http://www.computerworld.in/how-to/how-remove-malware-your-windows-pc
Clean out and restore your PC to its pristine state.
Is
your computer running slower than usual? Are you getting lots of
pop-ups? Have you seen other weird problems crop up? If so, your PC
might be infected with a virus, spyware, or other malware—even if you
have an antivirus program installed. Though other problems such as
hardware issues can produce similarly annoying symptoms, it’s best to
check for malware if your PC is acting up and we’ll show you how to do
it yourself.
Step 1: Enter Safe Mode
Before
you do anything, you need to disconnect your PC from the internet, and
don’t use it until you’re ready to clean your PC. This can help prevent
the malware from spreading and/or leaking your private data.
If you think your PC may have a malware infection, boot your PC into Microsoft’s
Safe Mode.
In this mode, only the minimum required programs and services are
loaded. If any malware is set to load automatically when Windows starts,
entering in this mode may prevent it from doing so. This is important
because it allows the files to be removed easier since they’re not
actually running or active.
Sadly, Microsoft has turned the process of booting into safe mode from a relatively easy process in
Windows 7 and
Windows 8 to one that is decidedly more complicated in
Windows 10.
To boot into Windows Safe Mode, first click the Start Button in Windows
10 and select the Power button as if you were going to reboot, but
don’t click anything. Next hold down the Shift key and click Reboot.
When the full-screen menu appears, select
Troubleshooting, then
Advanced Options, then
Startup Settings. On the next window click the
Restart
button and wait for the next screen to appear (just stick with us here,
we know this is long). Next you will see a menu with numbered startup
options; select number 4, which is Safe Mode. Note that if you want to
connect to any online scanners you’ll need to select option 5, which is
Safe Mode with Networking.
You may find that your PC runs noticeably faster in Safe Mode. This
could
be a sign that your system has a malware infection, or it could mean
that you have a lot of legitimate programs that normally start up
alongside Windows. If your PC is outfitted with a solid state drive it’s
probably fast either way.
Step 2: Delete temporary files
You can use Windows 10’s built-in disk cleanup utility to rid your system of unnecessary temp files.
Now
that you’re in Safe Mode, you’ll want to run a virus scan. But before
you do that, delete your temporary files. Doing this may speed up the
virus scanning, free up disk space, and even get rid of some malware. To
use the Disk Cleanup utility included with Windows 10 just type
Disk Cleanup in the search bar or after pressing the Start button and select the tool that appears named Disk Cleanup
.
PC Worl
Step 3: Download malware scanners
Now
you’re ready to have a malware scanner do its work—and fortunately,
running a scanner is enough to remove most standard infections. If you
already had an antivirus program active on your computer, you should use
a different scanner for this malware check, since your current
antivirus software may not have detected the malware. Remember, no
antivirus program can detect 100 percent of the millions of malware
types and variants.
There are two types of antivirus programs.
You’re probably more familiar with real-time antivirus programs, which
run in the background and constantly watch for malware. Another option
is an on-demand scanner, which searches for malware infections when you
open the program manually and run a scan. You should have only one
real-time antivirus program installed at a time, but you can have many
on-demand scanners installed to run scans with multiple programs,
thereby ensuring that if one program misses something a different one
might find it.
If you think your PC is infected, we recommend
using an on-demand scanner first and then following up with a full scan
by your real-time antivirus program. Among the free (and high-quality)
on-demand scanners available are
BitDefender Free Edition,
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool,
Malwarebytes,
Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool,
Avast, and
SuperAntiSpyware.
Step 4: Run a scan with Malwarebytes
For illustrative purposes, we’ll describe how to use the Malwarebytes on-demand scanner. To get started,
download it.
If you disconnected from the internet for safety reasons when you first
suspected that you might be infected, reconnect to it so you can
download, install, and update Malwarebytes; then disconnect from the
internet again before you start the actual scanning. If you can’t access
the internet or you can’t download Malwarebytes on the infected
computer, download it on another computer, save it to a USB flash drive,
and take the flash drive to the infected computer.
After
downloading Malwarebytes, run the setup file and follow the wizard to
install the program. Once the program opens, keep the default scan
option (“Threat Scan”) selected and click the
Start Scan button. It should check for updates before it runs the scan, so just make sure that happens before you proceed.
Choose Threat Scan to perform a basic analysis of your computer’s most commonly infected files. C World
Though
it offers a custom-scan option, Malwarebytes recommends that you
perform the threat scan first, as that scan usually finds all of the
infections anyway. Depending on your computer, the quick scan can take
anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, whereas a custom scan might take 30 to 60
minutes or more. While Malwarebytes is scanning, you can see how many
files or objects the software has already scanned, and how many of those
files it has identified either as being malware or as being infected by
malware.
