Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. What is Malware?
3. How these malware getting to the computer?
4. How do I know whether my computer is infected or not?
5. Malware Removal Instructions
6. After Removal of Malware
7. Secure System Settings
8. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Is your system infected? Do you want to remove it yourself? This guide will help you to remove malicious software from your computer. We have compiled these instructions with the best of our knowledge and it provides step-by-step instructions on how to remove malware from Windows operating system. As you know Malware removal is a very complicated process and we cannot guarantee any results or outcome. Before proceed with these troubleshooting steps, we highly recommend you to back up all of your personal files like pictures, documents, videos etc… to a removable media for a security reason. So you will be able to restore your data if system failure or something wrong happened during the process of malware removal.
Disclaimer: This malware removal guide is intended to be used as a self-help guide and we cannot be held responsible for any system or data damage caused by malware or by the tools used in these instructions.
2. What is Malware?
Malicious threat or Malware is a collective term for programs created deliberately to harm computer system. Malware includes wide range of malicious programs that can be categorized as Virus, Trojan horse, Worm, Expanded Threats, Non-viral security threats.
3. How these malware getting to the computer?
3. How these malware getting to the computer?
Most of the users wonder once they got infection on their computer because they don’t know how they get into the computer even if there is security program installed on the computer. The common reason for this is unsecured browsing and download in appropriate content from the Internet. Misleading applications, sometimes called rogue anti-spyware, trick consumers into believing a problem exists on their system. Consumers who trust the messages are tricked into purchasing bogus applications for resolution of the problems they have been duped into believing exist. Misleading applications scam consumers out of money, faking the existence of problems and failing to deliver the protection they promise. They also create a privacy risk as the victim must provide their credit card information to the scammers in order to register the misleading application and solve the supposed problems. The victims of misleading applications have paid for software that does not work, handed their personal information to scammers, and are left with a false sense of security that leads them to potentially greater risks from more aggressive threats.
If you are installing software from a Website, read all disclosures. Some End User License Agreements (EULAs) will inform you that the software you are about to install has secondary spyware applications, but that information may be buried in the EULA. You have to pay attention to the EULA while installing programs.
4. How do I know whether my computer is infected ?
It is sure that most of the users should have this question. If your computer is infected you can see the symptoms like pop ups, search redirection, system slow etc…depends on the infection on your computer. For example, if your computer is infected with Spyware, you can see number of high risk messages and pop ups on your computer like the below screenshots.
The easiest and simplest way to prevent and remove these threats in the first place is scan your computer using Antivirus program with latest virus definition. If you do not have Antivirus installed on your computer, download a free Antivirus product which is available in the Internet.
The easiest and simplest way to prevent and remove these threats in the first place is scan your computer using Antivirus program with latest virus definition. If you do not have Antivirus installed on your computer, download a free Antivirus product which is available in the Internet.
5. Malware Removal Guide
Malware removal tools will help to remove different types of malware, but unfortunately we can’t say it remove 100% of all malware. Therefore, it's important to use more than one tool to detect and remove all the malware.
This session will show you some free tools that you can use to detect and remove infection from your computer. They do an excellent job at detecting threats and completely removing them. However, Be careful if you are not sure how to use these tools. Comment on our blog if you required more assistance on this.
4. If you have an issue with search redirection, you should check for DNS Changer Trojan
5. Scan your computer using Antivirus with latest virus definition. If you do not have Antivirus installed on your computer download a free Antivirus product (Microsoft Security Essential (Recommended)) from the Internet.
Alternatively you can use the free online scanners, if you are not able to download the above tools. I recommend Norton Security Scan or Microsoft Safety Scanner.
Important notes
1. Make sure the virus definition is update before running the scan
2. Do not use the computer during the scan
6. After Removal of Malware
Once you complete the removal of the malware from your computer, you need to follow the below troubleshooting steps to make sure that there is no traces of infection remains on your computer.
- Optimize Internet Explorer settings and delete the temporary files on your computer. I would recommend you to use Ccleaner to optimize your computer because it is the most useful tool for cleaning your Windows PC and it makes your computer faster and more secure.
- Delete all the old system restore points as it may contain malware. To delete restore point refer Windows XP, Windows 7 and Vista
- Change all passwords which you are using online
7. Secure System Settings
There are a number of built system settings which help to protect your computer from the infection. Follow the below steps which will ensure they are configured correctly.
- Disable Autorun which can be used to spread infections visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715
- For Enable Automatic Update visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306525
- Run an external port scan to make sure no ports are open. https://www.securitymetrics.com/portscan.adp
8. Conclusion
We have compiled all these instructions with the best of our knowledge. If you required more assistance for resolve any issues with your computer, you can contact us through our blog at any anytime. We value your suggestions and comments.