Unsolved
2 Posts
0
309
Issue with Laptop after opening a suspicious file
Inspiron 3501
Hello,
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to report an issue that I have been experiencing with my laptop. A few weeks ago, I received a file from someone on Upwork. I opened the file without realizing that it could be suspicious. After opening the zip file, I started experiencing serious issues with my laptop. I lost two Facebook accounts and the hacker is still trying to steal my accounts. I am not sure if this is due to malware or something else.
Could you please advise me on how to fix this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and assistance.
Best regards,
Junaid
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
44K Posts
0
May 7th, 2023 13:00
And, use a different PC to change the passwords on ALL your accounts. If you use this laptop, the hacker might be able to see whatever password changes you make...
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
44K Posts
0
May 7th, 2023 13:00
For starters, download/install Malwarebytes (free version) and see if it finds/removes malware from your PC.
Junaid Zada
2 Posts
0
May 14th, 2023 11:00
Okay thank you
someone recommend me to change or update my window does this help as well ?
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
44K Posts
0
May 14th, 2023 12:00
A full clean install of Windows on you laptop should solve the problem, but you should still change your passwords ASAP at every site where you have to log in.
If may be risky to try to keep all your personal files and installed apps that are on the laptop now when you reinstall Windows. Keeping files might leave malware on the drive.
So back up just your personal files, browser shortcuts, email in/out boxes, address book etc on external media first. If you don't recognize a file name, don't back it up.
Also make sure you have the product keys for any software you will have to install again, like Microsoft Office, etc. You'll need those keys to activate the apps after you reinstall them.
You didn't say what version of Windows you're using, but you can use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB (at least an 8 GB stick) for either Win 10 or Win 11. I would recommend you create the bootable USB stick on a different PC, to be safe.
Plug that USB into this laptop with power fully off. Power on and tap F12 to open the menu. Select the option to boot from USB. The OS installer should load and walk you through the clean install. Let the Windows installer remove everything from the hard drive during the clean install to make sure the malware is gone.
Then run Windows Update to get all the latest updates and drivers, reinstall your apps, and copy your personal files back onto the hard drive.