All apps just crashed, taskbar started glitching.

Question

Hi, this just happened like 10 minutes ago. Suddenly all my apps just crashed out of nowhere. Then, my taskbar started glitching. I restarted my computer and it fixed the issue, but I'm worried that this might be a virus or an issue that might come up later. After the issues, The power electrical in my apartment just shutdowned. Could this be the cause for the disaster? After I restarted my pc, NordVPN and my Discord Plugin (Vencord) just uninstalled. NordVPN is still in my computer, but it fails to bootup the interface. I've ran a fullscan on my computer and no results. I've also lost a bunch of notepad notes.And then I noticed that there was a new notepad note, that goes along the lines of: "


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8PþßÀ @ ?ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÀ
8PþßÀ @ ?ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÀ
8PþßÀ @ ®.e€ /äΧ²ø.­¨Ç®j«l5ë~=ƒX7\SW^¯{ùü™yèJŒT±óIÄ¢aê¤4€÷¤à±Åï€Î©ÿÿÿÿÞȐ]]ÜØ]™HŽŒK”ÛÝŽŒMK“\ÝZ\ÜÚ[ÛˆŽˆ‘œ˜[šÛ[ˆ[™[X\ˆ‹ÛÛ\][۔ݎŒKNMŒ”ÜÚ^[YHŽŒMÌŒÌÎŒMM”^Y\Ú\˜XÝ\’[™^ŽŒ_@
W_Ì6 éø_Vý¨5ÎŒŽTĵ±HX_ÎCy㦧ny5öŽ ¥"Š¡ Ë J^ÜËÙ?‘„‘òäDlngõô“c€õ¹ä·ú¯‘¡RÌCBƒB¢/äΧ²ø.­¨Ç®j«l5ë~=ƒX7\SW^¯{ùü™yèJŒT±óIÄ¢aê¤4€÷¤à±Åï€Î©ä‡7£²óŽxú«Ÿ6‚q«ÐÞ‡>}ì.êù pѧ9sß㸕Cµ¦û¾œ}‡™yv¨Zð{^‡ê}óáa¸ b%¹÷ñÞ}è°c¤0IÀbÌRB©Eü3ø(­%Þs8Õ‹5Pwè\QùB‰+Ô¬ç©Â4 TkyõKbN\¯
W_Ì6 éø_Vý¨5ÎŒŽTĵ±HX_ÎCy㦧ny5öŽ ¥"Š¡ Ë J^ÜËÙ?‘„‘òäDlngõô“c€õ¹ä·ú¯‘¡R $.͝¼€€  ?ÿÿÀ " Is there anyway that I can check to see if something went wrong? I'll try to keep this post updated if I found more stuff that has happened after/before the disaster. Is there anyway that I can check to see if something went wrong? And should I consider a factory reset?

Answer 1

Hello, 114fv

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

It sounds like you’ve had quite a stressful experience! Although your full scan showed no results, it’s still possible that malware could be involved, especially with the strange notepad note you found. A factory reset might not be thorough enough if you’re concerned about a potential virus. A clean installation of Windows is a more comprehensive solution: How to make clean install of Windows 11 - Microsoft Community

Ensure all important files are backed up to an external drive or cloud storage. Before restoring your backed-up files, scan them with an antivirus to ensure they are not infected.

After the installation, make sure to install the latest drivers for your hardware, and reinstall your essential software, including NordVPN and Discord.

Yuhao L

Microsoft Community Technical Support