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Doomkid

Way to FULLY search hard drive? (Windows)

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Is it possible, without 3rd party software, to search your entire hard drive, including hidden files and restricted directories such as system32? This would be very beneficial, thanks in advance for any info!

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...7zip?
Wait, that's 3rd party.
...
...
Let me check...
...
...
Windows Explorer!
With hidden files available for viewing, its possible.
And administrator access... 'nuff said.

System32 isn't restricted... unless you mean editing that is.

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Doomkid said:

Is it possible, without 3rd party software, to search your entire hard drive, including hidden files and restricted directories such as system32? This would be very beneficial, thanks in advance for any info!

Sure is. There are a wide variety of tricks you can use to find exactly what you're looking for. Wildcards (using an asterisk * ) are handy for finding all files/all files of a particular extension. E.g. searching from the root of your drive for *.wad would bring up all files containing .wad in their name.

I assume since you mentioned hidden files you are aware of how to view them through a few changes in the folder options "Show hidden files, folders, and drives", and unchecking "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)."

If you don't mind me asking, are you looking to do anything in particular?
Hope this was of help in any case.

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Thankyou both for the replies - A worm and related files under the name "systemmgr" snuck it's way on to my PC, and although I have anti-malware software, I wouldn't mind doing my own personal check. Thankyou!

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Doomkid said:

Thankyou both for the replies - A worm and related files under the name "systemmgr" snuck it's way on to my PC, and although I have anti-malware software, I wouldn't mind doing my own personal check. Thankyou!


It is possible for the worm you have to hook itself to the OS thus causing itself to be invisible to the OS yet still on the disk.

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Yeah, if it was a worm that your anti-malware program didn't stop outright before it could do anything, I wouldn't trust a compromised system. Your best bet is a system restore or a new install. Might seem a bit much, but it's not worth risking leaving open a backdoor for either more malware or for a hacker to get in to do further damage.

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BombChel said:

Your best bet is a system restore or a new install.

Some malware can survive a system restore, and a fresh install can turn into a long drawn-out chore if there's a lot of software to install and configure on top of the OS. My preferred option is to boot from a live CD with a virus/malware scanner on it to kill the worm while it's unable to hide or defend itself. I also backup my hard drives at intervals, so if the worst happens I shouldn't need to do a fresh install.

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With the sophistication of modern malware, the only way to get rid of it reliably is a HD reformat (including complete repartitioning) and a fresh install, if you ask me. Who knows in how many encrypted files the shit is hiding?

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Avg, Norton, 360 and etc. Didn't they help you?

How did a worm even get in? E mail? Website? Download?

Still. Best to try to remove it with other security programs. If that fails, look in the backwaters of the internet to help you, they usually do... they did to me when I accidently set Notepad as the default program for opening EXE files...

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This computer is pretty new, so thankfully an HD wipe won't be that much of a headache. I was attempting to download an older version of MS paint and was suckered in by a "pretty official" looking website's download link. Fucking rookie mistake.

Thanks all for the responses.

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To be safest you should zero out your disk, otherwise if there are any remaining file chains in the disk containing the malware the disk recovery software might fin such unlinked chains and then end up restoring the file.

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