Hiya, thanks for your reply!
Funnily enough before you replied i tried looking around Google to find some more help and i did download MalwareBytes - i did a quick scan and it found 8 infected files but it said it couldn't remove them but asked that i restart my computer to help the process. I did do so and now i am running a full scan on my computer, which as one would expect, appear to be a long process - that is no matter though and I shall see if there are any fruits to these particular labours
May I also ask you, is Flash Drive Disinfector by sUBs a reputable name or well known? Unfortuantely I am relatively new to the horrific world of malware and so on so I am extremely hesistant to download any new programs, it took me a good 15 minutes to convince myself to get MalwareByte's Anti malware! I don't wish to download something and then unknowningly ruin my computer even further. Also, this Flash Drive Disinfector, presumably it scans my hard disk too , or is it designed simply for removable media like USBs? And finally, does it provide real time protection? I am aware Avast provides the real time protection, so im curious to know is Avast, MalwareBytes and Flash_Disinfector.exe will run together? I suppose this is also another question in itself, but if is chose to purchase and install , say, Kaspersky's full program and protection, would i first have to remove Avast and Malware Bytes or could i install all of them on my computer at the same time?
As for the culprit USB I do believe that when i inserted it into another laptop avast actually moved every single file i had on there to chest, and now when i explore this usb it says nothing is present in Windows Explorer but all my photographs appear in a separate program that autoruns itself (i believe its adobe?) so im wondering where on earth the files have gone to! This might also mean that scanning this usb will be fruitless, but , as you said it does appear that something has been deposited in my current laptop. Do you think i should take out my files from the chest and put them back on the usb? (if that possible?)
I must apologise for the ludicrous amount of questions i have asked of you, however any light you can shed on what i have asked would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
S