I have a nearly new Windows computer with only a few games and school files, but it has become very slow and is almost out of storage. The biggest concern is that Chrome keeps changing my default search engine from Google to Yahoo, even after I switch it back. McAfee scans have not found anything, and I'm not very experienced with troubleshooting. Does this sound like malware, and what steps should I take to free up space, check for threats, and stop Chrome from changing its search engine?
3 Answers
Run a scan with Windows Defender and a reputable second-opinion scanner such as Malwarebytes. Also consider uninstalling McAfee if you don’t specifically need it; it can use a lot of system resources, and Windows Defender is generally sufficient for basic protection on a current Windows installation.
Check Chrome’s extensions first. Remove anything you don’t recognize, especially recently installed extensions, because unwanted extensions can change your search engine. You can also reset Chrome’s settings if the problem continues. Reinstalling Chrome usually isn’t necessary until you’ve tried those steps.
I’ll check the extensions and try resetting Chrome before reinstalling it.
For the storage problem, use a disk-usage tool such as TreeSize Free to see which folders or files are taking up the space. Don’t guess based only on your downloads folder—Windows updates, recovery files, installed programs, and temporary files can consume a surprising amount of storage. The search-engine issue may be unrelated to the low disk space and could simply be an unwanted browser extension or setting.
I ran Windows Defender and it didn’t find anything, but I’ll look through the extensions and try another scanner too.