Is This a Virus?

[questkid44]

hi, I was using my father;s computer, and i noticed a program that he had installed called driver detective. Is this a virus? to me it seems very suspicious. I scanned with Kaspersky and MBAM, and they both came up clean.

 

[Robert Cook]

hard to say, there are lots of sketchy sounding third party softwares out there that are good. that one sounds like it would keep drivers up to date and remove unneeded ones. is the computer acting odd? if not then I would not worry.

 

[bignastyid]

It not a virus or malware, its software that updates drivers.

 

[questkid44]

well... he told me that the computer randomly just completely blacked out and shut down. That is the only thing that he had told me.

 

[Robert Cook]

that could be a power issue. virii ( the proper way to say plural of virus) tend to slow down your computer or steal your credit card number, or ransom your data.

 

[smorizio]

that issue is not software but sounds like a failing power supply.
http/www.hwinfo.com/
downlaod the right version for your os 32 bit or 64 bit.
set it to sensor and logging.
watch your 12v/5v rails make sure there withing atx spec.

 

[smorizio]

also open the pc and blow the dust bunnies out to make sure the cpu fan is moving..if the cpu fan stops moving the mb will turn off to keep the cpu from cooking.

 

[Robert Cook]

^ that or an overheating GPU.

 

[questkid44]

The thing is the PSU is a brand new (been running for 2 weeks) CX500M, that is under very low load. the CPU is a Core i5 4690K and a GTX 750 Ti. (He insisted in a super over kill PC)

 

[questkid44]

The computer has only been built for like 2 weeks.

 

[Robert Cook]

CX series is not great, but I do agree that seems odd. it cannot hurt to check the voltage ripple though. any temps?

 

[questkid44]

The voltage is very very close to spec, and it is running fairly cool, but i do not have the equipment to check the temps.

 

[Robert Cook]

this sounds ironic, as this program that made this thread is supposed to keep drivers in line, but perhaps it is a driver issue? black screens can be caused by driver issues...
also I am out for the night is is very late.

 

[questkid44]

Okay, i am gonna get rid of the Driver Detective program. Thanks for your help.

 

[Robert Cook]

I guess it can always be re installed. try uninstalling it and re installing drivers from nvida.

 

[smorizio]

hardware info or open hardware info will show cpu and gpu temps. as the pc two weeks old check windows log files see if there a shutdown warnings. if there is see if he has his anti virus set to turn the pc off when done scanning or defrag program. both will look like a hardware issue. you can tell it a program by error code 71 power being at the same time every day or night or at the same spacing. another issue will be power management in the bios and in windows. see if anything set to turn the pc off if not used. also check the mb bios make sure it up to date.

 

[questkid44]

I have a AsRock H97M Anniversary mATX Motherboard. I am not overclocking.

 

[questkid44]

Is this a good motherboard?

 

[Cloudy1]

hi, I was using my father;s computer, and i noticed a program that he had installed called driver detective. Is this a virus? to me it seems very suspicious. I scanned with Kaspersky and MBAM, and they both came up clean.

Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention to boot to safe mode and then check device manager and also some suggestions for the running of a couple of other Malware detection tools.

My assumption, and yes it is only an assumption would be that this is driver related.

The short and sweet version:

Keep the driver program uninstalled...

... run a few free virus and malware scans from reputable vendors to be safe (SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER: Trend Micro HouseCall, ESET Online)...

...then visit the manufacturer site -> enter the model, serial and / or whatever else is required to get the right downloads and then manually check the latest supported versions on the website against those listed in Device Manager (right click device -> Properties -> Driver -> Driver Version) -> update as required

The somewhat longer version:

I have used a similar program in the past but to be honest I think they are garbage and the best way to get the latest supported drivers is from the manufacturers support website.

My reasoning behind this first of all is the fact that the program could have been installed unknowingly along with a required piece of software...that is get the software you want and forget to uncheck an installation option for a bundled piece of junk which MAY then act like malware.

Second, and as previously mentioned I am talking from personal experience, these driver updating programs
even if not bundled with malware can tell you they have found a driver of the latest version for you but it may well be an incorrect driver which will then cause a crash....this was many years ago now but in my case the program found a bad graphics driver and auto installed it which caused some major headaches.

If uninstalling the program fixed the problem then sweet, if not think about trying the above mentioned.

Good luck with it all.

 

[smorizio]

it a good mb.