Removing a virus from your PC |
| Software - Troubleshooting | |
| Written by Michael D. | |
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Try to figure out what virus you got. Usually your antivirus will alert you with the infection, and the name of the virus. If you don't know it, try to understand the actions that the virus is performing on your systems (like type of errors, etc). Then do a google.com search on these criteria and identify the possible virus. Believe me, you are not the first one to come up with the issue. If you find the virus name and characteristics, try searching for a removal tool that will shorten your work very much. You have a list of sites bellow that update their removal tools periodically: Kaspersky Anti-Virus Products are the world's most immediate protection against IT security threats, including viruses, spyware, crimeware, hackers, phishing, and spam. Kaspersky Lab products provide superior detection rates and the industry's fastest outbreak response time for home users, SMBs, large enterprises and the mobile computing environment. BitDefender Antivirus 2008 is a powerful antivirus and antispyware tool with features that best meet your security needs With Panda Internet Security 2008 - $15 Discount Coupon all your computer activity will be fully protected against identity theft and you can forget about viruses, spyware, hackers, spam, online fraud and other Internet threats. You'll also be able to make automated backup copies of your most important documents and optimize the performance of your computer. CA Anti-Virus 2008 a very small but powerful antivirus with low memory usage and proactive protection. ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite is one of the most complete Internet Security solutions that can remove even the most persistent, hard-to-find spyware that infiltrate your PC at the core level. Another good choice is to scan your hard drive online; there are several websites that offer this. I personally recommend http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ In the event you tried these so far and you still have a virus, you can try removing the virus on your own. Note that this removes the virus code and it's source file, but does not disinfect files or restore damaged data and doesn't work with any virus. First you must understand how viruses work in general. There are two main categories of viruses known: trojans and worms. Trojans come attached to a trustable program and are used to get access into your system. Some of the "classic" ones are Sub7 and Netbus. Worms are a more complex programs; they use mallicious codes to attack files on your computer, to infect e-mails that you send and so on. Typically, you get infected from a website or from a mail attachment; you are advised NOT to open *.exe, *.vbs, *.bat, *.com, *.scr files if they arrive attached to an e-mail; even if they are from a trusted sender, it could be sent without his permission (this is the main method of virus spreading accross Internet). An executable file (.exe) is then generated somewhere in your system and opened as a service. It also writes a key to your registry making it run every time you load Windows. The solution to this is to firstly start the computer in Safe Mode (if you don't know how: restart your computer and press F8 after the initial boot screen; a menu will appear inviting you to select the way you want to start Windows). Starting in Safe Mode prevents your Windows from loading the virus at startup (the normal startup information is skipped). You could experience issues like no network, no audio or VGA display (640x480 screen resolution). Don't panic, it is normal and will disappear on the next normal boot. If succeeded entering Safe Mode, go to Start Menu > Run and type regedit.exe. A registry editor will start. The registry contains thousands of settings for your computer, so try not to mess it up. Follow the steps bellow. As you can see in this image, on the left side you have a folder-subfolder like hierarchy. By clicking on the plus sign next to the "folders" you open their content.
So click on the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then the plus sign next to Software (don't panic when it opens, it has a lot of data);
Scroll down until you find Microsoft and open it, then open Windows then Current Version. After doing this, search for a category called Run. Click on it and a list of values will be show in the right panel. That is the list of programs that run when you start Windows. Ignore the keys that indicate a program that you installed (look at the picture bellow) like Winamp, Nero Burning ROM or anything that you know about.
Now note that Windows usually doesn't load its services from here. Something called WindowsStart or UPDATE SERVICE like in my example is probably the virus. Other viruses generate a random name. Any case it would be, malicious software usually creates a pretty evident filename. Now right-click on that value and select delete.
Note that you just deleted a string of date telling Windows to load the infected executable. It would be a good idea to delete the file too. Search for the filename on your local hard drive (in my example updateservice.exe) and delete it. Now restart your computer and do a checkup to see if the problem disappeared.
written by Xuan Ling , September 14, 2007
I don't know why my computer always hang when I watching movie,is that virus attack my computer?Beacause I always launch internet to save homepage in my thumdrive.So what are the step should I do to check wether my computer got the virus or not? If yes, how can i clear it?
written by Mihai Dobos , September 15, 2007
Hello See the article at http://www.tutorial5.com/content/view/98/47/ please to start troubleshooting your system. It's not necessarily a virus, could be something with your hardware or running processes. Mihai D.
written by ade , October 01, 2007
hi i dont know what happen to my computer it's new computer & i got internet too. but now my computer displaying that my computer got spyware & you need to download a software that prevents the spyware & somtimes it also opening an new website saying that you need to downlo0ad software so, can you explain is that a real virus or is that afake. and other thing is i got Nortan internet security 2007 so is that use full for al virus? and can you explain how to get rid of virus in my computer through Nortan internet security. thanks please help me.
written by Mihai Dobos , October 01, 2007
Hello Download Spybot Search&Destroy and do a complete scan; I recommend you shutting down the Norton Internet Security pack while you do this, to prevent other problems. Read http://www.tutorial5.com/content/view/46/47/ first. Hope that helps. Mihai D.
written by deepti jayakumar , October 17, 2007
hi.. i hav a virus from a social utility network ni hav no idea how to remove it.if i type the name o*kut itself,my internet explorer shuts down.plz help.
written by don , December 17, 2007
Hi one pc here in office got virus and it disabled the administrator to enter the windows. Every time you type your user name and password the window will not execute instead it will log off and return to start up.The emergency recovery was deleted and if there is any other way to fix.. thank you hope u could help me
written by samson , December 18, 2007
Hi Virus affected my system and it started logging off after entering my password, then i tried to load a windows proffesional software to run the recovery command to remove and replace windows file but when installing new windows after 10minutes out of 39minutes it wld show a blue screen. pls help me i dont want to loose my system files.
written by jim , February 02, 2008
hi sometimes the start button and taskbar is missing. Is it cause by a virus, if it does, then how will i fix it? Thanks in advice
written by sushant , April 14, 2008
i can not open widows on safe mode every time i press f8 before startup it prompts me a window to select "boot priority device" please tell me what to do for open up windows in safe mode.
written by badz , May 03, 2008
Good day. i always encounter a virus everytime i click the drive D. my antivirus application cant clean it, it says: (the virus can't be deleted because its not cleanable). how can i get rid of this.? what will i do.? please help me. i do really need your help.
written by pam , June 12, 2008
yeah i have the virus autoit fuuny ust scandil , it is not lettng my antivirus or messenger load.i cant even view a page that says hot get rid of it.....i cnt install any task killer...pls write to me at my mail stepwise coz i thnk the virus has a damn brain
written by Mighty , June 30, 2008
My Pc had a Trojan infection from an Active X file and now the tool bar writes (VIRUS ALERT!) and access to my hard drive has been disabled. The link to all programmes on the start menu has also disappeared.
written by Mighty , June 30, 2008
the bottom right coner where my clock used to be now writes(VIRUS ALERT!) Do you need more help? Ask now!
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 February 2008 ) | |
