Trojan virus problem help needed!

[Kikkihiiri24]

Hello!

My laptop is attacked by 2 trojan viruses. Two questions. Firstly will the trojan transfer from my shitty old laptop to my new gaming pc that I just build via router if I connect the new gaming pc to the router and the laptop is offline, so can the trojan be hiding in my router of other devises like my keyboard, mouse of headphones that were connected to the laptop? Second question. I couldn't get the trojan of my laptop with any means and I cannot reinstall the os so the virus is still there. The laptop is now in my closet without battery or anykinda power what so ever so the main question here is this. Can the virus do anything with my computer if i just trash it like hammer the hdd and mobo because i dont give a shit about the shitty old laptop? Thanks for help in advance!

Really sorry for bad english and if posted this to wrong place, im quiote new here.

 

[redgarl]

No, it doesn't work like that. It's more like STD... you need to physically transfer from one to the other and sometime it doesn't even do anything. Basically I would not use a USB stick from one to the other.

If you don't transfer files from one to the other with your router, you are fine.

You have a restore partition on your laptop. Check on internet and just restore your initial OS partition which will wipe your infected one. In the worst case, if you don't have one, just format your drive and reinstall your OS. It's so easy to find something on internet... >

 

[Kikkihiiri24]

I cannot reinstall the os because i dont have install disc or usb drives for that, but thanks still. I still need an answer for my second question.

 

[bluecheese1]

Viruses are pretty much just strings of code. Without a power source the computer can't run anything, including the virus's code. Hammering your computer won't be necessary to stop the virus, but if you really don't care about the computer I'd destroy the hard drives in case somebody would happen to find them.

 

[redgarl]

Viruses are pretty much just strings of code. Without a power source the computer can't run anything, including the virus's code. Hammering your computer won't be necessary to stop the virus, but if you really don't care about the computer I'd destroy the hard drives in case somebody would happen to find them.

Wut...?

@Kikkihiiri24
Just format the damn thing. Buy a 5$ USB stick and torrent an OS... or pay a guy 100$ an hour, to clean your PC and reinstall a 100$ OS that you already own anyway...

If you want to pay for something you already own, just go for it. If I was in your shoes, i know what I would do.

 

[bluecheese1]

I really have to advise against torrenting an OS. Not only is it illegal, but a lot of torrenting websites are "use at your own risk" a.k.a. files can come with viruses already in them. A safer (and more legal) solution is to either spend the $100 or so to buy a new OS, or get rid of the computer. Since you said you don't care about the laptop and already have a new gaming PC to replace it, I'd recommend just getting rid of the laptop. However, as I said earlier, if somebody got their hands on the laptop with the hard drives still in tact then they could get your information without any problems.

 

[Skylyne]

Can a virus/malware go from computer to computer via a network? Well, if both computers are running, in theory the answer is yes. There's really nothing stopping that, and it's relatively easy to plant malware onto a computer that's sharing the same network. Is it likely that this will happen? With most viruses that infect computers, that answer would be no.

If you're worried about a virus doing something to your data after it's powered off, and sitting in the closet, that's definitely not possible... well, at least not with the kind of virus you most likely have. There's about a 0.00001% chance (if that) of you having something on that computer that could cause damage with the computer powered off.

I really have to advise against torrenting an OS. Not only is it illegal, but a lot of torrenting websites are "use at your own risk" a.k.a. files can come with viruses already in them.

This is such an enormous myth, it drive me batshit insane every time I see someone purporting it. Nothing personal, mate. It's just NOT true. Under certain circumstances, you're right... kind of... I've been using torrents since they came out, and still use them today, so I do have a history with file sharing.

First off, torrenting is only illegal under certain conditions. Second off, the only way torrenting a distribution of an OS is illegal is when the OS is activated. If you wanted to, you can obtain a clean copy, without any activation included, via torrents. That's perfectly legal, as you can obtain a clean copy just about anywhere, so long as it's not activated. Also, while there is a history of malware in pirated software, many torrent sites actually have a number of methods to help users cut down on infectious torrents. Some of these methods include things like special VIP memberships, which require special screening by staff members, in order to ensure the torrents are clean.

Torrents are actually a security measure with file sharing, contrary to popular belief. They work on MD5 checksums, which is kind of like a data fingerprint, and that in turn ensures you get the original file that was meant to be shared. Unlike other forms of file sharing, if a file gets infected after someone starts to share via torrents, the upload would actually stop; this is due to the checksum changing because of the file's modifications, due to malware. So, actually... you can prevent malware of all sorts by using torrents. It's actually quite genius.

If the OP wants to download from a torrent site, that can be perfectly legal, and many of the major torrent websites can actually help him/her prevent problematic downloads. It's contrary to the public's view; however, the public doesn't know that much about them.

However, as I said earlier, if somebody got their hands on the laptop with the hard drives still in tact then they could get your information without any problems.

Yes and no. If the OP wants to sell the laptop, we could walk him/her through a proper wipe, and there would be no problem with this.

 

[bluecheese1]

I'm no help explaining the legality of the method above, but I always just viewed torrents as piracy. I could have very well been wrong as far as legality goes. As for whether people could steal the information after the laptop was thrown away, I was answering in the context of the question, whether he could throw it away or not. You could absolutely just wipe everything out and sell it rather than toss it.

A virus could potentially spread over the network, as skylyne said, so you might want to run antivirus on your new gaming PC just to be safe. As far as a virus actually being stored and "hiding" in your keyboard, router, or mouse, that can't happen.

 

[Skylyne]

I just figured I'd clear some of that up; that's all. Like I said, it's nothing personal

Actually, viruses could live in the router; but not very likely in the keyboard and mouse. The router is basically another computer, and you can reflash the firmware on it, which means you most likely can infect it. I do know there have been viruses on routers before, but I wouldn't say it's likely. It's definitely possible, and has been something done before; however, it's another one of those things that's a very low percentage outcome.

Now, I will say that you can bug keyboards internally, but that's more of a thing you'd see when you open them up. There have been declassified documents showing various forms of hardware bugs in them, and many security experts have found them (as well as inside computer cases, built onto motherboards, and in other interesting places). Again, these are things that are unlikely to happen to average users; and if they're there, it's unlikely they're even being actively used. But, like I said, they are real.

For the majority of users, viruses are more minimal threats; usually hiding within hard drives/storage. If there's storage, you can plant a virus. The most likely case here- on the laptop's hard drive.