Windows 7 Ultimate Locked Up and Does Not Work Right

Last sunday I powered on and an unauthorized upgraded program filled the screen and locked up my computer.
(I don't know if it is ok to mention the company's name.)

Ever since, when I power on my computer, it boots up until I see "Welcome" and the icon forms, then a black screen.
So I rebooted into safe mode and found msconfig was set in "Selective Startup" instead of "Normal Startup".

But I still need to boot into safemode first and then restart to fully boot into normal windows.

I have since found all this week (not necessarily in any particular order):

1. my bios was tampered with,
2. was set to S3 instead of S1,
3. power button to instant instead of 4 seconds
4. my mouse did not work to wake up the computer from sleep
5. hibernate is now next to my sleep button
6. I tried several setting in restore but no luck.
7. I tried several "System Images" back to 2018, but no luck. (I thought the images would replace all the files, thus
repairing any corrupt files.)


I ran my premium Malware Antimalware
I ran Adwclean
I ran FRST.exe, FRST English.exe
I rancureit.exe
I ran diskCheck, no bad partitions found

No problems found.

I ran scannow and could not fix all the problems. But it has said that over the years.

I still have to open in safemode, restart and all works ok.

It all started when I had an unauthorized program upgrade installed after I banned it in
my firewall, both in and outbound.

Any and all help is appreciated.

pos

The age of that computer wasn't mentioned, but I'm guessing the CMOS battery needs to be replaced and certain BIOS settings need to be changed and the date/time needs to be corrected.

Thanks for your replies Gentlemen.

Yes, I replaced the battery just to be sure with a new battery. Still the same problems.

pos

- - - Updated - - -

(The computer is at least 7 years old.)

I have another question gentlemen.

I used my win 7 repair disc and it could not repair the problems either.

Maybe a stupid question, but can I format my existing C: drive and use my Windows 7 repair disk upon startup to reinstall
one of my Windows 7 System Images?

pos

Go in Safe Mode, load msconfig and see which programs run at startup. uncheck the box to any suscpicious one. It might also be a service, not application. Switch to the services tab, check the box to exclude Microsoft services. Look carefully at the list and uncheck the box to anything suspicious.

Well, sorry I am late, still working on the computer (Mom died july 21st, so please bear with me.)

Thank you, but I already checked Task Scheduler and no cleaner mentioned.

I had opened msconfig in both safe and normal win, checked and was Not started normally, so re-checked the
"Start Normally" little button.
I looked at service, startup, but don't understand what is what. Here is what I could glean.

Boot has windows 7 listed

Startup only has these 8 listings. Unfortunately I cannot copy and paste.
Realtek HD
Intel(R)com
Intel(R)com
Intel(R)com
Avast Anti
Avast Driver
Microsoft little R
Groove monit

I just added AVAST free this morning.

and 167 or so in Service folder. Again, I cannot copy and paste.

Is there anyway I can over ride so I can copy and paste in Service folder?

I am beginning to think malware in memory or even BIOS if that is possible.

Thanks folks. Much appreciate your responses.

pos

- - - Updated - - -

I came up with some more info. I started Start Up Repair and Cannot Repair Automatically.

I have started getting this copy of windows is not genuine nonsense. In one of the FRST or
another program, they list 4 digits of the key. It does not match the key I have for the computer.
I have had this computer for at least 8 years with no problems.

Details:

Problem event names Start up repair online

Problem signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
" 02: 6.1.7600.16385
" 03: Unknown
" 04: 436
" 05: Auto Fail Over
" 06: 1
" 07: No Root Cause
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Local ID: 1033

Anyone know what this means? Any problems?

pos

Disable Avast Driver or uninstall it completely. Also disable Groove monitor. In Services there is a check box to hide all Microsoft services. Check that to hide them and see only third-party services. Obviously you let alone the Avast (Antivirus) and Intel (drivers) services. Check carefully the others. Google them to see what they do and decide to stop them or not. Post a screenshot of the services window to tell you what to do.