Recent Virus and Malware attack removes right click menu

[techmanc]

Well awhile back I become aware of both Defender and Malwarebytes anti malware bout lost the ability though a virus or some malware I can no longer use when you right click on a file folder or iso type file you can scan using MAM or Defender and both pieces are no longer have that function.

Seeing could not find and Defender setting yet and assume its on by default I did what I could by reinstalling MAM and while the option was already on when I looked I turned option off/on again to see if that would help and it didnt help so posting this here.

I made an acct and asked in MAM forum and no answers their yet .

 

[UsandThem]

Well awhile back I become aware of both Defender and Malwarebytes anti malware bout lost the ability though a virus or some malware I can no longer use when you right click on a file folder or iso type file you can scan using MAM or Defender and both pieces are no longer have that function.

If that's the case, I would highly recommend you nuking your install, and doing a clean OS install. If those items are broken, there could be other security issues on your system you don't know about.

 

[techmanc]

If that's the case, I would highly recommend you nuking your install, and doing a clean OS install. If those items are broken, there could be other security issues on your system you don't know about.

I need a fix not the nuke option I run Defender and MAM and removed all the original problem. I disagree when people offer an awnswer as bad as the format and restore plan.

 

[UsandThem]

I need a fix not the nuke option I run Defender and MAM and removed all the original problem. I hate when people offer an answer as bad as the format and restore plan.

Well, I hate it when you try to offer advice to help someone out, and then they act like this.

I guess you can wait for the answer on the MAM forum.

Sorry to inconvenience you.

 

[techmanc]

Ok here what I did following my OP.

I installed free Avast my other often used virus software and did another scan but still checking free of any problems.
I forgot that has the same right click menu and that works fine so that option people can use if needed.

I did unistall MAM as sometimes a reinstalling is not enough and sure enough BAM now has working right click menu.

I dont use defender anyways while it still dont show the right click menu its not a problem for me.

 

[Elixer]

I need a fix not the nuke option I run Defender and MAM and removed all the original problem. I hate when people offer an answer as bad as the format and restore plan.

That is rather shortsighted of you.
What UsandThem said is the ONLY sure fire wayto fix your issues, since you have no clue what the malware / virus did. They could have also installed kernel hooks or have trojans or whatever, and thinking that other AV / malware can find everything out there is being unrealistic.

The main goal here is to save your important data.
You are already compromised, and you don't know how bad you have been compromised.
You already said that your right click menu is still broken...

So, save all the stuff you deem important, and yes, nuke it.

 

[techmanc]

That is rather shortsighted of you.
What UsandThem said is the ONLY sure fire wayto fix your issues, since you have no clue what the malware / virus did. They could have also installed kernel hooks or have trojans or whatever, and thinking that other AV / malware can find everything out there is being unrealistic.

The main goal here is to save your important data.
You are already compromised, and you don't know how bad you have been compromised.
You already said that your right click menu is still broken...

So, save all the stuff you deem important, and yes, nuke it.

Why do you say that so what happens if say 3 months down the road and you get hit with another virus/malware and end up in the same situation are you going back up all your data and do the one thing that always make you lose a lot of time rebuilding your hard drive band you will never get the new hard drive with the same data you lost unless you want to spend months redoing all your data not to mention now you have fix your browser as a new setup and its somewhat easier if like me using chrome for backup and restore but what a pita it is to get that working the same as it was.

I have at least 40 pieces of software like office that need to be rebuilt good luck getting that backs to how it was before you formatted the drive.

One I have about 20 games need to be restored and dont forget to put back all your game saves once you located them that should hopefully not waste more than a day or 2 of your time.

I have 3 programs I used for years that take care of any gremlins that the virus/malware might have left and while if I did a deep virus scan on my PC I might see some files that can be deleted as there leftover from my earlier removals they no loger have any hooks like bat or registry entries that will cause them to restart......

MY PC lost my internet connection yesterday and I have a few more links I want to add after seeing some follow up posts here

These links to security programs to use so you can get on same page as me.........
remember all software posted are I use the free option exect I bought MAM version and Acronis True Image you can buy the newest version with 1 time payment of that version which is fine as it covers all the OS needed.

This is the best program to have https://www.malwarebytes.com/
I love the free version of https://www.avast.com/en-us/lp-ppc-...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CO3Q3_Dt1NgCFZO2yAodqogAQw

I use this for quick root checks its not used much these day by me but it may help you
https://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller

Sandboxie
is great tool to open and check suspicious files running them in a sandbox so they dont effect your running system

https://www.sandboxie.com/DownloadSandboxie

I run MAM every day it checks my system....

