44 replies to this topic

[arrowspace90]

No, those steps don't require physical access. But, from your other posts, it seems you've got an upgraded version that interferes with the process.

 

 

If you start in Safe Mode you will not have remote access.

 

Anyway when you get around to trying what I've mentioned 3 or 4 times, call out.

 

-drl

When I click on the Start Button, I get this screen.  So I don't know what you mean by "Click on any capital letter"??  You can see the offending program here.  But if I click to uninstall it, nothing happens.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by arrowspace90, 09 May 2025 - 12:12 PM.

[deSitter]

I give up, what did I miss?  I tried to follow EXACTLY what you said!  What did I not do????

True, I cannot restart the remote in "Safe Mode" without physical access to it.

 

1) Can you see the start button on the remote machine?

 

2) Can you see the taskbar on the remote machine?

 

-drl

[arrowspace90]

1) Can you see the start button on the remote machine?

 

2) Can you see the taskbar on the remote machine?

 

-drl

Yes, as per the photo above.  I pressed the start button on the remote computer and it displayed pinned and recommended and a search window.  In "recommended" there is the bad program, PC App Store.  

Yes I can see the task bar, but the things there cannot be clicked on to bring up on the remote screen, they simply disappear.  Am I to type something in the search window?

[deSitter]

OK so we are on Windows 11 remotely. That changes things a bit - not much, a bit. We have to find Command Prompt. 

 

There is some new pointless thing called Windows Terminal. For some reason MS decided to consolidate Powershell, Command Prompt, and terminal app, because who the heck knows. None of these things have any commonality but ASCII characters.

 

Anyway first try right-clicking on the Start button and look in the list for Command Prompt or Power Shell. Lemme know what you find.

 

(You might also right-click on the taskbar and see if Task Manager is an option.)

 

-drl

[arrowspace90]

OK so we are on Windows 11 remotely. That changes things a bit - not much, a bit. We have to find Command Prompt. 

 

There is some new pointless thing called Windows Terminal. For some reason MS decided to consolidate Powershell, Command Prompt, and terminal app, because who the heck knows. None of these things have any commonality but ASCII characters.

 

Anyway first try right-clicking on the Start button and look in the list for Command Prompt or Power Shell. Lemme know what you find.

 

(You might also right-click on the taskbar and see if Task Manager is an option.)

 

-drl

No command prompt or Powershell.  There is task manager, that might get there if it pulls up for the remote computer and not the physically present desktop.

[arrowspace90]

OK so we are on Windows 11 remotely. That changes things a bit - not much, a bit. We have to find Command Prompt. 

 

There is some new pointless thing called Windows Terminal. For some reason MS decided to consolidate Powershell, Command Prompt, and terminal app, because who the heck knows. None of these things have any commonality but ASCII characters.

 

Anyway first try right-clicking on the Start button and look in the list for Command Prompt or Power Shell. Lemme know what you find.

 

(You might also right-click on the taskbar and see if Task Manager is an option.)

 

-drl

And when I try to click on Task Manager or the other things in the list, they go to the tray, and cannot be brought to the remote screen.  They seem to have thought of everything.

[deSitter]

No command prompt or Powershell.  There is task manager, that might get there if it pulls up for the remote computer and not the physically present desktop.

 

Yes that will bring up the remote Task Manager. Then Run Command and type in cmd.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Actually just type in control

 

-drl

[arrowspace90]

Actually just type in control

 

-drl

Yes, anything on the list will go to the tray, and if I hover the mouse over it in the tray, I can see it on the actual screen.  But if I click on it, or try to move the mouse to the window, it vanishes.

[deSitter]

Actually it is called "File -> Run new task" - I'm sort of doing this blind.

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 09 May 2025 - 01:09 PM.

[arrowspace90]

Here is what task manager looks like with mouse hovered over it in tray.  Right there is the PC App Store.  But I can't move the mouse on to it, it just vanishes as soon as mouse is moved

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[deSitter]

Yes, anything on the list will go to the tray, and if I hover the mouse over it in the tray, I can see it on the actual screen.  But if I click on it, or try to move the mouse to the window, it vanishes.

 

Sending a PM..

