Slow PC due to Bitdefender. 41 Trojans coming thru Outlook!

[Jono77]

A few days ago I renewed my Bitdefender account. I've had nothing but trouble ever since and their support has been absolutely abysmal. They sent me instructions to sen med a support file for a Windows 8 machine when I'm using Windows 10. I won't go  through the boring details of the continual mess that they made but they eventually ended up refunding me because I said I would cancel my subscription if they cannot help me!

I got 41 viruses that came through outlook. I have never wanted to use outlook in the 2 months I have owned this machine yeah it seems to know two of my email addresses and it is letting viruses in. In can anyone tell me how I can remove Outlook which is part of Microsoft 365 but I have never purchased. I think I might have used the trial when I first got the PC to see how it worked. But I don't seem to be able to find any way of removing it.

[itsmyname]

@Jono77 -- I hope that you were working with the "real" company -- not a scammer who "spoofed" the company.

By default, any Windows 10 computer uses the "Windows Defender" anti-virus software, which should be detecting and flagging any virus-infected attachment that has been sent to you as part of an E-mail message. If Windows Defender has been working correctly, those viruses were NOT able to "infect" your computer.  So, it does not matter whether it was Outlook or Windows Mail or

**bleep** --  it is weird that this forum substituted that string when I named the "male" [sic] app produced by that "G" company that is owned by the "ALPHABET" company in California.

that you used to receive your E-mail. It is is the fact that you chose to download your E-mail that received those "bad" attachments.

Within Windows 10, open "Settings". Then, open "Apps". Then, select "Microsoft 365" from the list of installed apps. Click to "uninstall" it, if you feel that uninstalling it will prevent some other E-mail program from downloading virus-infected content.

Compare Outlook to having a friend give you a hand-grenade. 

If you carefully handle it, and you do not pull the pin, it should not explode in your face.

If Outlook downloads an E-mail containing a virus-infected attachment, and you do NOT open the attachment, the virus will not "explode" on your computer.

[Jono77]

@itsmyname

I do not use outlook.  The Trojan viruses were also detected by windows Defender. Since I use Thunderbird mail and not outlook I cannot be blamed for downloading 41 Trojans through Outlook because it is not activated on my PC.  

I removed Outlook 365 but the Trojans remain.

Here's some examples from the log file.

C:\Users\info\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\sales@redacted.com.ost=>Trojan.GenericKD.47022391 Cleaned 

Trojan.GenericKD.39164672 Moved to Quarantine 

Trojan.Script.GenericKDZ.10378 Cleaned 

Trojan.Script.GenericKDZ.10378 Cleaned 

Trojan.Agent.FJIM Cleaned 

How longPhishing.H.83ADE0C7 Cleaned 

VB:Trojan.Valyria.5266 Cleaned 

Gen:Mail.Nophy.1 Moved to Quarantine 

Trojan.GenericKD.47433184 Moved to Quarantine 

Trojan.GenericKD.47464480 Moved to Quarantine 

Trojan.GenericKD.50024525 Moved to Quarantine 

Trojan.GenericKD.39126103 Cleaned 

Yes I know they are cleaned/quarantined but ho do they appear on my PC 5 days after I renewed my Bitdefender subscription? And when I turn off my Bitdefender my PC works fine. When I turn it on it slows down.  It's really frustrating and annoying since Bitdefender just refunded my payment saying they will only help remotely if I pay an extra charge.

[itsmyname]

@Jono77 -- Yes I know they are cleaned/quarantined but ho do they appear on my PC 5 days after I renewed my Bitdefender subscription?

Most anti-virus products have a few major components:

* as soon as you finish writing a "new" file onto your disk-drive, it will be scanned, in "real-time";

* any time when you read to read an existing file from your disk-drive, it will be scanned;

* occasionally, a "quick scan" or a "full scan" is launched.  So, if I virus-infected file was written to your disk-drive, and the "real-time" scan did not detect the file at the date/time that it was written (the anti-virus software was updated to detect that virus _after_ the file was written), then the "quick scan" detected the file, maybe "five days later", as you stated.  To compare, you could place a piece of fruit into your refrigerator, and leave it there for a week, and then retrieve it, it could have "gone bad", even though it was "good" when you stored it.

And when I turn off my Bitdefender my PC works fine. When I turn it on it slows down. 

Yes, that is typical for any anti-virus software.  It tends to do a "first-time" scan, immediately after being "installed" or "activated".  That scan will slow-down your computer, for an hour or two, depending on the speed of your CPU and your disk-drive.

It's really frustrating and annoying since Bitdefender just refunded my payment saying they will only help remotely if I pay an extra charge.

