Virus and Spyware Removal Guide

Virus and spyware infections are hard to remove, sometimes you think you remove the infections and they're back when you restart the computer. To make matters worse there are many scam companies selling software that claims to remove infections but they only make matters worse (they lie about what is infected on your PC and then charge you to remove these infections which don't exist!)

Windows 7, Vista, XP and Windows ME have a feature called System Restore, this handy feature makes frequent system backups so that if you screw up your PC you can roll it back when it was working ok. However a virus or infection can get backed up too but rolling it back to last week WON'T necessarily clear the infection.

Once an infection has been backed up by System Restore it cannot be touched by any program. The only way to remove a backed up virus is to turn OFF System Restore, this deletes all your backups (but they may well all be infected anyway), then you do your scans (Antivirus and Antispyware) and then turn System Restore ON once the infection has been removed. You really need to allow several hours to do all the scans so put some coffee on, take a deep breath and get ready to clear the crap from your computer!

Recently many people have been infected with a fake virus warning, if you find 'Smart Security' program appears on your PC and is saying you're infected then read THESE instructions to remove this problem....
 

1: UPDATE your antivirus software manually (it should have an 'update' option) - this assumes you have up to date protection!
If your Antivirus has expired you can get various antivirus programs, I've listed two free antivirus programs you can install, there are many antivirus programs to buy and for free.

Get your free antivirus here:
< HERE for Microsoft Antivirus > or  < HERE for Avast > but only install and use ONE antivirus program. You should uninstall any old Antivirus programs before installing a new one. If you want to try another antivirus program without uninstalling your current program (to see if yours isn't finding all infections) then try an online virus scanner/remover Nod32 online scanner (free of charge) but remember that you still need an antivirus program on your PC such as the ones listed already.

2: Install / UPDATE your spyware removal programs
Download  Malwarebytes   Spybot,   MS Defender all programs are trusted and free. There is not one single program in existence that can detect all infections that's why you need to use several for the best chance of removal. If you can't be arsed to use more than one antispyware program then you might as give up now but at least use Superantispyware.

3: Download and install CCleaner  - (choose the 'Slim' or 'Basic' version which is a small fast download) - You'll use this program soon.

4: Download Winsock Fix and keep it handy, this small program will restore your Windows network settings, often after you remove infections you find you can no longer get online properly. You might get 'Page not found' problems, this is because the infection was interfering with your network connections. Winsock Fix resets things back to how it should be.

5: Go into Safe Mode
(Reboot your PC, as it starts up keep pressing the F8 key until you get a menu for various start up options, Choose 'Safe Mode' and press the enter key, if you can't enter Safe Mode turn OFF the PC, turn ON then try pressing 'F8' again. More info about Safe Mode here

6: When in Safe Mode, turn off 'SYSTEM RESTORE' if using Windows ME and Windows XP (WIndows Vista users see 6a)
To do this go to Control Panel, double click SYSTEM then click on SYSTEM RESTORE tab and tick the option to 'Turn OFF system restore on all drives' and click Apply and wait 30 seconds or so. More information HERE

6a: Turn Off system restore in Windows Vista:
Click on Start, Right-click the Computer icon, and then click Properties. Click on System Protection under the Tasks column on left side, click on Continue on the User Account Control window that appears, under the System Protection tab, find Available Disks, click in the box for the drive you wish to disable System Restore (usually C:\ drive), Click OK

7: Run the CCleaner program and remove all junk files it finds, first use the Cleaner option afterwards use the Issues scan option until all junk and errors are cleared. Run these scans at least twice. It can take several minutes for each scan.

8: Now do a full Antivirus scan, then Spyware scans using AVG Antispy then Spybot SD then AdAware programs, XP users also use the MS Defender program as well.. You might as well go cook dinner while these scans take place as it takes an age! (several hours) Some infections require a PC reboot - do this if advised. Don't scan with several programs at the same time!

9: Turn System Restore back ON - untick the option as described in section 6 / 6a and wait 30 seconds or so.

Reboot your PC, do another Virus scan and Spyware scans, then see if the problems have been cleared. If some infections remain then you may have to repeat the scans again in safe mode.

If you have cleared the infections but cannot get access to the Internet (you get 'Page not found' errors) then run the 'Winsock Fix' program..

If you are unsure of what infection it is then download Hijack This, run the program and use it's 'Do a system scan and save log file' then copy and paste the results of the scan into THIS website, click on the 'Analyze' button, scroll down the page and it will list all items that are running on your PC (including many legitimate items) - unknown or nasty items are displayed. HiJack this can also 'kill' an infection that is running which then allows you to scan and remove it using the programs above. Often a virus can't be removed if it's running.

Don't get re-infected!... OK so if you've cleared the infections you now need to make sure you don't get caught out again. Use Firefox to surf the Internet, it is a free well respected alternative to Internet Explorer and is much safer especially if you somehow end up on a dodgy website, keep your antivirus and antispyware software updated weekly! Also keep your Windows Updated with free Microsoft updates.

If you really can't sort it out then there are other options but you need to identify the infection that won't clear and Google it to see if others have a removal solution, failing that a reinstallation of Windows might be required and failing that why not buy a nice new Dell PC?, click here for their latest special prices.

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