At 1 pm Acronis backs up my system this is the best tool going to be able to use the image to restore your whole system in the time it takes to copy your files and OS back to your original place or other places is you need to and for me never more than a day in lost work much much better than any format and reinstall unless you want/need that to be done as your current system you want to make changes to it and get preform a new build setup.

I posting this now to see what needs to be added and not lose my additions I just added.

Adding now as I used to use Autoruns as it helped but now using Windows 10 task manager to stop or delay programs in startup this older link has a lot of useful info which is much easier to posts the link here

https://lifehacker.com/5425289/five-best-startup-management-tools



I dont mind any constructive criticism but I hate troll that try to take over the thread with unhelpful posts.

 

[Skunk-Works]

You should always periodically clone your computer to an external HDD. That way you can clone back.

Try freefixer and see if anything pops up in Autoruns. Become familiar with Sandboxie. Try Bitdefender Free. Run rKill before starting any scan. Can you use Safe mode and get right click back?

 

[DeadlyTitan]

Why do you say that so what happens if say 3 months down the road and you get hit with another virus/malware and end up in the same situation are you going back up all your data and do the one thing that always make you lose a lot of time rebuilding your hard drive band you will never get the new hard drive with the same data you lost unless you want to spend months redoing all your data not to mention now you have fix your browser as a new setup and its somewhat easier if like me using chrome for backup and restore but what a pita it is to get that working the same as it was.

I have at least 40 pieces of software like office that need to be rebuilt good luck getting that backs to how it was before you formatted the drive.

One I have about 20 games need to be restored and dont forget to put back all your game saves once you located them that should hopefully not waste more than a day or 2 of your time.

I have 3 programs I used for years that take care of any gremlins that the virus/malware might have left and while if I did a deep virus scan on my PC I might see some files that can be deleted as there leftover from my earlier removals they no loger have any hooks like bat or registry entries that will cause them to restart......

These links to 3 security programs to use so you can get on same page as me.........

This is the best program to have https://www.malwarebytes.com/
This comes in 2nd let me get back later with this post as I dont have time to finish and I dont want to lose the post

Wow that attitude when people are trying as best as they can to help you with your problem? ... Okay since you decided to show your attitude, lemme show mine as well. Who's fault is it exactly when you get a virus or malware in 3 months down the line when you did a clean install of the OS? If only you were more aware and cautious, but alas you are totally ignorant and think you know the best, as the other people say Nuking the OS is the only option cause there are things that can never be found using an AV/AM even if you did a full deep scan, and there is no way to undo all the damage/changes that the virus have done to your system, that is unless you are capable of reprogramming your own damn OS in which case why are you even bothering with windows?.

Again who's fault is it when you have no frigging backups ? it takes like 30 mins to make a full backup of your OS. Use Image backup software that takes snapshots of your OS/drive which can be restored instantly. What i generally do when i install an OS with all the things i want/use is do an image backup and save it somewhere safe, that way in case something bad happens (like virus or malware attacks or i messed up my system) and i had to nuke the OS and make a fresh install, i can restore all my settings and software and files back to how they were before things are messed up in an instant without having to spend days rebuilding and configuring my files and software again.

 

[techmanc]

Wow that attitude when people are trying as best as they can to help you with your problem? ... Okay since you decided to show your attitude, lemme show mine as well. Who's fault is it exactly when you get a virus or malware in 3 months down the line when you did a clean install of the OS? If only you were more aware and cautious, but alas you are totally ignorant and think you know the best, as the other people say Nuking the OS is the only option cause there are things that can never be found using an AV/AM even if you did a full deep scan, and there is no way to undo all the damage/changes that the virus have done to your system, that is unless you are capable of reprogramming your own damn OS in which case why are you even bothering with windows?.

Again who's fault is it when you have no frigging backups ? it takes like 30 mins to make a full backup of your OS. Use Image backup software that takes snapshots of your OS/drive which can be restored instantly. What i generally do when i install an OS with all the things i want/use is do an image backup and save it somewhere safe, that way in case something bad happens (like virus or malware attacks or i messed up my system) and i had to nuke the OS and make a fresh install, i can restore all my settings and software and files back to how they were before things are messed up in an instant without having to spend days rebuilding and configuring my files and software again.

