[SOLVED] Files Disappearing Off Of SSD

[Damian9303]

I have bought my laptop around a year ago, which came with a 237GB SSD and a 1.81TB HDD. However, due to a problem with the hard drive failing along with Windows bricking itself after an update, I found myself having to send it in to warranty to have it fixed. Once I got it back, and had to start a new, everything seemed fine till a couple days in when I started hearing an error sound whenever I turned off my computer. I didn't really take mind to it till I noticed Wallpaper Engine, which I had on my Startup list, was no longer there anymore. So I went to the program and tried putting it back on while ordering Chkdsk to run on next startup. I did, and the log (which I can provide) shows there to be problems with the indexing of files which it apparently fixed. Now after it's done, I find that it still isn't on the startup list but now also that several of my programs have stopped working since their files have been erased it seems. Internet Download Manager seems to have its executable erased, trying to do anything with Wallpaper Engine now tells me assimp-vc140-mt32.dll is missing, Malwarebytes gives an error code of 0xc0000005 while other programs like VMware and Acrobat Reader give an error code of 0xc000003e. I am unsure on what is going on, but I'd appreciate it if you guys can help me figure that out on my end.

 

[mundial]

This could of course be a disk problem.

But your symptoms are also a sign of possible bad RAM on your computer. Can you run Memtest
https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

 

[Ketchup79]

Did you install these programs since you got the computer back, or were they still on the computer when you received it?
What is on the SSD and what is on the hard drive (at least generally speaking)?

 

[Damian9303]

This could of course be a disk problem.

But your symptoms are also a sign of possible bad RAM on your computer. Can you run Memtest
https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

I have tried all of the provided tests under one pass, since it took an hour just for the first and kept on heating my internals at individual parts so I didn't want to risk doing more. Anyways, it detected no errors.

Did you install these programs since you got the computer back, or were they still on the computer when you received it?
What is on the SSD and what is on the hard drive (at least generally speaking)?

I installed them on my own, although they are programs that I have used in the past with no problems. The SSD has the Windows installation, and the HDD was empty (apart from some torrented series and a copy of Office which it came with once it was mailed back to me) before I made it a designation for my stuff.

 

[mundial]

Ok, I think your problem is an overheating CPU (or Northbridge chip) and NOT the disk.

Remember an overheating CPU / Northbridge chip will cause exact problems like you describe....(Malwarebytes not installing etc).

Stop focussing on the disk!

 

[Ketchup79]

Well,unless your laptop is caked with dust, I personally don't think it's overheating. How long have you had it back from warranty service? If it has been within 30 days, you need to call them up and describe your issue. There should be a warranty on the service they perform, even if you are nearing the end of the warranty on the laptop.

 

[Damian9303]

Ok, I think your problem is an overheating CPU (or Northbridge chip) and NOT the disk.

Remember an overheating CPU / Northbridge chip will cause exact problems like you describe....(Malwarebytes not installing etc).

Stop focussing on the disk!

That is NOT the problem. My Steam also decided to brick itself with an error code of 0xc0000005 not that long ago, and my laptop wasn't experiencing any heat before it did. Along with my VMWare again with the same error code even after I reinstalled it despite it working again a little bit before (Acrobat Reader, which I also reinstalled, still works however)

Well,unless your laptop is caked with dust, I personally don't think it's overheating. How long have you had it back from warranty service? If it has been within 30 days, you need to call them up and describe your issue. There should be a warranty on the service they perform, even if you are nearing the end of the warranty on the laptop.

It isn't caked with dust, it would of been cleaned if it was and last time I opened it (to disconnect the hard drive a little bit before I sent it out since it slowed down the laptop greatly), it was clean. I might end up having to call them as luckily it hasn't passed the 30 days. because I'm wondering on what's causing this to begin with.

 

[Ketchup79]

Sounds good. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Damian9303]

Sounds good. Let us know how it goes!

I decided not to call up the warranty, because I have found out the issue. It is not a disk problem as aforementioned here, but I was infected with something named Floxif, how it got there is unknown to me and all that Malwarebytes could detect was the redirects to aieov.com and not the infected files themselves.

Doing research on it, here are the steps that I have taken to remove this off of my system incase anyone experiences a similar problem to mine:

1. Download the removal tool from https://www.avg.com/remove-win32-floxif
2. Boot Windows under Safe Mode as it seems to run under memory whenever the computer starts up even after you run the fixer mentioned in Step 1 and set a cleaning for next startup (I simply ran msconfig.exe went into Boot and turned on Safe Boot. I picked Network, although I don't think it matters which you choose as networking capabilities didn't work for me even when Network was chosen).
3. Once booted into Safe Mode, go to your downloads and run the program (I recommend doing so with Administrative Privileges although I don't know if that is necessary). This program should automatically check through your files and clean up anything it finds. You can choose to save a log after it's done if you want to see which files were cleaned by opening the saved log and searching for "Cleaned"
4. Whenever it completes, close the program and open up command prompt under Administrative Privileges. Now, type this command very carefully and make sure that you do not mess it up:

del C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\symsrv.dll && del C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\symsrv.dll.000 && del C:\Windows\Temp\update.exe

Once you are done, the files should be disinfected. An infected Rufus went from this: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file...b04efc22caf20670b3b1498eff2c05b7f63/detection all the way to this: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file...7218f270eb319a4b7fb599ce88b5ae18159/detection Every program that once gave an error trying to run them also came back to life without a problem.

 

[USAFRet]

I decided not to call up the warranty, because I have found out the issue. It is not a disk problem as aforementioned here, but I was infected with something named Floxif, how it got there is unknown to me and all that Malwarebytes could detect was the redirects to aieov.com and not the infected files themselves.

I would seriously consider a full wipe and reinstall.

You set it to a shop for 'repair', and it came back with software running weird, including this malware.

What else is weird that you've not yet discovered?