Laptop Volume control problem...

[Draygoes]

I have a friend named Crystal, and she has the most odd problem.
I was doing a routine removal of some adware, and the laptops built in volume controls fired off. I was doing this over TeamViewer, but I saw the box come up on the screen. The volume was going up and down at random moments, and even muting and unmuting.

When I say built in, I mean it because the bar that came up had no effect on the Windows volume settings at all. Not sure what brand of laptop she has, but I had still never seen anything like that before.

I asked her to take her hands completely away from the keyboard, she complied, and the problem still came up.

The adware removal went off without the slightest catch, but the volume problem is still going on. She is asking me what to do, so I told her that I would ask around.

I feel like this is a hardware problem, but I am not sure. If anyone has any experience with this sort of thing (aka seen or heard of such a problem) I could really use the help. Its driving her crazy, and I feel really bad for her.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

[cb600fshornet]

Can you just turn the volume bars off? If it's not affecting the output volume at all then it sounds like a glitch with the on screen display.

You should be able to uninstall it or remove it from start-up by unticking the start-up box (msconfig > Startup)

 

[Draygoes]

Thats the strange thing. I dont think that it is being controled by local software. It seems like an extra feature built into the laptop.

I have never seen this laptop in person, only through teamviewer. But I will contact Crystal tonight and get the specs, make and model.

 

[strollin]

Do you know the make & model of the laptop?

 

[BK_123]

What tools did you use to remove the viruses and malware? I am also thinking that removing the drivers and reinstalling them may help. Also check if anything unusual is showing up when the PC boots..

 

[cb600fshornet]

Thats the strange thing. I dont think that it is being controled by local software. It seems like an extra feature built into the laptop.

I have never seen this laptop in person, only through teamviewer. But I will contact Crystal tonight and get the specs, make and model.

The on-screen display is always controlled by software, you should be able to disable it.

 

[Draygoes]

Do you know the make & model of the laptop?

She was not online last night, so I didnt have a chance to find out.

What tools did you use to remove the viruses and malware? I am also thinking that removing the drivers and reinstalling them may help. Also check if anything unusual is showing up when the PC boots..

I ended up using Combofix, as it was more than good enough for this job. Also, her computer is actually faster than it has been for a while, so if there is anything unusual its that the logon screen now comes up faster.

The on-screen display is always controlled by software, you should be able to disable it.

I will look into that tonight when she is on again then.

It should be noted that her laptop is reaching around 5 years (she thinks anyway) old.

 

[BK_123]

It also mightn't hurt to give CCleaner a run to clean all the junk out lurking inside..

 

[Draygoes]

That I did as par to the course. Its going to be a few hours, as she doesnt get on until later, and if she gets on at all depends on if she has finished her unpacking.

A bit of backstory so that you guys know what happened.
She informed me using her Ipad that her laptop couldnt get online at all. Her browser (chrome) wouldnt go anywhere, and skype was not logging in. It was looking like a simple fix, as the first thing that I always check is the Windows Firewall. But, when I had her check, Windows Firewall was off, and even with UAC disabled was showing no way to change that. I had her read me all of the process's, and two thing stuck out to me. One, that Comodo firewall was installed "CCC.exe", and two was that a few things seemed off "StartMenu.exe" along with a few others. So, I had her disable Comodo firewall, and I was able to access through teamviewer. Now, because that and a few other process's looked strange, I decided to see what all she had installed. The first problem had been fixed, but you guys should probably know by now that any true hacker cannot leave well enough alone when somthing doesnt feel right. So, while running through the programs in the "Add-Remove programs list" (and no I will not stop calling it that even though that name died with XP), I found that there where multiple toolbars installed, some game software, and other basic crap that she did not remember installing. That can happen to anyone, and rather than risk reaction from any of the programs by running their natural uninstaller, I ran combofix. I came to that conclusion after learning that she was experiancing popups along with everything else. Combofix did its job, and a lot got removed. When I checked again, she was OK. Everything that I thought was malicious was removed. However, now was the time to make sure that she was secure. So, a firewall that was essentially taking up memory without doing anything just wouldnt do. I went to the uninstall process with Comodo firewall, and it should have gone perfectly, but it did not. At that point, she lost all internet again. After talking her through downloading the latest version of Comodo (if that did it, it would undo it....), she was back online but with a new problem. I started seeing this Black volume control bar going crazy on her screen at random times. She thought that I was doing it, I thought that she might be. The answer was neither of us. It was suddenly firing off on its own, and that only happened after the above, so I find it hard to explain or even understand.

Anyway, that is the complete background. Simple repairs can turn into long endevors, but we all know that. Now I am trying to solve this final problem. Actually 2 problems because Comodo is still disabled, and even in "Training mode" it still blocks traffic. But one at a time I suppose.

 

[Draygoes]

I wanted to keep you guys in the loop. The fact is that she just finished upacking last night. All she wanted to do was sleep, and I cannot blame her. I will get her specs later.