Why cant I have my opinion of someone comments if I think there not helping like tell me to format my hard drive and start over is the most destructive thing I could do when I came here for help that imho is not helpful.
I should be able to state that and why I believe the statement does not help so dont post here if you cant stand any negative comments on your posts from me or others and if you disagree fine give your stated reason you disagree and I am happy to follow up on any of my comments made.

Also I never to finish my prior post due to loising my internet connection and I see form other comments I forgot to add a few tools I always been using for many many years.

People especially tech support people I know I been a Windows PC builder and repairing systems since my Amiga/Commodore DOS/Windows days and installed maintained Windows software since then so I hope I will not be shot down like some snotty kid with an attitude when I post and always appreciate any feedback or posts but to say I wont state my own answer in I will defend any of my comments that are warranted!

 

[techmanc]

That is rather shortsighted of you.
What UsandThem said is the ONLY sure fire wayto fix your issues, since you have no clue what the malware / virus did. They could have also installed kernel hooks or have trojans or whatever, and thinking that other AV / malware can find everything out there is being unrealistic.

The main goal here is to save your important data.
You are already compromised, and you don't know how bad you have been compromised.
You already said that your right click menu is still broken...

So, save all the stuff you deem important, and yes, nuke it.

I use defender but mostly rely on MAM or Avast to do my scans for malware.
What I meant to say is I don't need the right click option in defender as both Avast and MAM have that function and it works fine for me.

 

[techmanc]

What I said in OP said about virus/malware causing the defender and MAM to lose it right click function.
I was able to repair that with MAM by doing uninstall/reinstall.

I also reinstalled Avast fas it has the right click scan function as well.

Defender used to have the right click scan ability as well but its not needed by me as its redundant I can use Avast or MAM for that function.

Now that have used the above programs to verify if my system is clean enough to use and not bat/file/registry malware/virus problems remain I dont feel the need to format my hard drive to get the defender right click function working.

One final note all the helpful posts I have made no one has clicked 1 like on my posts but if a mod posts something they get a like that like lol/angry for me to see and what someone will post a follow up to this comment to defend that.

 

[DeadlyTitan]

Okay man, lets keep this simple. Am not against you having your opinion, its just that its not the right way to express it when they are just trying to help especially when people took time to answer your post so as to help you. If you dont like what they suggest then surely posting a reply that starts with "I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE ..." thingy is not the best way to express it. Maybe that is the reason why your posts never gets any likes. You just have to remember that you are dealing with other humans who are just as real as you are and dont like being treated that way, so please keep that in mind the next time you are posting.

Also what the mod said is right. You have been working with computers from a long time and you still think avast is okay to use? MAM is okay its excellent but avast? nope nope. But i am not here to argue about that.

The reason why anyone would suggest a fresh OS is cause we never know what other stuff did the virus have messed up, you can never undo all the changes that a virus have done to your system. maybe some registry tweaks can help but they wont be perfect. its not even worth the time trying to fix everything that the virus have messed up, but hey if you are okay with such temporary patch work fix then maybe someone will suggest something.

Also for a person who have been working with computers i am surprised that you do not have some kinda backup setup and still find it such a hassle to do an image backup.

 

[techmanc]

Okay man, lets keep this simple. Am not against you having your opinion, its just that its not the right way to express it when they are just trying to help especially when people took time to answer your post so as to help you. If you dont like what they suggest then surely posting a reply that starts with "I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE ..." thingy is not the best way to express it. Maybe that is the reason why your posts never gets any likes. You just have to remember that you are dealing with other humans who are just as real as you are and dont like being treated that way, so please keep that in mind the next time you are posting.

Also what the mod said is right. You have been working with computers from a long time and you still think avast is okay to use? MAM is okay its excellent but avast? nope nope. But i am not here to argue about that.

The reason why anyone would suggest a fresh OS is cause we never know what other stuff did the virus have messed up, you can never undo all the changes that a virus have done to your system. maybe some registry tweaks can help but they wont be perfect. its not even worth the time trying to fix everything that the virus have messed up, but hey if you are okay with such temporary patch work fix then maybe someone will suggest something.

Also for a person who have been working with computers i am surprised that you do not have some kinda backup setup and still find it such a hassle to do an image backup.

Ok I rewording the hate to disagree as that should not have been posted that comment so its been changed and Avast is great if you do a minimal install to get the virus scanner and the right click option to scan files and folders and MAM has always for years bailed me out of bad virus/malware situations so dont just say there bad if you have better recommendations why not post them.

