Recently I reviewed the excellent AceMagic F2A, which includes the latest gen Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, and while doing my research for it, I came across a website that discovered that some AceMagic, AceMagician, Kamrui, NiPoGi, and CTONE Mini PCs where shipping to reviewers with malware preloaded on them. The aforementioned brands are all owned by Shenzhen Shanminheng Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Minipc Union, which is why you might see clones of these Mini PCs on Amazon.
The reports first surfaced on Toms Hardware, after they wrote about The Net Guy Reviews YouTube channel discovering malware on three of their AceMagic Mini PCs, the AD08, AD15 and S1. AceMagic claimed that the malware made it into only "the first shipment", with a representative telling The Net Guy Reviews YouTube channel in the following statement and also published a separate statement on its official website:
Hi Jon,
Yes, the virus software issue has been resolved in the current stock product offering this issue will no longer be present in the current offerings as the one sent to you was the first shipment and we apologize that it had these issues and caused you some distress. But please don't worry, everything has been properly resolved now. Thank you for your support!
So this worried me a bit, seeing as I was reviewing an AceMagic Mini PC for the first time. I decided to run some scans on the Mini PCs of different brands that I still have in my possession. To be clear, Beelink and GEEKOM are not affiliated with Shenzhen Shanminheng Technology Co., Ltd., but I decided to test them along with the AceMagic Mini PC.
The criteria I used for each Mini PC was to reset Windows 11 from the Settings app through System > Recovery and choose Reset PC then Remove everything, and to use Local reinstall to ensure I was using the image that shipped with the Mini PC.
I used the following Antivirus (AV) programs, Microsoft Defender, ESET Internet Security, AVG (Free trial) SUPERAntiSpyware, and Malwarebytes Premium (trial) and aside from Microsoft Defender, I uninstalled each AV program after running the scans and restarted the Mini PC before installing another AV program.
First I ran Microsoft Defender, and after that I ran the Microsoft Defender Offline scan, which restarts the computer and scans the entire computer for rootkits or persistent malware before Windows loads.
Below are the criteria for the third party AV programs that I used:
- ESET Internet Security Detection Engine: 29137 (20240428) Custom scan: Operating memory, Boot sectors/UEFI, WMI Database, System registry and C:\
- AVG (Free) version 24.3.8975.832 Definitions: 240428-4 Post install scan suggested to turn on Data Execution Protection for all apps and restart, after which I did a Deep Scan.
- SUPERAntiSpyware Version 10.0.1264 Database: 18116
- Malwarebytes Premium (trial) version 5.1.3.110 Update package version 1.0.83998 Component package version: 1.0.1219
Below are the results for each Mini PC.
After reset updated to Windows 22H2 22621.3447
Microsoft Defender Full Scan: Clean / Offline Scan: Clean
ESET Initial Scan: Clean / Custom Scan: Clean
AVG Free Initial Scan: Clean / Deep Scan: Clean
SUPERAntiSpyware Complete Scan: Clean
Malwarebytes Full scan: Clean
After reset updated to Windows 23H2 22631.3447
Microsoft Defender Full Scan: Clean / Offline Scan: Clean
ESET Initial Scan: Clean / Custom Scan: Clean
AVG Free Initial Scan: Clean / Deep Scan: Clean
SUPERAntiSpyware Complete Scan: Clean
Malwarebytes Full scan: Clean
After reset updated to Windows 23H2 22631.3447
Microsoft Defender Full Scan: Clean / Offline Scan: Clean
ESET Initial Scan: Clean / Custom Scan: Clean
AVG Free Initial Scan: Clean / Deep Scan: Clean
SUPERAntiSpyware Complete Scan: Clean
Malwarebytes Full scan: Clean
As you can see, each Mini PC came back clean in multiple programs. However, If you purchased a preloaded Mini PC, it's always good practise to wipe and load Windows on it yourself. Or, do what we did and run a few different anti-malware programs through the system.
Also —and this is very important— ensure you buy your Mini PC through first party sellers. On Amazon, ensure the seller is the brand of the PC selling it and not some middleman which could possibly alter the Mini PC and also lead to after-sales service issues.
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