc.
Would be a real pain !!!! even for a smallish set of multi-media directories.

Cheers
jimbo

 

Hello Guys and Gals. i have ran the TDDS Killer software and all seem to be good , i also Keep all my Images on a External HD. most of my other programs are on a separate partition on a HD, so all my Images are just of the OS and required Programs. and i usually keep 2 separate images.

Thanks in advance

 

Best thing you can do. Today's malware/ransomware seeks out any backups & tries to fubar those too. Best to keep everything on an external HD that isn't plugged into the system at all times, only for backup purposes. *Wink

 

Glad you're back up and running. Please mark the thread as solved.