QuoteHello! I didn't touch the pre-installed software.

And you also didn't touch the PUPs found. :) I would like you to remove those. Can you please run AdwCleaner once more and remove the PUPs?

Hello! I didn't touch the pre-installed software. I think my system is much better! Thank you!

# -------------------------------
# Malwarebytes AdwCleaner 8.4.0.0
# -------------------------------
# Build:    08-30-2022
# Database: 2023-07-19.3 (Cloud)
# Support:  https://www.malwarebytes.com/support
#
# -------------------------------
# Mode: Scan
# -------------------------------
# Start:    11-28-2023
# Duration: 00:00:27
# OS:       Windows 10 (Build 18363.1556)
# Scanned:  32097
# Detected: 17


***** [ Services ] *****

No malicious services found.

***** [ Folders ] *****

No malicious folders found.

***** [ Files ] *****

No malicious files found.

***** [ DLL ] *****

No malicious DLLs found.

***** [ WMI ] *****

No malicious WMI found.

***** [ Shortcuts ] *****

No malicious shortcuts found.

***** [ Tasks ] *****

No malicious tasks found.

***** [ Registry ] *****

PUP.Optional.GetFormsPlus       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\freeforms.co
PUP.Optional.GetFormsPlus       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\freeforms.co
PUP.Optional.TheBrightTag       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\thebrighttag.com
PUP.Optional.TheBrightTag       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\thebrighttag.com

***** [ Chromium (and derivatives) ] *****

No malicious Chromium entries found.

***** [ Chromium URLs ] *****

No malicious Chromium URLs found.

***** [ Firefox (and derivatives) ] *****

No malicious Firefox entries found.

***** [ Firefox URLs ] *****

No malicious Firefox URLs found.

***** [ Hosts File Entries ] *****

No malicious hosts file entries found.

***** [ Preinstalled Software ] *****

Preinstalled.DellCommand|PowerManager   Folder   C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\DELL\COMMANDPOWERMANAGER
Preinstalled.DellCommand|PowerManager   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\COMMANDPOWERMANAGER
Preinstalled.DellSupportAssistAgent   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\SAREMEDIATION\AUDIT
Preinstalled.DellSupportAssistAgent   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\SAREMEDIATION\PLUGIN
Preinstalled.DellSupportAssistAgent   Folder   C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\DELL\SUPPORTASSIST
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\Program Files (x86)\DELL\UPDATESERVICE
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\UPDATE
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\ProgramData\DELL\UPDATE
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\ProgramData\DELL\UPDATESERVICE
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Folder   C:\Program Files\RIVET NETWORKS
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Registry   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tasks\{BB1DC2B5-E952-450D-98F6-9AF8FE68F80B} 
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Registry   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\SmartByte Telemetry
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Task   C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\SMARTBYTE TELEMETRY


AdwCleaner[S00].txt - [3538 octets] - [27/11/2023 18:55:40]

########## EOF - C:\AdwCleaner\Logs\AdwCleaner[S01].txt ##########

Lisa, if you are not sure, then do not touch the pre-installed software.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.2776 (Beta Channel)

REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.

Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Share]

• If you're signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID, in addition to being able to share to your Microsoft Teams (work or school) contacts, you can also now share directly to specific Microsoft Teams Channels and groups chats as well directly within the Windows share window.

[Windows Ink]

• We are expanding the ability to use digital handwriting (inking) in some edit boxes for Windows Ink to the following languages and locales: Chinese Simplified (People's Republic of China), English (Australia), English (Canada), English (India), English (United Kingdom), French (Canada), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea)Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Mexico), and Spanish (Spain). This also includes more accurate recognition technology, gestures to delete, select, join, and split words and also gesture to insert a new line.

[Task Manager]

• We improved process grouping in the processes page for Task Manager.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Desktops]

• Fixed an issue that made the desktop tooltips in Task view hard to read in contrast themes.
• Fixed an issue where when dragging and dropping windows in Task View to different desktops, it might unexpectedly place the window in the background of other windows.

[Live captions]

• Fixed an issue that was causing live captions to sometimes show the same line of text twice.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Settings]

• This update starts the roll out of account-related notifications for Microsoft accounts on the Settings homepage. A Microsoft account connects Windows to your Microsoft apps. The account backs up all your data and helps you manage your subscriptions. You can also add extra security steps to keep you from being locked out of your account. This feature displays notifications across the Start menu and Settings. You can manage Settings notifications in Settings > Privacy & security > General.

