I recently bought a refurbished Asus Vivobook 16 with an i7 processor and 16GB RAM. Excited to set it up for my wife, but as soon as I connected it to our Wi-Fi, I got alerts that a bunch of sketchy websites were blocked. I noticed this happening between 8:50 and 8:52, and then the alerts stopped. I've never encountered this before, so I'm looking for advice. Should I be worried about this? Also, the laptop is sending out continuous security alerts, so we're currently doing a factory reset. Is that the right move?
4 Answers
Performing a factory reset is a decent step, especially for used devices, but it might not be enough. If you signed into any accounts on the laptop, make sure to change those passwords afterwards to be safe.
Honestly, I'd definitely be concerned if I were you. It's not normal for a new device to trigger such alerts, especially with a refurbished one. Better safe than sorry! I'd suggest checking everything thoroughly before using it further.
When getting a new (to you) PC, I've learned that it's best to wipe the drives and install the OS fresh from a USB. You can't trust what was on there from the previous owner. A factory reset doesn't guarantee you'll be free from any hidden issues.
Instead of just a factory reset, I’d recommend creating a USB installer to do a fresh install of Windows. That way, you start from a totally clean slate.
Exactly! A clean installation will remove all potential hidden threats or bloatware that could cause problems later on.