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Here is what task manager looks like with mouse hovered over it in tray.  Right there is the PC App Store.  But I can't move the mouse on to it, it just vanishes as soon as mouse is moved

 

OK - awesome. Kill PC AppStore Setup - right click on it and choose "End Task"

 

-drl

[arrowspace90]

OK - awesome. Kill PC AppStore Setup - right click on it and choose "End Task"

 

-drl

I've tried.  I can't click on it.  This is hovering over the tray icon, it shows on the screen, but if I try to move the mouse up there, it's gone.  I did right click on it, multiple times, no good.

Edited by arrowspace90, 09 May 2025 - 01:20 PM.

[arrowspace90]

like this.  You see, I would have to be able to move the mouse up onto the screen, and as soon as I move it, it disappears from main screen  Clicking left or right on the tray icon does nothing.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by arrowspace90, 09 May 2025 - 01:59 PM.

[WadeH237]

C'mon, everyone is not an IT guy.

We realize that, but keep in mind that these things are designed to be as difficult as possible for an ordinary user to remove.

 

There are probably lots of folks in this forum who could handle it easily enough - if they had the machine in front of them.

 

You are getting lots of good suggestions up until now.  But if you get too frustrated, it might be time to find a local computer repair place and just pay them to deal with it.

[arrowspace90]

We realize that, but keep in mind that these things are designed to be as difficult as possible for an ordinary user to remove.

 

There are probably lots of folks in this forum who could handle it easily enough - if they had the machine in front of them.

 

You are getting lots of good suggestions up until now.  But if you get too frustrated, it might be time to find a local computer repair place and just pay them to deal with it.

I agree with you.  And if I had the infected PC here with me, even I could solve it with a restart in safe mode that would allow me to delete at least the obviously offending file.  Failing that, I would put the Malwarebytes Rescue on a usb stick and plug it in.  But I can do neither.  I spent 2 frustrating days trying to find a way around this screen blocker but I was unable. 

Down in the system tray I can see the previews of the screens I need access to, and if I hover the mouse over them, I can see where I need to click.  But the instant I move the mouse off of the tray preview, they are again blocked.  I can't do anything like use command prompts because they only show programs and details of my home desktop, not the remote computer that I am now not in control of.  I can't do system restore, or much of anything.

The problem is that the infected computer is not in front of me, it's 200 miles away and I am running it from Google Remote Desktop.

Edited by arrowspace90, 10 May 2025 - 01:26 PM.

[WadeH237]

The problem is that the infected computer is not in front of me, it's 200 miles away and I am running it from Google Remote Desktop.

This may be a show stopper.  At the very least, it would require a deeper knowledge of Windows internals.

 

Depending on how it's hooked itself into the OS, it may be that any you'd be able to do to prevent it from loading will also prevent Google Remote Desktop from running.

 

If that is the case, then it may be required that you visit the machine to clean it up.

[gmiller123456]

Even though it's too late to be a solution for this case, I'll mention for others that there are solutions for accessing the computer from power on remotely.  A remote KVM switch isn't the cheapest thing in the world, but also isn't too expensive to be worth it in a remote setup.  Also, even some cheap refurb PCs have vPro, which is kinda the same thing, and essentially free.

[bignerdguy]

I agree with you.  And if I had the infected PC here with me, even I could solve it with a restart in safe mode that would allow me to delete at least the obviously offending file.  Failing that, I would put the Malwarebytes Rescue on a usb stick and plug it in.  But I can do neither.  I spent 2 frustrating days trying to find a way around this screen blocker but I was unable. 

Down in the system tray I can see the previews of the screens I need access to, and if I hover the mouse over them, I can see where I need to click.  But the instant I move the mouse off of the tray preview, they are again blocked.  I can't do anything like use command prompts because they only show programs and details of my home desktop, not the remote computer that I am now not in control of.  I can't do system restore, or much of anything.

The problem is that the infected computer is not in front of me, it's 200 miles away and I am running it from Google Remote Desktop.

Well it sounds to me like a road trip might be in order.  Either that or if you know someone local to the PC get them to visit and fix it.  Unfortunately this is the biggest drawback to having remote observatories, when things fail it can be a pain to get it corrected and take quite a bit of time out of your week.