Hello! I'm unsure if I should quarantine any pre-installed software: Dell Command Power Manager, Dell Support Assist Agent, Dell Update for Windows 10, Rivet Networks Smart Byte. Please let me know before I continue the steps. Thank you!

Pale Moon has been updated to version 32.5.1.  This is a minor development and security update.

Important: as of this version, our beta FreeBSD binaries require at least FreeBSD 13.

Changes/fixes:

• Restricted protocol fallback for TLS. Pale Moon no longer (by default) allows TLS 1.3 to fall back to earlier protocol versions during the initial handshake.
• Reverted the addition of browser.bookmarks.openInTabClosesMenu due to behavioral issues with menus.

If you desire the intended behavior, please use an extension instead.

• We no longer support the data: protocol inside SVG's <use> statements.
• Enabled more validation/error checking for WebGL on Windows to prevent potential crashes.
• Improved secure context checking for iframes.
• Fixed the handling of relative paths in URLs starting with multiple forward slashes.
• Security issues addressed: CVE-2023-6204, CVE-2023-6210, CVE-2023-6209 and CVE-2023-6205 DiD
• UXP Mozilla security patch summary: 3 fixed, 1 DiD, 14 not applicable.

Notes:

*DiD This means that a fix is "Defense-in-Depth": It is a fix that does not apply to a (potentially) actively exploitable vulnerability in Pale Moon, but prevents future vulnerabilities caused by the same code, e.g. when surrounding code changes, exposing the problem, or when new attack vectors are discovered.

Rejected security patches: This means that patches were theoretically applicable to our code but considered undesirable, which could be due to unwanted changes in behavior, known regressions caused by the patches, or unnecessary risks for stability, security or privacy.

Pale Moon includes both 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows: Pale Moon for Windows downloads.

Update: To get the update now, select "Help" from the Pale Moon menu at the upper left of the browser window. Select About Pale Moon > Check for Updates.

Release Notes
Release Cycle

Hi, Lisa.

Apologies for the way my previous post has been appeared on the screen. It seems that the forum's software messed up the formatting. Let's continue.   
   

AdwCleaner (Clean mode)

To proceed, please do the following:

• Double click AdwCleaner.exe on your Desktop, to run it as you did before.
  
• Click Scan Now.
  
• When the scan has finished a Scan Results window will open.
  
• Please check all the boxes and then click Quarantine.
  
• Click Next.
  
  • If any pre-installed software was found on your machine, a prompt window will open. Click OK to close it.
    
  • Check any pre-installed software items you want to remove.
    
  • Click Quarantine.
    
• A prompt to save your work will appear.
• Click Continue when you're ready to proceed.
  
• A prompt to restart your computer will appear.
• Click Restart Now.
  
• Once your computer has restarted:
• If it doesn't open automatically, please start AdwCleaner.
  
• Click the Log Files tab.
  
• Double click on the latest Clean log (Clean logs have a [C0*] suffix, where * is replaced by a number, the latest scan will have the largest number)
  
• A Notepad file will open containing the results of the removal.
• Please post the contents of the file in your next reply.
  

In your next reply, please post:

• The AdwCleaner[C0*].txt
• Feedback: how is the computer running now? Any remaining issue/question/concern.

Malwarebytes
www.malwarebytes.com

-Log Details-
Scan Date: 11/27/23
Scan Time: 7:34 PM
Log File: db38e6b6-8d85-11ee-8557-8cec4b123e2a.json

-Software Information-
Version: 4.6.5.293
Components Version: 1.0.2181
Update Package Version: 1.0.77775
License: Trial

-System Information-
OS: Windows 10 (Build 18363.1556)
CPU: x64
File System: NTFS
User: LAPTOP-Q41MP6MQ\Angel

-Scan Summary-
Scan Type: Threat Scan
Scan Initiated By: Manual
Result: Completed
Objects Scanned: 269397
Threats Detected: 0
Threats Quarantined: 0
Time Elapsed: 22 min, 21 sec

-Scan Options-
Memory: Enabled
Startup: Enabled
Filesystem: Enabled
Archives: Enabled
Rootkits: Enabled
Heuristics: Enabled
PUP: Detect
PUM: Detect

-Scan Details-
Process: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Module: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Key: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Value: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Data Stream: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Folder: 0
(No malicious items detected)

File: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Physical Sector: 0
(No malicious items detected)

WMI: 0
(No malicious items detected)


(end)

It found the two PUP files--I didn't quarantine them. Here is the notepad:

# -------------------------------
# Malwarebytes AdwCleaner 8.4.0.0
# -------------------------------
# Build:    08-30-2022
# Database: 2023-07-19.3 (Cloud)
# Support:  https://www.malwarebytes.com/support
#
# -------------------------------
# Mode: Scan
# -------------------------------
# Start:    11-27-2023
# Duration: 00:00:22
# OS:       Windows 10 (Build 18363.1556)
# Scanned:  32098
# Detected: 17


***** [ Services ] *****

No malicious services found.

