Forum Discussion
My computer has been infected by viruses, malware and security threats
My computer is clearly infected with some kind of virus or malware, as I keep getting persistent pop-up ads even when my browser is closed, unfamiliar toolbars and extensions have appeared without my permission, and my system performance has drastically slowed down with the hard drive constantly running at full capacity for no apparent reason. I've already run full scans with Windows Defender and Malwarebytes, but they either find nothing or detect threats that they fail to completely remove, and now I'm also noticing unauthorized outgoing network connections and random file modifications, so I'm hoping someone can suggest more aggressive removal strategies like boot-time scans, rootkit detectors, or manual registry and startup entry cleaning to finally eliminate this stubborn infection and secure my personal data before it gets compromised further.
1 Reply
Use Safe Mode and use AdwCleaner, ESET Online Scanner or Microsoft Safety Scanner to perform a scan. Look for anything that looks suspicious in Startup apps, browser extension and notification permissions. If it still doesn't fix, track down running processes and network connections to find out what's causing the issue. Don't make hand edits to the registry unless you know what you are deleting.
