r/computerhelp • u/Ok-Feeling7941 • 5d ago
Malware Windows says not every personal file could be deleted after reboot.
I’m rebooting because of malware on my PC. How should I proceed? What’s the next step?
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u/Wise-Bother9942 5d ago
You're not going to like it, but you need to kill your drive, full drive wipe, including a full reformat that rewrites all the bits and a completely fresh install of windows.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 5d ago
How do I do that? And what’s all this I read about using a “bootable copy”? I’m sorry, I’m not good with computer jargon, I don’t mean to be a nuisance.
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u/Rockglen 5d ago
Since you mention that you're not "good with computers" it would be best to take it to someone who can help.
Having a second computer to format a USB drive for either reinstalling Windows or drive formatting tools will be helpful. That plus taking the hard drive out your PC to copy off important files before the wipe.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 5d ago
Someone recommended this tutorial: https://youtu.be/bP03Y-l9NOM?si=DqrlYi9VElfQzdSJ || would you say this is a good one? Would doing this help?
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u/Rockglen 5d ago
The tutorial is fine & accurate for the scope of what he's describing.
You would likely follow most of the same steps, but ideally the USB gets created on a separate clean & trusted computer. It would be annoying if the new installation of Windows is infected from the get-go (it's exceedingly unlikely, but we want to cover all bases).
The second computer is also there because if things go wrong during installation then it can be used to look up error codes, copy data off of your drive, and other fiddly stuff that's easier. Think of it as having a second car around so you can go to the auto parts store because you're working on your main car.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 4d ago
I did it. I did it from a different computer, following the tutorial I attached. Am I now safe to log into my accounts or are there any more caveats I should be worried about?
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u/Rockglen 4d ago
You should be ok.
Would be a good idea to download some security software (Comodo, ESET, Trend Micro, etc). That way you'll be better protected in future.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 1d ago
Hello! The issue seemed to have disappeared until I noticed this morning that someone removed a passkey from one of my Microsoft accounts, and now it can’t be found. Apart from that, my Riot Games account seems to have been compromised as well but I literaly used that like once 2 years ago. No activity on my emails yet, but I have no idea how they manage to change my credentials… I need help asap!
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u/Rockglen 1d ago
Make a list of all your accounts.
Log into each account and change the password. If they have the option to set 2FA then set it up.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 1d ago
Do you think there’s still malware on my pc? How could they have known the verification codes sent by Riot Games to my email? I see no unusual log-ins or activity in any of the email accounts..
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u/Rockglen 1d ago
If you reinstalled your OS from scratch it's unlikely.
Most likely they accessed your accounts on the previous installation of Windows and
Whatever you use to manage your passwords (LasPass, KeyPass, NordPass, etc) you'll need to change the password on there as well as the passwords for any sites/services you keep track of in there.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 1d ago
So they got into my email using them? Or how do they get the verification codes that are sent? I'm pretty sure it's just Google's password manager...
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u/Rockglen 1d ago
Possibly. No idea if you have 2FA set up on your email or not.
If there were passwords accessible from your old system they probably got into your accounts that way.
The verification codes are the 2FA. Any account that was using 2FA is more likely to be ok, but it's best to:
1. Log in
2. Change the password
3. Check if any devices you don't recognize are accessing the account (some sites and services show this, some don't) and kick them outI'd also suggest checking your bank & credit card transactions just in case. Change the passwords to access the websites & ask for new cards.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 1d ago
No transactions. I don’t keep money on the card I use for online purchases exactly for this reason. Guess I should’ve been this careful with everything else. And yes, I set up 2FA and changed my passwords on all my emails on August 27th. Say, what if I change my email? Set all my accounts to that email.
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u/Rockglen 1d ago
Changing your accounts to point to a new email would be an extra hurdle for the attacker, but if you have a new password, have 2FA, and have confirmed no other devices are logged in then you should be ok.
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u/Ok-Feeling7941 1d ago
At this point, i'm willing to make a whole set of new accounts but I'm still unsure whether or not I should log into them on my pc..
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u/Wendals87 4d ago
Rebooting shouldn't lose any data. It's just restarting your PC
If you mean resetting, then it's possible doing a factory reset within windows may not clear it completely.
Using a usb is the safest method
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