Friends PC hacked, what do I need to look for to clean?

Peeej

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An old lady friend of mine got her laptop hacked recently, lucjily they were wasting thier time trying to get anything off it as she doesnt do the internet much other than browsing.

It looks like they set up a couple of accounts for her for Google and Outlook Live, I will prolly just rebuilt it from scratch but is there anything in particualr to look for, if I dont go down this route?

cheers
 
I don't think so though, changing her password, (or getting her to change her account passwords and maybe use two factor authentication) may be a good idea)

Rebuilding is always the preferred option if you don't have anything to recover and can afford the time in doing so. YOu get a clean system that you KNOW is free from any questionable remnants that may have been overlooked.

Nice one. We have to look after our elderly.
 
Thanks!
The other quesdtion is, I guess, do I allow it on my network to get it sorted, that bothers me too, as I do have lots on my network and cant afford for it to be compromised. I guess I can set up a guest connection for her but I really need to be secure!

The poor lady was really concerned, shes nearly 90 and was very distressed by the whole thing.
 
I'd not put it on the network till you've done the rebuild unless you happy with shutting down or temporarily disconnecting your own stuff while it's connected.

However, I don't think you need it to be on the network. Is there something you need it to do why you want it connected? It can Certainly be on the network during the rebuild process with no danger to your equipment since once you begin the process the current OS and file system is no longer active.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the question but I hope I have answered it sufficiently.
 
I was just thinking that I may need it to be on the nwtwork to get the installer files but I hiss I can always just grab a copy and stick it on a uSB.
thanks for the advice!
 
No you don't need to be on the network to get the installer files, but you will just need another machine since hers is compromised to do the next bit. Then go to this LINK which is the official Microsoft Windows 10 Media creation tool link and click the Download Tool Now button.

Run this tool on your machine once the download completes. You will need a USB thumb drive of 8gb (4 might be ok but I'm not sure just how big it needs these days) and it will create the install media on the thumb drive for you.

Once you have the thumb drive created you can do the install on her laptop which can be on the network without any worry to you. You may need to go into the bios of her machine to get it to boot from the USB drive though. Just try it first and it may work without you having to do anything, but if it doesn't pick up the thumb drive, you may either have to go into the bios and select the thumb drive for first boot, or you sometimes can get a boot menu at startup (if you hit the required key, F8 on mine) which will allow you to choose the boot device.

Hope this helps
 
Cool thanks buddy!
Going to have to grab a copy of the right version I think, I have pro on my machines and need home but I will find the installer.
 
If you use the media creation tool it will have all versions on it and you can choose the one you want. Make sure you pick the one she has on her laptop at the moment, because then when you install it will automatically activate. If you choose a different version from what she has you will need to purchase a new activation license... so just make sure you know what she has first.

During early steps of the install it will give you the option to enter the license key, just pick "I don't have a license key" (I think that is what the options says, I'm paraphrasing but its something like this) once you finish the install it will recognise the pc has been previously registered and automatically activate. I has to be on the network for activation of course.
 

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