I tried to reinstall a media playrr from an old file and now windows is detecting threats.
PUADlManager its called. Tried deleting it but it showed up again after. cleaned the registry too.
Try Autoruns, it’s part of a suite of tools that Microsoft purchased. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/
thats cool. Googling all the things highlighted as non 'non verified' to see if theyre bad.
This is the only correct answer. Make a new set of backups (so help me if you don't regularly back up) and reinstall from scratch.
I have files backed up, but nothing that allows me to reinstall the os.
Also would a virus not try to nest itself on back-ups?
Well you wouldn't restore system files, so most likely you'd be fine. Best to keep executables out of your backups.
I would also run the Microsoft malicious software removal tool from their website (pretty easy to do).
Then I would consider creating a bootable media rescue/scan disc (not installed to your computer), something like Kaspersky Rescue Disk and using Rufus to make a bootable thumb drive (all free if you have a thumb drive to put it on).
If you actually installed something very nasty, bootable media like this have the advantage of deep cleaning the system before malicious software can hook in and obfuscate its activities and/or enact countermeasures
CAN a normal .exe become a virus years after download? By hijacking an update server the ,exe connects to or something?
Microsoft malicious software removal found nothing!
update: windows defender claims to have found threats, but doesnt specify and doesnt do anything when i click 'take action'
It's been years since I've had to do this, but I always found that the majorgeeks instructions work: https://forums.majorgeeks.com/threads/vista-windows-7-8-10-malware-removal-cleaning-procedure.139681/
ty! I installed malwarebytes. It found threats but they all seem to relate to having a pirated windows copy, thats good right?
lol nice. It is normal for antivirus / antimalware programs to detect software cracks as infected yeah. They can be a working crack and still be infected however.
Last time I messed with that junk MalwareBytes was by far the best program at fixing the junk. Sometimes they'll leave bits and pieces behind that can be removed using HijackThis, but you wanna be a little careful with HijackThis since you can remove important stuff.