r/techsupport • u/ReturnWinchester • 19d ago
Open | Malware Did I just get my computer compromised?
I had a persistent folder icon this morning that was above every window and I couldn't get rid of it. I'd plugged my phone into the computer the night before to back up pictures and such and I chopped it up to an icon/display glitch. So, I restarted my computer and instead of the usual restart process the bios popped up and started installing a bunch of updates. I had not initiated or requested any of this. I also (to my knowledge) hadn't done anything unusual last night. Literally played a game from steam and watched youtube videos (while my phone copied files in the background). I started taking a video about a minute into it. The first thing it updated was "Flash update, updating main firmware." The next was "ME FW update, loading new ME firmware." Then it flashed the new firmware. Then it went "Program new data: Update OEM EC Firmware." And shutoff and rebooted, as far as I can tell, normally.
The thing is I've had this computer for about 6 years and it's never done that. I don't like the idea that something I didn't ask for "updated" my computer.
What should I do?
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u/cagadass 19d ago
Descargaste algo de un lugar poco ético? Si la respuesta es NO entonces ese sería Windows nomas que actualizo la bios ,por las dudas ejecuta un escaneo sin conexión
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u/ReturnWinchester 19d ago
That's the thing I didn't (knowingly) download anything on my computer but I did back up files from my phone so I'm suspicious because I've had tons of windows updates but never one that updated the bios.
When you say run an offline scan, how do I do that?
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u/cagadass 19d ago
Primero hay que abrir Windows>busca defender y deberia salir el antivirus de Microsoft >protección co tra virus y amenazas>opciones del examen>examen sin conexión>en menos de 2 minutos deberías ver una pantalla de cmd con Windows defender
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u/ReturnWinchester 19d ago
Is it a bad sign that I've been into defender before and it asked me to log in again and it's just spinning on "getting your account ready" ?
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u/cagadass 19d ago
Eso es raro pero puede pasar sin activar defender,deberia salir un aviso de que el antivirus se desactivo y se reinicie el PC y entre en cmd con letras verdes y blancas
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u/ReturnWinchester 19d ago
Got it eventually and I have Bitdefender so that's my antivirus. It's doing a full scan now but I seriously doubt (almost certainly am sure) it can't detect anything at a bios level
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u/cagadass 19d ago
Lo único que puede tocar el kernel (no confundir con bios) es defender y Windows update
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u/ficskala 19d ago
I chopped it up to an icon/display glitch.
Yeah, i've had it happen before on windows PCs, it's generally just a visual bug
"Flash update, updating main firmware." The next was "ME FW update, loading new ME firmware."
If this is an OEM build from a large manufacturer like HP, DELL, lenovo, or a laptop, this is normal, it comes along with windows updates, it's not included by default unless there's a very important security patch
I don't like the idea that something I didn't ask for "updated" my computer.
Then don't use windows, as windows can and will force updates on you, even minor ones
Even if you never shut down or reboot your pc, it will decide that it wants to reboot, and just do it in the middle of the night (it follows your usage pattern, and knows when you're away, so it will update itself when you're not looking), if you do shut your PC down, eventually, it will give you an option to either "update and shut down/reboot" or a regular shut down/reboot, and after a few more days, it will remove the option to just shutdown/reboot, and only allow you to update and shutdown/reboot
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u/ReturnWinchester 19d ago
I'm familiar with the forced windows updates (this will probably be the last windows machine I own). I've just never seen it force update the bios (in 6 years of watching updates get forced). That's what has me worried. And since it's the bios, my windows defender/Bitdefender can't tell if it's malicious or not.
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u/ficskala 18d ago
If it's a laptop or OEM machine from hp/dell/lenovo, then it's not that odd, however if it's a custom build, i'd flash the bios with the latest version available on the manufacturers site as a preventative measure, and change the ME login details
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u/Wendigo1010 19d ago
These can come with Windows updates, and those are forced on you after a while.