Solved Brand new laptop...possible malware?

Hi,

I purchased a custom-ordered laptop from the HP store. As soon as it booted into Windows, Edge popped up with the Microsoft support hoax telling me phasmidian.stream wanted my username/password, etc. Since this is a brand new laptop, I contacted HP and was given a run-around. I closed Edge and loaded SuperAntiSpyware, Windows Defender, Hitman Pro and several other apps, and scanned the system. They found nothing; however, since this is a brand new system, I did a complete system restore and wiped all data, just to be safe.

I have had the system up and running for about a week now and there have been some erratic problems. The mouse behaves normally sometimes and erratically at others. (For instance, if I open 2 instances of Windows Explorer and am trying to transfer files between then, sometimes I can left-click and move files/highlight files.....other times, I can't and it will display what is typical with a right-click.) It passes the hardware test sometimes and fails it at others. I have installed Microsoft Office and security apps (Bitdefender Total Security (paid version), SAS, Ccleaner, etc.). I have also confirmed that all Microsoft updates are complete. I would like help in determining if malware of some kind is on this laptop and causing any of these problems or if I need to return it to HP.

TIA.
Shonda

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.4
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Home, 64 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 142 Stepping 10
Processor Count: 8
RAM: 12122 Mb
Graphics Card: Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: 914 GB (714 GB Free); D: 15 GB (1 GB Free);
Motherboard: HP, 8485
Antivirus: Windows Defender, Disabled

 

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