I recommend that you "wave bye-bye" to that product, and pay for some other software, such as Mcafee, or Norton, if you think that MIcrosoft's "Windows Defender" is not good-enough.

You may wish to avoid the Russian-based Kaspersky product, due to the current war in Ukraine.

That "OST" file contains all the E-mail messages, both old and new, for that "sales" account.

So, your E-mail program that updated that file, namely Microsoft Outlook, was used, maybe a long time ago, to download an E-mail that had an attachment that contains a computer-virus.  That virus was "dormant" -- not actively infecting your computer -- for a long time.

[Jono77]

@itsmyname

Thanks for your responses!

So, your E-mail program that updated that file, namely Microsoft Outlook, was used, maybe a long time ago

My PC was bought new in December 2021.

Yes, that is typical for any anti-virus software.  It tends to do a "first-time" scan, immediately after being "installed" or "activated".  That scan will slow-down your computer, for an hour or two, depending on the speed of your CPU and your disk-drive.

It's is very slow and sometimes freezes randomly It happens all day for 10 to 5 minute intervals. Continually. Not just while it's doing things in the background. My previous installation was fine.

I was thinking about using ESET as they claim it's the lightest on the processor according to Tomsguide

REASONS TO BUY

Very good protection

Remarkably little system-performance impact

File encryption, hardened browser, webcam protection

REASONS TO AVOID

Lacks file shredder or VPN

Can get expensive

I stopped using Kaspersky when Putin invaded Crimea

[itsmyname]

@Jono77 --   Microsoft Outlook, was used, maybe a long time ago 

>> My PC was bought new in December 2021.

I suspect that you used Outlook, in December 2021, and it downloaded your E-mail messages at that time.

Now that your antivirus software has been updated, what might have been tagged as "suspicious" at that time is now being flagged as "malicious".   

Look at "real life", for examples of people doing bad actions, long ago, that are just being surfaced, now.  At the time, the "detection" did not identify those people. But now, those actors (Kevin Spacey, as one example) are "black-listed" from working. Similarly, anti-virus software gets "smarter", but it's quite a race between virus-writers and anti-virus computer programmers.

I think that when you stopped using Outlook, you did not "mass-delete" all the messages that it had downloaded.  So, those virus-infected attachments just are "dormant".

[Jono77]

How do I get some support on a further issue that has now occurred? 

The IO operation at logical block address 0x1346770 for Disk 1 (PDO name: \Device\00000107) failed due to a hardware error./

[itsmyname]

@Jono77 -- The Input/Output operation at logical block address 0x1346770 for Disk 1 (PDO name: \Device\00000107) failed due to a hardware error.

Windows is reporting that one specific "sector" on the disk-drive has failed -- either that sector (512 bytes or 4096 bytes in size) cannot be read, or Windows cannot write to that sector.

I wonder if other sectors on the disk-drive also are failing?  

If you suspect that to be true, you should immediately make a backup of your Personal Files to an external disk-drive, before the entire disk-drive fails.  Then, replace the disk-drive.

EDIT: The error-message cited "Disk 1".  If "Disk 0" [zero] is your internal disk-drive, then "Disk 1" [one] is your external disk-drive.

[Jono77]

This info is coming from bitdefender after I sent them a file report. The PC was purchased on the 6th of January 2022. I have since found out that the Trojans were on an external hard drive that I had plugged in when the initial scan was done.  

Here is their assessment of the support file I sent them.

The storage drive I was referring to is not necessarily related to the external drive, but it can be related to the SSD too.

However, what I mentioned about Avans remains true. The log revealed a few services present on the system. One of them is indeed related to the browser, but the other 2 are the Avast Antivirus and the Avast Firewall.

ws name="avast" displayname="Avast Browser Update Service (avast)" 

ws name="avast! Antivirus" displayname="Avast Antivirus" 

ws name="avast! Firewall" displayname="Avast Firewall Service" 

The presence of those on the system or the reason that caused Avast to get removed correctly caused our product to crash too, as well as the general slowdown you experience. I suspect you will encounter the same unusual slowdown under any kind of load that can put some pressure over your storage drive up to the point where it can lead to data loss.

I can recommend using the Avast uninstall tool for removing the traces, but in regards to the Hardware issue, I am not sure there is anything you can do about it. If the computer is still under warranty, I would recommend having it inspected. 

The IO operation at logical block address 0x1346770 for Disk 1 (PDO name: \Device\00000107) failed due to a hardware error.

Avast Uninstall tool

https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility#pc

Please let me how may I further assist you.