Virus?Malware

[PussEKatt]

A friend of mine just installed a virus/Malware when downloading a program to unlock his tablet and it has taken over his PC.

What I want to know is how does a virus/Malware just wander into your PC and take over Admin rights ? I mean I didnt know it was that easy to gain admin rights ( a lot of malware/virus do it ) and,why hasent MS fixed this issue yet because it has been going on for years.

Any valid suggestions how to get my friends admin rights back ?

[Daweii]

Firstly, a virus can do whatever it is programmed to do and new viruses are created every day. The malware industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and it's growing by the day. So, this virus taking over admin rights is pretty straight forward if that is what it was programmed to do. As for why Microsoft haven't fixed it yet is because they ultimately can't fix it. This is a cat and mouse issue. For every door that Microsoft close, the malware programmers create a new door, or new keys to open formally closed doors. Now, Microsoft combat this to some extent by constantly updating their anti-virus with new definitions of new malware, but even updating those definitions daily isn't enough to keep up with an industry that is constantly one step ahead. So, what this means is the end user has to remain vigilant, they have to double check the links they click on, the sites they visit, and the applications they download. 

Secondly, I don't think there is much your friend can do at this point. Even if they got their admin rights back, there is no telling what else the virus has altered. Even using a virus scanner to get rid of the virus may not get rid of all components of the virus. My mentality if my operating system is compromised is to reinstall Windows from scratch, and I think ultimately that is your friends only real solution. Reinstall Windows and don't download software to unlock tablets.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Daweii

[blandy]

1 hour ago, PussEKatt said:

A friend of mine just installed a virus/Malware when downloading a program to unlock his tablet and it has taken over his PC.

What I want to know is how does a virus/Malware just wander into your PC and take over Admin rights ? I mean I didnt know it was that easy to gain admin rights ( a lot of malware/virus do it ) and,why hasent MS fixed this issue yet because it has been going on for years.

Any valid suggestions how to get my friends admin rights back ?

Safe start the PC, look in the x86 applications folder on the C drive and remove, or at least verify unknown/unrecognised programmes are meant to be there. There's loads of advice as to how to do that on the interwebs, for example on the microsoft internet site.

There are also tools for malware removal which they could try.

[Tegis]

1 hour ago, PussEKatt said:

What I want to know is how does a virus/Malware just wander into your PC and take over Admin rights ?

Because your friend was much likely already admin on his machine. Thats how almost all people run their private computer installs, or they don't give two hoots about elevating their rights when asked by a program.

[limpid]

Microsoft won't address the virus problem as the huge downstream of "security vendors" acts as cost-free resellers for their shoddy software in order to preserve their own business interests.

Buy a Chromebook.

[PussEKatt]

Thanks guys for that info,I always wondered how a virus took over admin rights.As it turns out my friend has a different prob than what I thought (as above ) he has a "persistant virus" so I advised him to go to "Bleeping computer"