Rootkits and Recovering 2 Systems

[Baroux]

Wondering about something. I may have gotten a rootkit on two systems of mine, or something that started uninstalling hardware drivers. Such as harddrive recognition drivers. I've booted up Windows 10 on a USB stick and tried reinstalling, but likely as not, the drivers are not included in the ISO from Microsoft.

[Edit] This had a link to the drivers in question... Blog post about this problem

[james03]

I read the link. 

Create a folder named "temp" on your C drive and then paste the downloaded

But you can't access the C drive.

Open Windows PowerShell (Admin) on your computer.

Windows isn't installed.

It looks like you need (2) USB drives.  One with the ISO image and another with the drivers.  You then start up your computer, and then do the install.  Then follow the advice on the blog post to install the driver off the second USB drive.

Kind of weird that Windows doesn't come with hard drive drivers.  I don't have Windows, so hopefully others can chime in.  Worst case, take it to the shop.

Note if you have files on your hard drive, doing an install is almost guaranteed to nuke them. I'd get a shop to recover you personal files before attempting what you are doing.

[josh987654321]

Wondering about something. I may have gotten a rootkit on two systems of mine, or something that started uninstalling hardware drivers. Such as harddrive recognition drivers. I've booted up Windows 10 on a USB stick and tried reinstalling, but likely as not, the drivers are not included in the ISO from Microsoft.

What drive is it? Sure it's not just dead?

If you've tried what is suggested in that video you linked, then it could just be dead and you need a new drive.

But you can't access the C drive.

lol that's what I was like when he got to the part about looking up the Motherboard model and searching online... dude, there is no OS yet lol.

Open Windows PowerShell (Admin) on your computer.

Windows isn't installed.

x2 lol... dude.

Although if they have another working PC they can do these steps, Motherboard model can usually also be found on the physical board somewhere itself.

It looks like you need (2) USB drives.  One with the ISO image and another with the drivers.  You then start up your computer, and then do the install.  Then follow the advice on the blog post to install the driver off the second USB drive.

Yea, it seems weird and something I've never even heard of anyone doing before, I suspect the drive has simply died.

I don't have Windows, so hopefully others can chime in.

I do, never had to do anything like that ever, and I've built and setup many with Windows.

Note if you have files on your hard drive, doing an install is almost guaranteed to nuke them. I'd get a shop to recover you personal files before attempting what you are doing.

Yes, provided it's a HDD and not an SSD and the platter in the HDD is not physically damaged, then the files can be recoverable if that's important (It'll probably cost), but if one tries to install Windows, they may still be recoverable as it's not doing a full format just a quick format, but installing windows can write over some stuff and make recovering files harder and less likely.

I doubt this is the case though as the drive is not even showing up in order to attempt that.

God Bless