Removing Miner Malware

[Rymazon]

I have had problems with my GPU and someone said I may have miner malware. This is the thread where I had the problem: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3542934/rx480-performing.html . So as I said, I may have miner malware. Does anyone know how to fix miner malware without removing all of my other files? I have many pictures that I want to keep and all of my programs took many hours to download. I would not have to download them again. Please help. Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

To "fix" something, you need to discover exactly what the problem is.

"may have miner malware" does not equal "it does have miner malware"

Aside from one person saying 'might', what leads you to believe that is the issue? Could be a lot of things.

 

[USAFRet]

For your pictures and other personal files, you really need a backup of those. Just in case you actually do need to do a full wipe and reinstall.

And you should be doing that anyway--------------------------------->

 

[Rymazon]

To "fix" something, you need to discover exactly what the problem is.

"may have miner malware" does not equal "it does have miner malware"

Aside from one person saying 'might', what leads you to believe that is the issue? Could be a lot of things.

If you looked at the other thread that I linked, we kind of ruled out many other problems. I am not saying we ruled them all out but miner malware is a very likely possibility. I would suggest checking out the other thread. Also, main problem I have about relying on a backup and doing a factory reset is that it will take ages to re-download my files.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I read it. I saw nothing ruled in or ruled out.

Have you looked through Task manager or Resource monitor to see what other processes are running?
What, specifically, is sucking up your performance?

And I think you're misconstrued on the 'backup' thing.
You can make a backup (or series of backups) of the entire drive, and rebuild the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

All you need is a USB connected drive of sufficient size, and the proper (free) program to do it with)

 

[James Mason]

BleepingComputer is a good website for "specific virus removal" guides.
The problem is finding out which specific virus you have.
Here's an example of one possible browser miner:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-quick-searcher-miner-chrome-extension

 

[Rymazon]

Yes, I read it. I saw nothing ruled in or ruled out.

Have you looked through Task manager or Resource monitor to see what other processes are running?
What, specifically, is sucking up your performance?

And I think you're misconstrued on the 'backup' thing.
You can make a backup (or series of backups) of the entire drive, and rebuild the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

All you need is a USB connected drive of sufficient size, and the proper (free) program to do it with)

Would the backup work for big games like GTA 5? That takes a while to download. Also, task manager shows the games I play taking most usage. Nothing else takes much usage. I will get back to you if i see anything odd.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I read it. I saw nothing ruled in or ruled out.

Have you looked through Task manager or Resource monitor to see what other processes are running?
What, specifically, is sucking up your performance?

And I think you're misconstrued on the 'backup' thing.
You can make a backup (or series of backups) of the entire drive, and rebuild the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

All you need is a USB connected drive of sufficient size, and the proper (free) program to do it with)

Would the backup work for big games like GTA 5? That takes a while to download. Also, task manager shows the games I play taking most usage. Nothing else takes much usage. I will get back to you if i see anything odd.

For my system, my "backup" is the entirety of the drive(s).
Everything.

It all lives on a local USB drive, or NAS box, or other PC.
The entire system. All of it.

 

[Rymazon]

Yes, I read it. I saw nothing ruled in or ruled out.

Have you looked through Task manager or Resource monitor to see what other processes are running?
What, specifically, is sucking up your performance?

And I think you're misconstrued on the 'backup' thing.
You can make a backup (or series of backups) of the entire drive, and rebuild the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

All you need is a USB connected drive of sufficient size, and the proper (free) program to do it with)

Would the backup work for big games like GTA 5? That takes a while to download. Also, task manager shows the games I play taking most usage. Nothing else takes much usage. I will get back to you if i see anything odd.

For my system, my "backup" is the entirety of the drive(s).
Everything.

It all lives on a local USB drive, or NAS box, or other PC.
The entire system. All of it.

do you think it will still take about 30 mins with gta?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I read it. I saw nothing ruled in or ruled out.

Have you looked through Task manager or Resource monitor to see what other processes are running?
What, specifically, is sucking up your performance?

And I think you're misconstrued on the 'backup' thing.
You can make a backup (or series of backups) of the entire drive, and rebuild the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

All you need is a USB connected drive of sufficient size, and the proper (free) program to do it with)

Would the backup work for big games like GTA 5? That takes a while to download. Also, task manager shows the games I play taking most usage. Nothing else takes much usage. I will get back to you if i see anything odd.

For my system, my "backup" is the entirety of the drive(s).
Everything.

It all lives on a local USB drive, or NAS box, or other PC.
The entire system. All of it.

do you think it will still take about 30 mins with gta?

Sure.
The data (the backup) comes directly from a USB or LAN connected drive.

My system does an Incremental backup every night, starting at 1AM.
C drive at 1AM, D drive at 2AM, etc, etc. That is only to prevent any collisions.
This all gets written to my NAS box, but could just as easily go to a USB connected HDD.

To recover?
The last Full image, and whichever Incremental I choose, from the last 14 days. And if needed, only a specific drive vs all of it.
My E drive died and nothing else? No problem...get just that specific drive data.
Or, even a single file.
If I need the version of my resume from last Friday...I can retrieve it.

Read here for the details:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html