4 Simple Steps for removing Spyware, Hijackers, Viruses, and other Malware
If you are experiencing problems such as viruses that wont go away, your browser
gets redirected to pages that you did not ask for, popups, slowness on your
computer, or just a general sense that things may not be right, it is possible
you are
infected with some sort of malware. To remove this infection please follow
these 4 simple steps outlined below. Not all of these steps may be necessary,
but they can not hurt either, so we recommend you run all 4 steps regardless
of your situation.
Step 1: Run an Online Virus Scan
I am going to make the assumption that you already have a virus scan on your
computer (If you don't, immediately go out and install one). Not all virus
scanners, though, are created equal, and may miss infections that other products
do not. I therefore
recommend that you run BOTH of the following online antivirus
programs as they are both excellent and are a good start in our 4 step process:
Trend Micro's Housecall Online Virus
Scan
Panda Software's ActiveScan
Online Virus Scan
Run both of these online scans and move on to the next step.
Step 2: Run Spybot - Search & Destroy
Just like you scan for viruses, Spybot - S&D scans for spyware and other similar
malware. It is designed to search your hard drive and configuration information
for any known infections and then to remove them. You can download Spybot - S
& D from the following location:
Safer Networking
Download and install the program and update the program so that it knows
how to find the latest infections. Then let it scan your computer for infections.
A tutorial on using this program can be found
here:
Using
Spybot - Search & Destroy
to remove Spyware and other Malware from Your Computer
Step 3: Run Ad-Aware
Just as not all antivirus programs find the same viruses, not all the same
spyware removal programs find the same spyware. That is why we recommend that
you not only run Spybot - S & D, but that you also run Ad-Aware as well. Just
make sure you update the program before you run the scan! You can download
the program from here:
LavaSoft
For a detailed tutorial on how to use this program you can view this tutorial:
Using
Ad-aware to remove Spyware/Hijackers from Your Computer.
Step 4: Run HijackThis and submit the log in our forums
Unfortunately there are some malware that are just too difficult to remove
with automatic procedures such as the ones listed above. If you have followed
all the previous
steps and still have problems with your computer then we advise you to create
a HijackThis log and post it in our HijackThis
Log Analysis Forum. Then one of
our experts will analyze your log and advise you as to what to do next. Please
do not attempt to fix any entries yourself as that can lead to damage to your
operating system.
You can download HijackThis from the following locations:
HijackThis Download
Location
A tutorial on how to use and install this software can be found at the following
link:
How
to use HijackThis to remove Browser Hijackers & Spyware
Instructions on how to post a log at our forums can be found here:
How to submit a HijackThis Log
--
Lawrence Abrams
Bleeping Computer Basic Internet Security Tutorial
BleepingComputer.com: Computer Support & Tutorials for
the beginning computer user.
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