Solved! Laptop runs very slow after virus removal

[clovershape]

Hi there, so right now my laptop feels really slow right now and I need help. I'll try to explain what I've done and pardon my english if I don't explain clearly.

So recently when I play games I felt my laptop being slower than usual, and I thought it was the game's problem being buggy and sluggish, regardless of the graphics option (that game is Skyrim, to be clear). But after a few graphical tweaks to the game (NVIDIA Control Panel, several mods etc) the problem persisted and whether I set the graphics to ultra or low didn't make a difference, so I gave up with the game.

Days later, I played another game and I encountered the same sluggish feeling with the it, and I thought maybe the problem is my laptop because there was nothing I could do to make it smoother. I tried cleaning my SSD storage, updating drivers, but the lag still stayed. And then I checked my Windows Security and there were numerous threats that needed to be resolved (A lot of them came from DriverToolKit, which I found out to be a malware). I installed Malwarebytes and did a scan, and it found 58 files that were contaminated with threats, which the I quarantined and removed. After I rebooted, the laptop felt slower and the fan was getting louder than before, and I tried another MB scan, which found another 13 dangerous files. I thought maybe there are some leftover malwares in my laptop and so I tried installing AVG and did the scan, which stated that it didn't find any danger. But after a reboot, my laptop is really loud and slower than usual, I also tried several apps and lighter games, which I encountered worse lags than before. Every time I disabled MB or AVG, the Windows Security still found the threats which should've been deleted by now (there's a lot of them which has the same name: Megaify_DriverUpdater). This things happened just recently, because 3 months ago I played a game called Mass Effect Andromeda which is I think quite heavy but I could play it smoothly in ultra graphic setting with no problem, where as today I tried running it to see how my laptop is and I experienced massive lag. Any idea on what should I do?

Here's my laptop spec :
ASUS ROG GL753VE
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.8 GHz
Memory 16384MB RAM
OS Windows 10 64bit
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
1.8 TB HDD

 

[rgd1101]

what the ssd?
and how full is it

 

[AlHuneke]

You need to run the MS Windows Media Creator from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Do this ON ANOTHER COMPUTER and make a bootable USB. Run a Clean install which will delete everything on your machine. That is the only sure way to get rid of all viruses. You will need to install all Windows updates and reinstall all your programs and copies of your data. It's a painful process but will leave you with a clean machine

If you have been downloading "free" versions of Windows and games, there is no help for you. This is the best way I know to pick up viruses. Don't think you can download this stuff and rely on viruses checkers to find all the viruses. Things will always slip through. The second best way is to neglect Windows security updates. Good luck!

 

[clovershape]

what the ssd?
and how full is it

It has the capacity of 237 GB with 54.7 GB left of free space. On properties it says the file system is NTFS.

 

[clovershape]

You need to run the MS Windows Media Creator from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Do this ON ANOTHER COMPUTER and make a bootable USB. Run a Clean install which will delete everything on your machine. That is the only sure way to get rid of all viruses. You will need to install all Windows updates and reinstall all your programs and copies of your data. It's a painful process but will leave you with a clean machine

If you have been downloading "free" versions of Windows and games, there is no help for you. This is the best way I know to pick up viruses. Don't think you can download this stuff and rely on viruses checkers to find all the viruses. Things will always slip through. The second best way is to neglect Windows security updates. Good luck!

yikes, so you're saying the only thing that's left to do if the problem persists is to do a full reset? Yeah these last months I downloaded some free softwares for my assignments via torrent (Lumion and Enscape, for architectural rendering) because my college doesn't provide them and it can be really pricey for a student. What I'm worried about is if I deleted them I need to download them again since I need them. I don't have problem with games though, I bought most of them.

 

[rgd1101]

don't pirate software

 

[AlHuneke]

Ditto. Pirated software is a great way to pick up all kinds of nasty problems. Virus checkers will not always catch these. I pay for everything I use and have not had a problem for a very long time.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I understand that software can be extremely expensive, but if you look around, you can usually find a free, open-source alternative that does most, if not all of what you need it to do.

I would also note that Tom's Guide does not support software piracy in any way, shape, or form. Any further discussion of pirated software will result in thread closure.

Wolfshadw
Moderator.

 

[clovershape]

You need to run the MS Windows Media Creator from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Do this ON ANOTHER COMPUTER and make a bootable USB. Run a Clean install which will delete everything on your machine. That is the only sure way to get rid of all viruses. You will need to install all Windows updates and reinstall all your programs and copies of your data. It's a painful process but will leave you with a clean machine

If you have been downloading "free" versions of Windows and games, there is no help for you. This is the best way I know to pick up viruses. Don't think you can download this stuff and rely on viruses checkers to find all the viruses. Things will always slip through. The second best way is to neglect Windows security updates. Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies, and I have some questions regarding this "clean install" since I am trying to do this :

1. Whats the difference between the method above (clean install with downloading MS WIndows Media Creator and reinstalling using USB) and the Reset option from Settings>Recovery>Reset this PC? I tried watching some videos about reinstalling your windows but they didn't really state the difference.
2. My laptop keyboard is currently broken and I have been using an external wireless keyboard for months. If I do the clean install, will I be able to do it with my external keyboard? I am afraid about the "boot menu" where you usually input instructions with keyboard and it won't detect my external keyboard.

 

[AlHuneke]

I believe the Reset option preserves your data and some/all programs. It will tell you when you activate it. That is why this may not get rid of a virus. A clean install erases everything--you may have to specifically tell it to do that as I don't recall exactly how this works.
I can't give you a definitive answer about the keyboard. If you can use the external keyboard to enter the BIOS then you should be OK as that implies the keyboard is being recognized early. I wish I had more definate answers. Hopefully, someone else will chime in. Let me know how things turn out.