Did you fall victim to a Windows 10 virus? Asking about this topic.
Did you fall victim to a Windows 10 virus? Asking about this topic.
Hi everyone. I downloaded the movie using a torrent and it came as an .scr file with the VLC icon. I double-clicked it and noticed I didn’t understand why "nothing happened." I checked the file for viruses and found none. After disconnecting my Ethernet cable and restarting, another defender scan came up empty. When I reconnected the cable and ran a defender "online" scan, Windows still wouldn’t respond. A TrendMicro scan also returned no results. I’m wondering if everything is okay.
Not feeling well. The virus is probably designed to go unnoticed for regular users. You might want to use Malwarebytes, though it may not catch anything either. When there’s no recognized signature, the antivirus will have to depend on behavior scanning, which isn’t very trustworthy. You could try sharing the file with various antivirus providers and asking them to create a signature for it. F-Secure has this process. https://community.f-secure.com/common-ho...o-f-secure Perhaps another service has it too. Regardless, consider a full Windows reinstall and change passwords on email accounts and other sensitive sites.
It's always better to be cautious. A fresh setup seems like the best option.
An .scr is essentially identical to an .exe file. Consider submitting the file to VirusTotal to investigate its behavior, but be aware your system might already be affected. Update your passwords and verify any accounts you had logged into recently to confirm no unauthorized access remains.
A .scr file is a screensaver format, which explains why the VLC logo appears on it. It's possible someone is attempting to misuse such files. Typically, naming them like "x.scr" helps identify them, but without showing the extension, you might overlook the actual ".exe" suffix. If you've examined the file closely, it likely isn't functional. Should you suspect malware, review your task manager and system logs. For extra caution, consider a complete reinstall of Windows. If this affected your device, hope it didn’t introduce a rootkit into your firmware—though that’s rare nowadays. To be even safer, you might also re-flash your firmware. If you remain uneasy, discard the machine. Should concerns about your IP or location arise, relocating could help. The most secure choice is to leave Earth behind. I’m not sure if extraterrestrial beings would accept me, but it’s worth considering.
Never use that site again for downloading; there are safer alternatives available. I won’t go into more details. Still, as others mentioned, the installation is broken, so a complete reinstall would be best. Make sure your personal files are backed up, just in case you need to recover them.
Keep changing passwords for extra security. Remember that a .scr screensaver is similar to an .exe file, and many malware creators use SCR files because they assume people associate suspicious executables with viruses. Most users don’t link sketchy SCR files to threats. Your two HDDs should be fine, but running a Bitdefender or Malwarebytes scan is still a good idea for peace of mind.