And I stronger believe that that you can use these programs to scan and remove all your problems which in these days are daily occurrences and I will always try to repair my system over nuking it with format reinstall so that still the worst case scenario if that needed then go ahead and do that. And Deadly Titan while you like to of the mods posts here you dont like any of my posts?????? Np like their posts but why none of my posts I am curious?

Also I not here to argue and I dislike that anyone uses that term I am here to be enlightened and to enlighten people of problems that can arise while computing and if like my other post I say something that offended like the the removed hate word I will correct that post when notified so just let me know!

 

[DeadlyTitan]

Ok I rewording the hate to disagree as that should not have been posted that comment so its been changed and Avast is great if you do a minimal install to get the virus scanner and the right click option to scan files and folders and MAM has always for years bailed me out of bad virus/malware situations so dont just say there bad if you have better recommendations why not post them.

And I stronger believe that that you can use these programs to scan and remove all your problems which in these days are daily occurrences and I will always try to repair my system over nuking it with format reinstall so that still the worst case scenario if that needed then go ahead and do that. And Deadly Titan while you like to of the mods posts here you dont like any of my posts?????? Np like their posts but why none of my posts I am curious?

Also I not here to argue and I dislike that anyone uses that term I am here to be enlightened and to enlighten people of problems that can arise while computing and if like my other post I say something that offended like the the removed hate word I will correct that post when notified so just let me know!

I use comodo internet security and MAM personally and can recommend comodo for anyone who needs a good AV, but beware its a bit paranoid and will start scrutinizing every single file and that can be annoying at times, but still worth it. I used to use AVG and then shifted to AVAST and then to Bit Defender. For years Bit Defender has been my #1 go to anti virus as that is the thing that bailed me out of a devastating virus attack i had about a decade ago, when every single AV i tried refused to run on the heavily infested system Bit defender was the only one which installed successfully and totally removed the stupid virus from my system, saving my ass and my data. The virus was soo annoying that it encrypted all my files and hide them and replaced them with duplicate copies of itself. Ever since then for i have been using it and only recently about 4 years ago have i switched to comodo as the new bit defender is a bit too minimalist and offers too few features and was generally annoying to navigate, like there is no easy way to retrieve a file that was a false positive and quarantined. So far i really like Comodo ( although its a too paranoid at times) i still like it. It like Better safe than sorry.

I am new to the forums and this is the first time i have encountered you so i dont know what your other posts are.

 

[UsandThem]

People especially tech support people I know I been a Windows PC builder and repairing systems since my Amiga/Commodore DOS/Windows days and installed maintained Windows software since then so I hope I will not be shot down like some snotty kid with an attitude when I post and always appreciate any feedback or posts but to say I wont state my own answer in I will defend any of my comments that are warranted!

If you are referring to me with that last comment, you had pretty tread lightly.

Acting like a entitled jerk when people try to help you is not the way to go. After looking at some of your recent posts, it just appears you are not a pleasant person.

Trust me, I will never come into any of your future posts outside of having to do any of my moderator duties. Since I posted in this thread as a regular user, I am not wearing my "moderator hat", but I am going to report this thread because at this point there is no need for it to stay open for you to continue to make snide comments about people offering to help you for free.

 

[techmanc]

If you are referring to me with that last comment, you had pretty tread lightly.

Acting like a entitled jerk when people try to help you is not the way to go. After looking at some of your recent posts, it just appears you are not a pleasant person.

Trust me, I will never come into any of your future posts outside of having to do any of my moderator duties. Since I posted in this thread as a regular user, I am not wearing my "moderator hat", but I am going to report this thread because at this point there is no need for it to stay open for you to continue to make snide comments about people offering to help you for free.

I removed the original hate word in my previous comment and said it was a mistake to post it and because if criticizing someone post is not allowed then maybe I guilty of that for having my own opinion in a thread I guess for now on I will never comment on anyone else's posts to avoid hurting their feeling even this post will be considered another jerk post so I will post elsewhere I can help somewhere else that won't get upset at my feedback!

 

[mikeymikec]

@techmanc

Just so I'm absolutely certain what the problem you're experiencing is, I think what you're saying is that while the right-click context menu appears, it has all the other usual options you'd expect except for 'scan with Windows Defender' and 'Scan with Malwarebytes anti-malware', is this correct?

 

[UsandThem]

I removed the original hate word in my previous comment and said it was a mistake to post it and because if criticizing someone post is not allowed then maybe I guilty of that for having my own opinion in a thread I guess for now on I will never comment on anyone else's posts to avoid hurting their feeling even this post will be considered another jerk post so I will post elsewhere I can help somewhere else that won't get upset at my feedback!

