Virus: STILL THERE AFTER WIPING COMPUTER!?!?!?

[caltraskoo]

So my brother got a new laptop after a couple years. I inherited his old laptop with a major problem on it. It apparently has a virus on it that doesn't go away at all. I tried to turn it on, and it took 10 minutes to just get to the password login screen even though the laptop is a high end 2 year old laptop. Everything runs on slow mo, like I will left click an icon on the desktop and it will get highlighted 10 seconds later. Everything is slow as ****. My brother turned it over to Dell tech support and they reinstalled windows and wiped everything and reformatted, except, the virus is still there. The laptop also overheats EXTREMELY easily. Its been on for 15 minutes and it feels like its been on for hours. Please help

 

[KSoD]

This has the classic signs of you installing software that is virus laden. What software have you installed and where did you get it all? Cause there is no way a virus can be there after a format and reinstall. The only way it would re-appear is if you installed it with software that you put on yourself or go onto the internet unprotected.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Actually, this is more of a sign of the laptop not being properly maintained. If it is overheating I suggest cleaning the air ducts, fans, and heatsink of dust. A thick layer tends to build up on the heatsink often.

How do you KNOW that it is a virus, is a scanner picking it up?

 

[GLaDOS]

Also, did Dell (or your brother) perform any kind of a backup before they wiped and reformatted the computer? If this is a virus, the file could have been part of the back-up (perhaps there's a file in your Documents folder that isn't a document?).

I'd have to agree though - the overheating is much more likely dust or even a faulty component (i.e. the fan) than anything related to a virus. And KSoD said, the only way a virus could get onto your system after being reformatted is if it was installed there or inserted when you visited an infected site.

 

[HarrisonChan1220]

You can check your laptop for viruses by doing this: 1. Open a Command Prompt: Start> Run> cmd.exe
2: Type in cd\attrib then press enter. If there are files that is autorun.inf you have a virus. It will say SHR beside autorun.inf. SHR means: +S is system, +H means hidden, and +R means read only. You must delete it.
Type attrib -s -h -r autorun.inf then press enter. type attrib again to see if the properties have been done. If autorun.inf has no more attributes, then you can delete it. type del autorun.inf. Note: If it's still there after deleting it, open task manager and kill it. Press CTRL+ ALT+ DEL. Now go to the Processes tab and select autorun.inf and select End Process. Retype attrib into cmd.exe.

 

[PP Mguire]

It's an overheating issue. Despite what has been said, a virus can still be there after a format BUT the likelyhood of getting a nasty like this is a million to one. You have to **** off the wrong crowd to do this.

Clean the laptops heatsinks of dust and make sure the fans work and keep it in a well ventilated area elevated on a flat surface. Throttling of the CPU can cause major slow downs which is what this sounds like.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Yep, as I said above, besides, OP hasn't posted back about it.