Got a virus and reset my PC… now it's acting weird

Tech Support Forum
1

So, I’ve been having a ton of issues with my PC. I caught a virus (an info stealer), so I factory reset the PC. But now, problems are happening. When I try to shut down my PC (either by pressing the button on the case or going through the Start menu), it gets stuck on the “Shutting down…” screen and doesn’t turn off. The only way I can get it off is by unplugging it.

On top of that, Fortnite and GTA V (and maybe other games, but I haven’t tried) just won’t work. I click to open them, but with GTA V, it just says “Loading” and nothing happens. For Fortnite, it just says “Running” but again, nothing happens.

I’ve tried pretty much everything, can anyone help?

2

If you think you might still have malware on your computer, or if you’re working on removing it, check out this malware guide.

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3

It’s probably messed up your Windows installation. Make a bootable USB and wipe your PC completely. Factory resets usually only erase user data and reinstall missing files, but they don’t remove deeper system corruption.

4

@Blane
And after that, manually reinstall your drivers.

5

The built-in factory reset isn’t great at all, it often screws up. Just do a clean install of Windows.

6

Cameron said:
The built-in factory reset isn’t great at all, it often screws up. Just do a clean install of Windows.

Haha, so true. I always keep a clean install on my USB stick, never leave it plugged in.

7

Check if all your drivers are installed properly. Open Device Manager to see if there are any unknown or malfunctioning devices.

8

A clean install will help, here’s some info about it here.

9

Like others have said, a factory reset might not be enough. You should format your C: drive and do a full Windows reinstall. If you have multiple drives or partitions, clean those too.

10

Windows reset won’t do much if the virus is persistent. If you’re dealing with a stubborn virus, it’s best to wipe your drive completely. Format it and start fresh.

11

Two things: Did you wipe everything before reinstalling Windows? Also, some viruses can hide in your BIOS and come back after reinstalling the OS. Do a full, updated virus scan after you reinstall Windows.

12

Sometimes a virus can hide in the boot sector of your hard drive. A clean install is the best, but make sure you delete your partitions first.

  1. Delete your partitions.
  2. Shut down the PC completely to clear memory.
  3. Start the PC again.
  4. Recreate the partitions.
  5. Install your operating system.

This is one of the cleanest installs you can get without going extreme.

13

Just format and reinstall the OS, don’t rely on the reset option.

14

Create a bootable USB from a clean system. Do NOT download it on your own system, as that won’t help. Then boot from the USB and wipe everything. After that, reinstall everything. It’s the safest way.

15

Either your operating system is messed up or your hard drive is failing. When you did the factory reset, what exactly did that involve?