Geek squad put trojans on my laptop?

My sister purchased a laptop from best buy online and picked it up from the store. She used it for about a day and she started getting all these errors and avira was showing up with like 18 Trojans at a time. I thought maybe she just downloaded something she should not have and i restored the system to the factory default settings. But after i restored to the factory default settings almost instantly it still came up with viruses. So I happened to have a copy of windows 7 premium and I did a clean install of windows 7 and she hasn't had a problem since... I'm just curious do you think maybe these scumbags purposely put viruses on the computer? I know that best buy prob gave the laptop to geek squad to install some programs on it before she picked it up. I have had problems with geek squad in the past. But does anyone here think they would go as far as infecting a computer on purpose?

 

Hi

Honestly, I don't think Geek Squad *COULD* infect a computer on purpose... I think rather it's likely that the viruses got on the machine due to their LACK of competence... typically, the people that work as Geek Squad don't know what they are doing, and only follow a program that tells them what to do.

 

Without knowing the exact chain of custody the unit went through, it's hard to pinpoint where the infection occurred.

My first thought is that it may have been an "open box" PC that was previously used and returned to the store, infected by the previous user. When you "restored the PC to factory default settings", did you use an installed recovery mode that wiped and reformatted the "C" drive before completely reinstalling the factory image (about a 90 minute process)? Anything less would not have removed viruses or malware.

I think the issue can be traced back to $10/hour flunkies whose "training" revolves more around selling extended warranties and Monster Cables than properly setting up a PC. Personally, I would have returned it as soon as the problems became evident and demanded a new, factory-sealed box unit.

 

I would also question why Best Buy would do that? It is not in their best interest. So I suspect Avira was reporting false positives and would perform supplemental scans with a different anti-malware solution, such as Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) or (and) Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM).

While it certainly is possible a lack of security control at Best Buy allowed for their network to become infected, thus infecting the computer they connect to it. But to the best of my knowledge, when you buy a computer on-line from them and pick up at the store, you get a computer still sealed in the box - unless you special order extra RAM or something. And for it to come from an infected disk, there would be many users complaining. So I suspect Avira.

 

Yeah I dont know I just found it weird that when I used my own windows 7 cd the problems ceased to exsist.

 

Yeah but notebooks are notorious for having tons of fluff, bloat and other junk foisted on them users don't need by the notebook maker at the factory. A fresh install would have overwritten all that.

Was the notebook still in a factory sealed box when she picked it up? Or had the local Best Buy been in there?

It should also be noted that the Best Buy Geek Squad of today is not the Geek Squad of a few years ago. Of course there will always be incompetent people (or disgruntled employees) in every line of work, but the Geek Squad has worked hard to put their past lousy reputation behind them. The vast majority of Geek Squad people today are very well trained, certified and competent technicians and don't deserve the stigma they often get.

Frankly (unless the box was opened when she got it), if there really was malware on it and these were not Avira false positives (which I am still inclined to believe - see here), I would be inclined to blame someone at the notebook maker's factory.

 

As a thirty year tech, that has to deal with viruses, trojans, spyware and oh yes, the Geek Squad, on a daily basis, let me say this.

Usually what you get for free on a new computer is worth exactly what you've paid for it. Eh?

When I set up a new PC of any brand, I remove all the factory installed software, and that includes Norton, McAfee, or other seldom ever heard of Anti-whatever software. Be sure to get rid of "WildTangent Games".
Wild Tangent is a well known spyware vendor. They pre-install up to 30 games and they all come out together when you UN-Instal Wild Tangent Games, sometimes called HP Games.

People like things that are FREE, but work just like PAID (Retail Boxed) software. I install AVG 2012 FREE and Spybot Search & Destroy for all my customers. If it appears to be a hazardous environment, like where kids use the family PC, I also install "Malware Bytes" anti-malware.

I program AVG for an auto-update and auto-scan, every day at a time when the PC will most likely be ON-LINE.
When the Retail version of Malware Bytes is used, it too can be programmed to update and scan DAILY. Otherwise you have to update it yourself and then run a full scan, at least once a week. Do it weekly, not "weakly".
AVG and Malware Bytes are two programs that DO play well together, however the updates and scans should be set for different times.
I own the PRO versions of both programs, as well as "Trojan Hunter Pro", which also runs in Real-Time, and I NEVER get infected by anything.

Spybot Search & Destroy, (FREE) will not only keep your PC clean of Spyware, but it can Immunize your browsers (specifically, I.E. and Firefox) against infections by over 150,000 bad web sites. The proper setup for this program is so specific, that I typed up a whole page of setup instructions and put them on my web-site.
Spybot S&D is a fabulous program when properly installed and kept up to date. They post their updates every Wednesday.

Be Pro-Active and stay safe.

Cheers Mates!
The Shadow :cool