It's not about "hurting their feelings". My feelings are fine.

It's about just be a decent human being, and not lashing out at people you disagree with who are only trying to help you for free. All that does is make people either ignore your future "help me" posts, or add you to their ignore list. And it's just not our forum where that is how it works. Do the same thing over on Tom's, Linus', or any other tech forums, and the users will do the same thing. Why help someone for free when they are acting badly? Not me.

 

[techmanc]

@techmanc

Just so I'm absolutely certain what the problem you're experiencing is, I think what you're saying is that while the right-click context menu appears, it has all the other usual options you'd expect except for 'scan with Windows Defender' and 'Scan with Malwarebytes anti-malware', is this correct?

Yes both Defender and MAM have when you right click on a file or folder you could scan for virus/malware that recently totally disappeared.
This was most likely removed when I used BAM to recently clear malware that created almost 400 malware items like replacing well I know at least some game shortcuts were changed to run some executable malware. The malware like add run malware to my startup to run when Windows reboots. I have been checking this malware for a long time mostly using MAM.

Now I have installed Avast Free as well so I reinstalled that and that added the right click option using that software. My reinstall on MAM had not worked so I unistalled/installed and the right click is back working as well.

Now while defender dont have option anymore its not needed as the rest of that software works.
I been dealing with doing virus/malware removal for years and I never had do a fresh install which while like I say if thats what you want to do but that the most extreme option you should use and I dont want to read that people took that advice because its posted here without exploring other options if you like me with close to a TB of rebuild restall to do even with having Acronis TI to use.

But on a few occasion due to hardware failure or some other situation then by all means restore with that backup no need to do a format reinstall unless you want to have a new build to use.

 

[mikeymikec]

Presumably Malwarebytes works properly otherwise, e.g. you can run a full system scan + rootkits and it completes without issue?

If so, I'm inclined to think that this isn't malware related (assuming that it's the only symptom).

I've never had to use this before, but it might be worth clearing Malwarebytes off completely using this tool and then reinstall it. It seems to me that the contextmenuhandler for Malwarebytes is partly AWOL hence your problem.

https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1112

 

[techmanc]

It's not about "hurting their feelings". My feelings are fine.

It's about just be a decent human being, and not lashing out at people you disagree with who are only trying to help you for free. All that does is make people either ignore your future "help me" posts, or add you to their ignore list. And it's just not our forum where that is how it works. Do the same thing over on Tom's, Linus', or any other tech forums, and the users will do the same thing. Why help someone for free when they are acting badly? Not me.

Just so I can see where I was a jerk lashing out a post maybe you can post the comment here for me to see Thanks.

 

[techmanc]

Presumably Malwarebytes works properly otherwise, e.g. you can run a full system scan + rootkits and it completes without issue?

If so, I'm inclined to think that this isn't malware related (assuming that it's the only symptom).

I've never had to use this before, but it might be worth clearing Malwarebytes off completely using this tool and then reinstall it. It seems to me that the contextmenuhandler for Malwarebytes is partly AWOL hence your problem.

https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1112

I guess that could help but if my uninstall and reinstall is working fine I won't use that tool as those tools can cause their own problems but good link for others.

 

[techmanc]

If you are referring to me with that last comment, you had pretty tread lightly.

Acting like a entitled jerk when people try to help you is not the way to go. After looking at some of your recent posts, it just appears you are not a pleasant person.

Trust me, I will never come into any of your future posts outside of having to do any of my moderator duties. Since I posted in this thread as a regular user, I am not wearing my "moderator hat", but I am going to report this thread because at this point there is no need for it to stay open for you to continue to make snide comments about people offering to help you for free.

I guess being a mod you post this calling me an entitled jerk and not a pleasant person and I make snide comments. WoW 3 times you made degraded me in one post and this is after I removed the misspoke hate comment.

 

[UsandThem]

I guess being a mod you post this calling me an entitled jerk and not a pleasant person and I make snide comments. WoW 3 times you made degraded me in one post and this is after I removed the misspoke hate comment.

Until I quoted you in post #16, I stayed out of this thread after my 2nd post (#4) until I saw your "snot nosed kid" comment this morning.

Don't now try to act like a victim who I just showed up here to attack you. Just because you decided to edit how you first responded to me, doesn't mean it's still not able to be viewed by mods/admins.

Please stop quoting me. I am done in this thread, and I don't want to get any more notices that you've quoted me. I will not respond anymore here, or in any of your future threads outside of my mod duties.