***** [ Folders ] *****

No malicious folders found.

***** [ Files ] *****

No malicious files found.

***** [ DLL ] *****

No malicious DLLs found.

***** [ WMI ] *****

No malicious WMI found.

***** [ Shortcuts ] *****

No malicious shortcuts found.

***** [ Tasks ] *****

No malicious tasks found.

***** [ Registry ] *****

PUP.Optional.GetFormsPlus       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\freeforms.co
PUP.Optional.GetFormsPlus       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\freeforms.co
PUP.Optional.TheBrightTag       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\thebrighttag.com
PUP.Optional.TheBrightTag       HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\thebrighttag.com

***** [ Chromium (and derivatives) ] *****

No malicious Chromium entries found.

***** [ Chromium URLs ] *****

No malicious Chromium URLs found.

***** [ Firefox (and derivatives) ] *****

No malicious Firefox entries found.

***** [ Firefox URLs ] *****

No malicious Firefox URLs found.

***** [ Hosts File Entries ] *****

No malicious hosts file entries found.

***** [ Preinstalled Software ] *****

Preinstalled.DellCommand|PowerManager   Folder   C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\DELL\COMMANDPOWERMANAGER
Preinstalled.DellCommand|PowerManager   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\COMMANDPOWERMANAGER
Preinstalled.DellSupportAssistAgent   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\SAREMEDIATION\AUDIT
Preinstalled.DellSupportAssistAgent   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\SAREMEDIATION\PLUGIN
Preinstalled.DellSupportAssistAgent   Folder   C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\DELL\SUPPORTASSIST
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\Program Files (x86)\DELL\UPDATESERVICE
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\Program Files\DELL\UPDATE
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\ProgramData\DELL\UPDATE
Preinstalled.DellUpdateforWindows10   Folder   C:\ProgramData\DELL\UPDATESERVICE
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Folder   C:\Program Files\RIVET NETWORKS
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Registry   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tasks\{BB1DC2B5-E952-450D-98F6-9AF8FE68F80B} 
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Registry   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\SmartByte Telemetry
Preinstalled.SmartByte   Task   C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\SMARTBYTE TELEMETRY



########## EOF - C:\AdwCleaner\Logs\AdwCleaner[S00].txt ##########

Good job,

Lisa.To ensure that everything is clean:1. Run AdwCleaner (scan only)Download AdwCleaner and save it to your desktop.

• • Double click AdwCleaner.exe to run it.
    
  • Click Scan Now.
    
    • When the scan has finished, a Scan Results window will open.
      
    • Click Cancel (at this point do not attempt to Quarantine anything that is found)
      
  • Now click the Log Files tab.
    
    • Double click on the latest scan log (Scan logs have a [S0*] suffix, where * is replaced by a number. The latest scan will have the largest number)
      
    • A Notepad file will open containing the results of the scan.
    • Please post the contents of the file in your next reply.
      

2. Run Malwarebytes (scan only)

• • Download Malwarebytes and save it to your Desktop.
    
  • Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer.
  • Double-click on the icon on your desktop named MBSetup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
    
  • Follow the instructions to install the program.
  • When finished, double click the program's icon created on your Desktop.
    
  • Click the little gear on the top right (Settings) and when it opens, click the Security tab and make sure about the following:
    
    Code (auto:0) Select Expand
    Under the title Scan Options, all the options are checked.
Under the title Windows Security Center (Premium only) the option is NOT checked.
Under the title Potentially unwanted items all options are set to Always.
    
  • Click on the little gear to return to the main menu and select Scan. The program will start scanning your computer. This may take about 10 minutes, but in some cases it may be take longer.
    
  • When finished, you will see the Threat Scan Summary window open.
    

If threats are not found, click View Report and proceed to the two last steps below. If threats are found, make sure that all threats are not selected, close the program and proceed to the next steps below.

• • Open Malwarebytes again, click on the Scanner, and then on the Reports tab.
    
  • Find the report with the most recent date and double click on it.
    
  • Click on Export and then Copy to Clipboard.
    
  • Paste its content here, in your next reply.
    

In your next reply, please post:

• • The AdwCleaner[S0*].txt
  • The Malwarebytes report