Malware how to remove
Can anyone help me with this program that showed ob my laptop i cant remove it , its called x firefox and only appewrs on task manager at start up i hv it disabled but i wanna remove it entirely
78 Replies
Hi Zil,
Are you running any antivirus programs? An updated antivirus would likely be the easiest route to tackle that issue.
Hello null
I tried running avg , malwarebyts , and the one the laptop has it but sadly none worked
When you go to the task manager and then the startup tab, is it listed?
Yes
I cant open the file location on it
and if you disable it, does it stay disabled?
Yes
did you see if you could remove it from that add/remove programs?
Yes i did
But it doesnt show there
Not in the uninstall either
do you use firefox at all?
or is it just the PUP?
I dont use it i deleted the program the first day i got the laptop since its new
is there anything at c:\firefox?
Lemme check
There isnt
can you search your drive for firefox?
Tried rn but found nothing
is the process running? you tried opening the file location from task manager?
I cant open file location on task manager
what happens? just nothing?
you right clicked on the process name and selected open file location?
what about under the process tab
or is it not running?
I'm hesitant to send you to the registry
but it's looking like that's what needs to be done
Nothing on process
And is it normal for anti malware memory usage to stay 300-400 mb? I only hv task open rn
possibly, I don't know what software it is exactly so its hard to say
I think I'm going to recomend downloading avast and updating it and then running a full scan
I really don't want to send you to the registry
if you aren't familar with working in it you can really damage a system
Ye i dont rly know much
ok let me walk you through avast
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download and install that
go ahead and disable the other antiviruses after you've installed it
I hv none rn
And download avast
Rn installing
ok
after it's downloaded go to the explore section, and then open the scan center
actually first go the settings and make sure it's updated with the latest definitions
then go to the scan center
Should i get premium or na?
nah
Okay
I mean if you want to, but make sure it finds the problem first
I don't
Yes sir
Scanning right now
it should show up as a PUP
Potentially Unwanted Program
Scanned but nothing showed as pup
you did a full scan?
A smart scan
Idk if same
no, do a full scan.
Okay
it should take a long time
it will anazlyze every file.
Done with it it says no malware found
how big is your harddrive?
If u mean gb then its 512
how full is the drive, I think it ran too quickly
I don't see how you accomplished a full scan in 8 minutes
Well i hvnt downloaded much it has 292/512
It says 74gb used
that still seems awfully fast
just with drive thorough put it should have taken over 30 minutes
Idk ill start it again
send me a screenshot of the scan
ok
well, let me think about what to have you do next. I guess you might need to search the registry
ok
win+r
type regedit
Ill have to leave for 2hours if u dont mind puttin steps or if ur on then can i request your help?
Also scan is almost done too
goto hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion
you are then going to seach through the run folder looking for the firefox app
then you are going to do two things. You are going to identify the folder it's running from and delete the registry key
you then want to delete the programs folder
be very very careful
double, even tripple check that you have found the right program
it's also possible that it hid it's keys in other areas, but I'm so very hesitant to have you start searching all over the registry
I would format laptop if it fixes problem but it had freedos before i put bios
... the bios would be independant of freedos
it's the software that turns the hardware into a platform
you couldn't run without it
So would formating the laptop fix the problem ? Since i havent put anything important
well, yes. Assuming its not part of a bootkit.
but that's sort of the nuclear option
and you need to be sure you have clean os images for reinstallation
Clean os as in it hasnt been corrupted right?
I used usb stick then do i still need to hv it?
yes, meaning it isn't infected with malware
I don't understand the second question
Like i used a usb stick to get windows 10 on my laptop
that doesn't mean the image was a clean image
but it doesn't mean it's not too
Generally speaking you only want to download images of windows from microsoft directly
I took it to a service shop so im not a 100%
I would avoid a full system wipe unless absolutely necessary
it can open up a lot more issues
I see ill let you know if i can find it with the steps above since im out right now
Thank you very much
Good luck!
@ZiL For anything that a regular AV doesn't find, I usually throw some 2nd opinion scanners at it like:
NPE - https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20100824120155EN
KVRT - https://www.kaspersky.com/downloads/free-virus-removal-tool
Hitman pro - https://www.hitmanpro.com/en-us
I've seen folks take their laptops to questionable service shops (not saying that yours was at fault, but this is a possibility) that install a bunch of unwanted stuff on their devices.
If everything comes back clean and you still get bad vibes, as long as you have backups of everything you need, a windows reinstall never hurt anyone (if anything you'll probably fix some other bs windows issues along the way lol)
Download and run Norton Power Eraser - Free virus and malware remov...
Norton Power Eraser (NPE) is a free virus removal tool for Windows. It detects and removes viruses, malwares, spywares, trojans and threats from your computer.
Free Virus Removal Tool | Free Virus Scanner and Cleaner | Kaspersky
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HitmanPro
HitmanPro and HitmanPro.Alert. Advanced Malware Scanning, Detection...
HitmanPro cleans malware, viruses, trojans, keyloggers, rootkits, trackers, ransomware and spyware while HitmanPro.Alert provides continuous scanning in real time.
I see thank you
Also is pc antivirus at 300-400 mbs memory run normal?
Depends on what it's doing, I wouldn't be able to tell you off the top of my head
How can i see that
Usually by opening the AV and checking if it's doing stuff
I mean it stays at that range constant even when i dont use it
@_null im back
So i found these
Do i delete both the mozilla files?
I see mozilla and firefox files do i delete them
Removed them sadly its still thete
There
did you read the keys before you deleted them? half of the point of going to the registry was looking at where the program is actually installed
I think it's best to try some of the other tools, did you try some of what DirtyJ suggested?
I use hitman pro it showed this
I've never used it, I need more context
I downloaded hitman pro after it scanned laptop it said it will reset laptop
But ill prob leave the firefox be i think ill prob do more damage if i continue like this sadly
Thanks for your help
Alright. You could always try this as a last resort:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/give-your-pc-a-fresh-start-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e#:~:text=To%20reset%20your%20PC%2C%20go%20to%20Start%20%3E%20Settings%20%3E%20Update,Restore%20preinstalled%20apps%3F%20to%20No.
Give your PC a Fresh Start - Microsoft Support
Fresh Start in Windows 10 lets you perform a clean reinstallation and update of Windows while keeping your personal data and most Windows settings intact.
that's a new one
Try booting in safe mode and checking the log
C:\ProgramData\HitmanPro\Logsuse malwarebytes
if nothing works do a clean install
reinstall
factory reset probably will do it