Is this a good place to find computer advice?

Sunkist

Sunkist

Member
The day before yesterday, I needed to find email address for a local businessperson.. made the mistake of thinking zoominfo was legitimate, second mistake was trying to download it.. it took Microsoft's whatever-it's-called til yesterday to notify me the .exe was a hacker... I tried to uninstall it, but it would not uninstall..

Disconnected the PC, connected laptop.. ran around changing passwords..
The only whatever-it's-called that presumably scans for AND removes this kind of threat was Norton. Purchased Norton, but can't figure out how to use it, and/or if it's even effective.

WILL it clean all the dangerous stuff out of my devices? and, if so, HOW to install it- I have the infected PC, this laptop I'm currently using, and another PC that isn't working but need to get it fixed.. the Norton I purchased is supposed to be good for multiple devices..
I don't know what the heck I'm doing anyway, but top concern is the confirmation and download link is in my email.. I wouldn't even know how to open my email without hacker being able to access it.

I never use wifi. Is it possible this exe/hacker could have accessed my modem/router???

I don't have a usb to do anything without connecting to the internet, and can only have one device connected at a time.


Hopefully there's someone here that has a lot of tech knowledge and can advise.
 

I've seen some pretty good computer advice on here.
The first thing you might want to try is Malware Bytes, it's free and it will do a pretty thorough scan of your PC looking for all sorts of nefarious files. You can download it here: Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy
Norton is okay, and there's plenty of free programs that are robust enough to protect you. I looked at PC World magazine and they rate in order:
1 Bitdefender
2 Norton
3 McAfee
4 G Data Antivirus
5 Malware Bytes

If you already purchased Norton (#2) that will give you lots of protection. If you're not sure how to use it try looking at YouTube for a tutorial. Here's a link to a YouTube page with several Norton tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+use+norton+antivirus
I'd offer to help but since I don't use Norton I might not be of much use.

Start by downloading and running Malware bytes first, if you picked up a virus or a root kit or a boot Kit it will detect and remove them.

How to make sure Malwarebytes actually scans for rootkits
Malwarebytes does not enable rootkit scanning by default (because it makes scans slower). Best suggestion here is to run a regular scan and then do a rootkit scan afterwards.
To turn it on:
  1. Open Malwarebytes
  2. Click the Gear icon
  3. Go to Security
  4. Enable Scan for rootkits
  5. Run a Threat Scan
I hope this helps.
 
Rich said:
I've seen some pretty good computer advice on here.
The first thing you might want to try is Malware Bytes, it's free and it will do a pretty thorough scan of your PC looking for all sorts of nefarious files. You can download it here: Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy
Norton is okay, and there's plenty of free programs that are robust enough to protect you. I looked at PC World magazine and they rate in order:
1 Bitdefender
2 Norton
3 McAfee
4 G Data Antivirus
5 Malware Bytes

If you already purchased Norton (#2) that will give you lots of protection. If you're not sure how to use it try looking at YouTube for a tutorial. Here's a link to a YouTube page with several Norton tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+use+norton+antivirus
I'd offer to help but since I don't use Norton I might not be of much use.

Start by downloading and running Malware bytes first, if you picked up a virus or a root kit or a boot Kit it will detect and remove them.

How to make sure Malwarebytes actually scans for rootkits
Malwarebytes does not enable rootkit scanning by default (because it makes scans slower). Best suggestion here is to run a regular scan and then do a rootkit scan afterwards.
To turn it on:
  1. Open Malwarebytes
  2. Click the Gear icon
  3. Go to Security
  4. Enable Scan for rootkits
  5. Run a Threat Scan
I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Thank you!!!! I'll need to come back to this tomorrow when I've been able to get a little sleep, am totally wiped out..

Before I chose Norton, I checked Bitdefender, but it appeared that it does not actually remove this stuff.
I considered and/or tried various others before this even occurred, most seemed to have one thing in common: scanning and/or detecting threats, but not removing them without buying an additional program/software.

I've been using CCleaner for a few years, that didn't even pick up on the threat.

I've also used MalwareBytes for quite a few years, but this is the second time something like this has happened without M.B. detecting it. The other instance was a different PC, a few years ago.
 

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