Hey everyone! I recently made the mistake of downloading some questionable software in an attempt to try out a skinchanger for my Steam alt account. It turns out it may have been malware. When I opened the executable, nothing happened at first, but a program called 'Postman' showed up running in the background on task manager, so I shut it down and deleted everything.
However, a few hours later, I noticed that I sent a message with a scam image to my first 30 Instagram chats. I quickly changed my Instagram and Facebook passwords and ran scans with Windows Defender and Malwarebytes, which didn't show any threats. I also removed browser cookies and ran some command in command prompt to clean up.
It's been a day and I've received an email from Instagram about suspicious activity but no notifications about attempts to access my account yet. Do you think I should reinstall Windows? I have important files backed up on an external drive, but it feels like a hassle. Would love to hear any advice!
2 Answers
You definitely want to secure your account! I recommend logging out of all devices and enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) with an authenticator app for extra security. If you're feeling uneasy, reinstalling Windows could give you peace of mind, but make sure you save important files first!
Before deciding to reinstall Windows, run some antivirus scans just to be safe. You can use:
1. Windows Defender (it's built into Windows)
2. HitmanPro for a free trial (no credit card needed)
3. Malwarebytes AdwCleaner, which is free and easy to use without needing full installation.
Good point! Just a heads up—if you can’t upgrade to Windows 11, they’ve extended security support for Windows 10 for another year, so you're good for now.