How I Tackled a Trojan Infection: A Personal Journey to Recovery

In today’s digital landscape, encountering malware is an unfortunate reality many of us face. I recently found myself in this situation for the first time in seven years. While I’ve dealt with various viruses in the past, this was my inaugural encounter with a Trojan, specifically one called “Great Discover.” My knowledge of how scanners and antivirus programs operate is minimal at best, so I felt compelled to share my experience in detail, hoping it might assist others battling similar issues.

The Discovery of “Great Discover”

This morning, I inadvertently downloaded the “Great Discover” malware. When I tried to uninstall it, I was presented with a pop-up that led me down a rather frustrating path. I was asked to complete a captcha that was nearly impossible to solve; every time I input the correct characters, it responded with an error. A quick online search confirmed my fears—it was indeed malware known for mining cryptocurrency, a term I was unfamiliar with.

My Plan of Action

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, I took immediate steps to clean my system:

1. Resetting My Browser:
   To begin, I thoroughly cleared my browser history and restored the settings to their default. I also navigated to the extensions tab and removed any unfamiliar add-ons.

2. Cleaning Program Files:
   Next, I delved into the C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) directories, meticulously deleting several folders with cryptic names that I had not installed.

3. Checking Installed Programs:
   I then accessed the Control Panel and examined the “Programs and Features” section for dubious applications. Anything that appeared suspicious was promptly uninstalled.

Scanning for Residual Threats

After cleaning up the obvious threats, I wanted to ensure my system was secure. I installed Malwarebytes for an initial scan, which revealed a single issue that I quarantined and removed. A second scan yielded a clean bill of health, but I didn’t stop there. I proceeded with a full scan using Kaspersky’s virus removal tool, which also returned clear results.

Final Checks and Reassurances

To further soothe my concerns, I investigated the Task Manager for any processes consuming excessive resources but found nothing alarming. The troublesome program in the system tray had vanished. However, I noticed that some applications, like Discord and Spotify, were launching automatically upon startup, which