Hardware properties changed - Win 7

musicvid10 wrote on 8/20/2016, 8:25 PM
-- the MAC address on my network adapter changed!
-- none of the System Restore points would "take."
-- mouse properties changed to their defaults - twice.
-- command box properties changed so they flashed and closed immediately.
-- all of my saved wireless networks disappeared
-- probably a few more . . .

Is this a known malware attack? Are the symptoms repeated on anyone else's system?
It all seems fixable with patience; if it were a disk event I would be having s/w problems too, I would think.

Oh, this followed a pair of C++ updates from Microsoft. Is this an emerging issue?



Comments

john_dennis wrote on 8/20/2016, 9:42 PM
MAC address should be burned into non-volatile memory. That doesn't mean it's being read or interpreted properly. I'd vote for a motherboard hardware failure. Too much going on. I hope I'm wrong.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/20/2016, 10:46 PM
The trojan that Malwarebytes found was supposedly eradicated in 2012, but was reported last year in a number of router exploits by brute force attacks on the local DNS server, which would describe my router..

Makes sense, because my new Samsung tablet also lost contact with the router, and the MAC had to be entered manually. A good conspiracy story is hard to put down..

john_dennis wrote on 8/20/2016, 10:56 PM
Now, if you make it stay gone.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/21/2016, 9:38 AM
Malwarebytes got the trojan off my computer, I did a hard reset on the router and entered all the settings by hand, so hopefully the drama has subsided (I can reload the firmware if it happens again). DNS Unlocker and DNS Changer are baddies -- they do more than just put ads on your browser screen.

musicvid10 wrote on 8/21/2016, 9:57 PM
... and it turns out Netgear issued a patched firmare for this exploit about two years ago.
It's the things we never think about -- until they bite us in the ass. Computer not out of the woods yet, but better.

john_dennis wrote on 8/21/2016, 10:01 PM
I'll have to look for firmware updates for my router.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/21/2016, 10:08 PM
Clicking on anything is dangerous these days. Never had much of a problem on Vista, which is also a lot slower.