{"id":5139,"date":"2020-06-04T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=5139"},"modified":"2020-05-29T16:01:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T20:01:19","slug":"if-someone-ran-all-his-anti-virus-software-but-cant-get-a-weird-bug-removed-what-should-he-do-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/04\/if-someone-ran-all-his-anti-virus-software-but-cant-get-a-weird-bug-removed-what-should-he-do-next\/","title":{"rendered":"“If someone ran all his anti-virus software but can’t get a weird bug removed, what should he do next?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Question submitted anonymously.)<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full question: “If someone ran all his anti-virus software but can’t get a weird bug removed off his PC that opens a bunch of tabs and takes pictures, what should he do next?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomeone?\u201d You asking \u201cfor a friend?\u201d \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You mention “opening tabs” so I’m guessing you mean your friend’s browser is running amok. Usually, the fix is simply to reset the browser. It only takes a minute, and returns the browser to its default, unmodified, as-if-just-installed state. Resetting the browser should stop the misbehaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resetting is easy; it’s usually just a few clicks in the browser’s Settings or Advanced menus. For example, here’s the publisher’s support info on how to reset Chrome<\/a>, Edge<\/a>, Internet Explorer<\/a>, Firefox<\/a>, and Opera<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more complete info on removing even recalcitrant software, see “What to do when Windows can’t run EXEs,” AskWoody Plus Newsletter 2019-09-02<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a final thought: You might suggest that your, uh, friend use a better anti-malware tool, too \u2014 it sure sounds like something made it past whatever it is he’s currently using!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Top-of-page icon made by Pixel perfect<\/a> from www.flaticon.com<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=5139<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"[seperator]\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em>

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(Want free notification of new content? Click<\/em> <\/strong>here<\/a><\/b>!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Question submitted anonymously.) Full question: “If someone ran all his anti-virus software but can’t get a weird bug removed off his PC that opens a bunch of tabs and takes pictures, what should he do next?” \u201cSomeone?\u201d You asking \u201cfor a friend?\u201d \ud83d\ude09 You mention “opening tabs” so I’m guessing you mean your friend’s browser…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/bug-e1590782263932.png?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-1kT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4850,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/28\/can-you-factory-reset-a-computer-from-bios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5139,"position":0},"title":"“Can you factory reset a computer from BIOS?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-04-28","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Ram Binay Yadav) In a word, no. Even for systems using UEFI instead of a BIOS --- and that's almost all current PCs (see below) --- the answer's still no. BIOS: Old-school PCs used a BIOS (Basic Input\/Output System) to handle the power-on startup sequence of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/bios-chip-rf-e1587748394415.jpg?fit=350%2C233&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1025,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/14\/a-reader-asks-why-did-a-phone-reset-not-free-up-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":5139,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: Why didn’t resetting my phone free up memory?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-14","format":false,"excerpt":"A reader asks: \"Why is my Android phone crying for memory just after a factory reset?\" That's not much to go on, but here are some ideas: 1. Resetting a phone will remove temporary files and random junk files that may have accumulated, but doesn\u2019t otherwise free space or shrink\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/17\/a-reader-asks-should-i-factory-reset-a-phone-that-previously-belonged-to-someone-else\/","url_meta":{"origin":5139,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: Should I factory reset a phone that previously belonged to someone else?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-10-17","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: Should I factory reset a phone that previously belonged to someone else? (via Quora) A: Yes, absolutely! You have no way of knowing what might still be on the phone... spyware, malware, traces of illicit images or activity, whatever. I suggest you reset the phone before you plug in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3680,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/31\/how-do-i-disable-a-laptops-keyboard-except-for-the-power-button\/","url_meta":{"origin":5139,"position":3},"title":"“How do I disable a laptop’s keyboard except for the power button?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-10-31","format":false,"excerpt":"That could be problematic --- how will you control the PC if none of the keys work? A better option is a software-moderated kiosk mode, which severely restricts what users can do with the PC while not preventing the PC from acting normally, outside of kiosk mode. Operating systems and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2602,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/16\/a-reader-asks-why-am-i-not-able-to-reset-my-pc-or-reinstall-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":5139,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: “Why am I not able to reset my PC or reinstall Windows?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-16","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by\u00a0Reese Lynn.) The most common problems include obsolete drivers (check your PC vendor site for updates); too-aggressive third-party software (e.g. anti-rootkits\/anti-malware); and disk errors (run chkdsk ). For some general how-to fixes, see this text; it mentions Win7, but the general fixes discussed there work on any Windows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5469,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/23\/recovering-from-a-failed-win10-reset\/","url_meta":{"origin":5139,"position":5},"title":"Recovering from a failed Win10 *Reset*","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-11-23","format":false,"excerpt":"Win10\u2019s cloud-based Resets are usually the fastest and easiest way to return a PC to a known-good, baseline state. Although major Reset failures are rare, the worst-case scenarios can leave a PC completely unbootable. Here\u2019s what to do when a reset misadventure strikes. Plus: What\u2019s with those weird two-headed USB\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AskWoody Plus"","block_context":{"text":"AskWoody Plus","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/askwoody-plus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/winremenu.png?fit=590%2C370&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/winremenu.png?fit=590%2C370&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/winremenu.png?fit=590%2C370&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5139"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5144,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5139\/revisions\/5144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}