If Malwarebytes automatically disappears after it begins
scanning and won’t reopen, you probably have a rootkit or other deep
infection that automatically kills scanners to prevent them from
removing it. Though you can try some tricks to get around this malicious
technique, you might be better off
reinstalling Windows after backing up your files (as discussed later), in view of the time and effort you may have to expend to beat the malware.
Once
the scan is complete Malwarebytes will show you the results. If the
software gives your system a clean bill of health but you still think
that your system has acquired some malware, consider running a custom
scan with Malwarebytes and trying the other scanners mentioned earlier.
If Malwarebytes does find infections, it’ll show you what they are when
the scan is complete. Click the
Remove Selected button in the
lower left to get rid of the specified infections. Malwarebytes may also
prompt you to restart your PC in order to complete the removal process,
which you should do.
Malwarebytes presents the results of its scan and lets you remove the offending bits with one click.
If
your problems persist after you’ve run the threat scan and it has found
and removed unwanted files, consider running a full scan with
Malwarebytes and the other scanners mentioned earlier. If the malware
appears to be gone, run a full scan with your real-time antivirus
program to confirm that result.
Step 5: Fix your web browser
Malware
infections can damage Windows system files and other settings. One
common malware trait is to modify your web browser’s homepage to
reinfect the PC, display advertisements, prevent browsing, and generally
annoy you.
Before launching your web browser, check your homepage
and connection settings. For Internet Explorer right-click the Windows
10 Start button and select
Control Panel, then
Internet Options. Find the
Home Page settings in the
General
tab, and verify that it’s not some site you know nothing about. For
Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, simply go to the setttings window of your
browser to check your homepage setting.
Make sure that your homepage settings are correct before launching Internet Explorer. PC World PC World
Step 6: Recover your files if Windows is corrupt
If
you can’t seem to remove the malware or if Windows isn’t working
properly, you may have to reinstall Windows. But before wiping your hard
drive, copy all of your files to an external USB or flash drive. If you
check your email with a client program (such as Outlook or Windows
Mail), make sure that you export your settings and messages to save
them. You should also back up your device drivers with a utility such as
Double Driver, in
case you don’t have the driver discs anymore or don’t want to download
them all again. Remember, you can’t save installed programs. Instead,
you’ll have to reinstall the programs from discs or redownload them.
If Windows won’t start or work well enough to permit you to back up your files, you may create and use a Live CD, such as
Hiren’s BootCD (HBCD), to access your files.
Once
you have backed up everything, reinstall Windows either from the disc
that came with your PC, by downloading the installation image from
Microsoft, or by using your PC’s factory restore option, if it has one.
For a factory restore you typically must press a certain key on the
keyboard during the boot process in order for restore procedure to
initialize, and your PC should tell you what key to press in the first
few seconds after you turn it on. It there’s no on-screen instructions
consult your manual, the manufacturer, or Google.
Keeping your PC clean
Always
make sure that you have a real-time antivirus program running on your
PC, and make sure this program is always up-to-date. If you don’t want
to spend money on yearly subscriptions, you can choose one of the many
free programs that provide adequate protection, such as
Avast,
AVG,
Panda, or
Comodo. You can read more about how to find the best antivirus program for your needs
right here.
In addition to installing traditional antivirus software, you might consider using the free
OpenDNS
service to help block dangerous sites. And if you frequent shady sites
that might infect your PC with malware, consider running your web
browser in sandbox mode to prevent any downloaded malware from harming
your system. Some antivirus programs, such as Comodo, offer sandboxing
features, or you can obtain them through a free third-party program such
as
Sandboxie.
When
you think that you’ve rid your PC of malware infections, double-check
your online accounts, including those for your bank, email, and social
networking sites. Look for suspicious activity and change your
passwords—because some malware can capture your passwords.
If you
have a backup system in place that automatically backs up your files or
system, consider running virus scans on the backups to confirm that they
didn’t inadvertently save infections. If virus scans aren’t feasible,
as is the case with online systems since they usually will only scan a
drive attached to your PC or just the C: drive, consider deleting your
old backups and resetting the software to begin saving new backups that
are hopefully free from infections.
Keep Windows, other Microsoft
software, and Adobe products up-to-date. Make sure that you have Windows
Update turned on and enabled to download and install updates
automatically. If you’re not comfortable with this, set Windows to
download the updates but let you choose when to install them.
Note
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