Moms laptop acting sketchy... Possible virus but Avast & Malwarebytes show nothing.

Darkmatterx

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Apr 8, 2003
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Here is what it is doing.

1. Screen doesn't refresh on its own when you do something like delete a file. It still looks like it is there even though it isn't. Laptop has an Intel 4000 built in graphics card and since this is often fixed by updating the drivers I went and looked for some but it turns out she's already using the most up to date driver. Also this problem only started about a month ago.

2. Both of us have seen items like folders just suddenly vanish from the desktop. I found inside another folder that was also on the desktop. My mom also says that sometimes she'll be looking at a website and it will suddenly jump back to her Outlook inbox. This issue is the most mind boggling simply because the folder didn't get damaged, only moved.

3. Windows Update says it needs to restart to finish an update but after a restart using the start menu (yes I pick the one that is for reboot and install updates) the computer says the update failed. Oddly enough, if I use the "Restart" button that is on the Windows Update page it will install the update correctly.

4. Cortana will not open and the search bar, even when it is on the desktop, doesn't work. It will sometimes work after a reboot but only for a while and then it will stop working again.

5. The last and most damning piece of evidence is that I found her computer with all the Avast shields turned off. I turned them back on but by the end of the evening (I was there for dinner) it said the shields were off again. This behavior I have seen before, but only in the more aggressive viruses.

I've run a custom "check everything" Avast scan and a boot time scan and found nothing. Malwarebytes also finds nothing. I've run an sfc /scannow and a chkdsk /r.


Could someone suggest a different program to try that is also very good and sometimes will pick up stuff that Avast might miss? If we can't isolate the problem we'll have to back up her stuff (and hope the virus doesn't tag along) and do a clean Windows 10 install. :(

Thanks.
 

Darkmatterx

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Apr 8, 2003
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Nothing stood out but I didn't do a full play by play of every file running. Since viruses often have names that are the same as legit windows files I'll have to open the root folder for each of them to see where they are. Just the fact that something has compromised Avast enough to be able to turn off its shields doesn't bode well for an easy, quick fix. :(

Even if I bothered to reinstall Avast in hardened mode it's meaningless if the program can't find the problem.