Daughter's Laptop Username & Password Were Somehow Hacked/Changed

Okay, I just did the diskpart, list disk thing, and here is a link to the photo image I took with my cell phone:  https://ibb.co/BsT2dJT

So there is two drives on the computer as GeoffK posted. What is on the larger drive? Is it only data? Run the following commands and post an image.

diskpart

list volume

Here is the photo of the diskpart, list volume:  https://ibb.co/8X5PQk0

I used File Explorer to look, and the larger 1 TB hard drive contains a few data files and a big bunch of software installation files that I previously downloaded from the Internet.

Edited by Torvald, 10 April 2024 - 11:36 AM.

So it does look like your daughter's account has been deleted for some reason. I would recommend you reinstall Windows 10.

When you get to the Custom or Upgrade windows select Custom and then delete the partitions of the 500GB drive. With the 500GB drive shown as unallocated after the partitions are deleted click the next button and Windows will automatically partition the drive.

JohnC_21,

Yes, somebody has definitely messed with her laptop, and I'm really doubting her boyfriend's explanation of how he only connected his cell phone to it to transfer a photo file to the laptop in order to then email it to a third party.

Have just downloaded the MS Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, so will now install a fresh copy of Windows 10 on the 500 GB SSD.

P.S. I normally periodically do a Macrium Reflect image backup of our home computers, but the image for her laptop is over 4 years old, so I think I'll just do a fresh Windows install and then manually reinstall Office 2019 and all the other programs.

Will then also run several deep malware scans of the 1 TB Hard drive just to make sure there is nothing lurking there under the surface.

Thanks for all your help and advice.

You're Welcome,

Probably best to create a Macrium Image after each monthly Windows 10 security update.

Update:

After removing the password to the new user account on my daughter's laptop, then logging into Windows and finding all programs and data were missing, I decided the prudent thing to do was to completely reinstall Windows.

Therefore, I completely wiped the SSD on my daughter's laptop, installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 Home on it, created a new username and password for her, plus reinstalled all of the various programs she needed, especially MS Office 2019.

I then created a Macrium Reflect image backup of her C: boot drive to an removeable hard drive, plus similarly created backup images of all our other family computers.

Thanks to JohnC_21 and others here at Bleeping Computer for your help and advice to me in this process.

Now all she needs is apps/websites for "How to find a trustworthy boyfriend". and "Why you should never lend your personal laptop to anyone".

The cynic in me says that the first one may fall on deaf ears though.
(But not to worry, Dad will put things right again).

Edited by Nukecad, 14 April 2024 - 05:52 AM.