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I am computer illiterate . My screen froze and no keys , combination of keys, mouse, off switch , or closing the top had any effect. I have a Dell Insperion N 7010 using Windows 10 and our home WiFi. I was surfing , I think at a UK site. After frozen for 15 minutes the screen went dark , I had not done anything for a few minutes. The only indicator was a red light on the front of the base, The icon looked like a "trash can". I don't remember that red light ever being on before. The red light went off after several minutes. I then pushed the power button and it started up, much slower than normal . But now everything seems to be normal. Is there anything I should do or not do ? ( Other than learn how to use a computer?).

blacksmith37
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    Possible duplicate of [Help! My home PC has been infected by a virus! What do I do now?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/138606/help-my-home-pc-has-been-infected-by-a-virus-what-do-i-do-now) – lapinousexy Jul 30 '17 at 01:46
  • What browser used? – Xaqron Jul 30 '17 at 02:03
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    It is hard to troubleshoot a problematic system on a forum. You might want to get some help or narrow down your question from broad symptoms to something narrower that won't need a lot of speculation. – Sas3 Jul 30 '17 at 06:30
  • I agree with @Sas3. I really don't think you were hacked as malicious activity tend to be as stealth as possible, most probably you just have an issue with your computer. Bring it to a repair service and they will check it. – WhiteWinterWolf Jul 30 '17 at 09:03

2 Answers2

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If you are worried about a possible virus or malware infection then I would recommend that you download MalwareBytes. They offer a free version of their antivirus software that is very good at finding anything suspect on your system.

If you already have antivirus software it could be worth running a scan for your peace of mind!

Οurous
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Mike Johnson
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See also Help! My home PC has been infected by a virus! What do I do now?

Don't know if you get hacked, but I would first assume you get hacked before actually try to find out if you get hacked. If you get hacked, that means you are in a race with the hacker over changing the password of your online banking account/email/etc and securing your credentials (your credit card number, phone number, address, IDs issued by the government etc if you have those information on the computer/email)

Below is what I would do if I suspect I get hacked, and I really don't have a lot of experience in computer security.

  1. Power off the computer (pull the plug or press power button for 10-15 seconds).
  2. Power off the internet router and wifi (use power button or pull the plug)
  3. Power off other computers in your home.

That way nothing can steal any more information from that computer for now. (If they already got any data from the computer before this, then they have that data.)

  1. Find a safe location, computer, and internet (relatives/friends/neighbor etc). Clear the browser's history and close the browser if that is fine with them. Then change your passwords for online banking. After that, may be also tell the bank about this and ask for a freeze on your accounts. Log out from bank website, clear browser history, and close the browser before going to any other websites.

  2. Change the password you use on different websites. If you saved any of those passwords in your browser/computer, and someone else have access to the data on the computer, that means they can get those passwords.

After you take steps to mitigate any potential data theft, you can deal with your computer/router/phone at your own pace.

  1. Do a factory reset on the router in case that get hacked too. Change the password on the router (do not use the default password).

  2. If you need the data on the computer, then power on the computer without ever letting it to connect to internet/router. Run any existing antivirus software on the computer, and copy the data you need to usb thumb drive/CD room/storage media. Assume anything (thumb drive) that comes into contact with the computer is infected. After you backup the data, you do not need any data on the computer.

  3. If you don't need any data on the computer, then reinstall Windows without letting the computer connect to internet. Completely reformat the hard drive during the installation. Restart the computer. It should say "press to go the BIOS setup" or something like that before Windows start. That is the BIOS screen. Press that key and change the boot order. Set it to boot directly from your installation media (CD room or usb thumb drive), instead of your hard drive. Then reinstall Windows.

If they didn't hack your BIOS/usb chips and hijack the booting process of your computer, your computer should be clean now. Reflash the BIOS for extra safety. If they did hack the BIOS, usb, or firmware of your computer, reinstalling can't help... but that is kind of rare unless big organizations (like the government) are trying to hack you.

  1. To avoid future hacking of your computers, use a firewall in addition to antivirus. Keep your operating system (Windows/Linux/Mac OS) up to date. Keep router's firmware up to date and use very long passwords for routers. Try tails (https://tails.boum.org/) for online banking if that is not too tedious for you.

  2. Change passwords for online banking/email/other website again ... just in case if your friend's computer is not entirely safe.

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