Dramatic Desktop support - return of the PIXEL

HP G61 laptop repair

Brief:
This job was close to home, my other half’s laptop. It all started when she reported that a file was clicked on and said some funny stuff that made her think it had a virus. I was away on a jobs when the call came in so I insisted that it was to be kept off the network and shutdown until I can look at it.

Problem:
suspicious behaviour.

Analysis:
The laptop was put into safe mode and scanned with its anti-virus software. A trojan was found and a few bits of malware.

Fix:
Removal of said evils claimed in the anti-virus software. Additionally a pre boot scan was done to look for rootkits and full disk scan.

Additionally:
The new family friend stig the cat then decided that he wanted to play on the keyboard and pulled off some keys. In trying to put the letter 'k' back on a metal tab failed and meant the key would not seat properly. The keyboard then acted strangely and would type random characters without been touched.

Fix:
First I removed the keyboard by removing the screws marked 'kbd' on the back of the laptop. Two screws visible from the back, one screw behind the battery, one screw behind the memory cover and one screw behind the wireless cover. Being careful with the tabs around the edge of the keyboard it comes out with ease. I removed the ribbon cable and looked for damage or dirt, after a shake for anything loose and clean I replaced it to see if the problem was still there. No luck, pricing for a new one was around £60 so I looked on ebay for a used on and found the right one, checking the spares number on the back of the keyboard, I picked one for £15 including shipping. It arrived a few days later and was immaculate with no sign of use, I attached the ribbon, booted the computer and it worked great, pushed the keyboard back in being careful not to pinch the ribbon, put the screws back in. Job done.