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Lanarkshire IT Services
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A Guide To Help Remove Viruses / Malware / Spyware
Using this guide will help remove most common infections from your system
Step 1
Get rid of any temp files from your system by using a temp file cleaner such as:
* TFC
* Temp File Cleaner
* ATF CLeaner
* Cleanup
These tools will make the steps of virus / malware scanning quicker but please make sure you know how to use them.
Please be aware that if you use autocomplete in Internet Explorer etc to store usernames or passwords for websites then you should NOT empty your temporary internet files or cookies or use TFC instead.
Step 2
Create a system restore point. Should anything go wrong with the cleaning process then you always have a safe point to return to. There is a freeware tool that makes this task simple. Get SysRestorePoint here.
Step 3
Backup your registry with ERUNT. As removing viruses / malware etc requires changes to the Windows Registry then it is very advised to back this BEFORE any changes are made. Then, like the system restore method above, should anything go wrong you can always revert back to a working copy of the registry. Failure to do this could leave your system unbootable / usable. Download and install ERUNT accepting all the defaults.
* Download ERUNT
* Double click erunt_setup.exe and select Run
* Choose English as the language
* At the ERUNT setup wizard click Next, install in C:\Program Files\ERUNT (the default),click Next and Next and Next again then Install
* Choose NO to create an ERUNT entry in the Startup Folder
* Untick Show Documentation and leave Launch ERUNT checked
* ERUNT will launch with the following screen:
ERUNT settings
* Choose the same settings as shown above
* ERUNT will prompt you to create the folder if it doesn't exist (mostly likely won't)
* ERUNT will start backing up the registry to the desired location as shown:
ERUNT backing up registry
* Once this has been done you should get the following output:
ERUNT backup registry complete
* This output screen tells you that the registry backup was successful and how / where to restore it in future.
Step 4
Spyware / malware removal
Download and install Malware Bytes Anti Malware (MBAM).
Update MBAM and do a FULL scan until nothing is found as shown below. You might have to reboot and rescan to achieve this.
MBAM Clean Log:
Step 5
Scan for viruses with a decent free anti-virus program such as:
* Avast Free Edition - FREE FOR HOME / PERSONAL USE
* Avira Free Edition - FREE FOR HOME / PERSONAL USE
* Scan suspicious / unknown files with VirusTotal
* Use an online anti-virus scanner such as: TrendMicro HouseCall or Kapersky
Download, install, update and scan until nothing is found.
Step 6
Restart your system and see how the performance is doing.
If you are still experiencing problems then see our slow computer fix tutorial then our HiJackThis tutorial
If your system is now OK then please carry out the following to ensure protection in future:
System Restore
* Create a new system restore point by Get SysRestorePoint here.
* Get rid of all old, possibly infected system restore points. XP guide here. Vista guide here.
Virus / Spyware / Malware / Trojan Protection
* Clean your temp files regularly using TFC
* Update and scan with both your anti-virus and anti-malware software atleast once a week.
* Install SpywareBlaster - Many known malicious programs are ActiveX programs that integrate into Internet Explorer. If you use Internet Explorer, then we recommend that you download and install SpywareBlaster. This program will load a huge list of known malicious programs into your computer's configuration and make it so that you can not run these programs on your computer and therefore become infected.
* Install SpywareGuard -This will give you realtime protection against spyware etc.
* Make sure that the anti-virus / spyware / malware program you installed IS NOT listed here.
Peer to Peer Programs
* DO NOT install or use peer to peer (p2p) downloading applications such as Limewire, blubster, Kazaa, uTorrent etc
Windows Updates
* Keep up to date with Windows Update by turning ON automatic updates. XP Guide here. Vista Guide here.
Limited Users
* Create limited user accounts (ideal for kids, limited users, public users etc) with Windows Steady State
Web Filtering
* Use a web / content filtering program such as OpenDNS or K9.
Backup
* Once all this has been done then create a system backup - preferably a system image. FREE solutions are Drive Image XML , DiscWizard (FREE for Maxtor / Seagate drives)
Any questions / comments / suggestions welcome.
Using this guide will help remove most common infections from your system
Step 1
Get rid of any temp files from your system by using a temp file cleaner such as:
* TFC
* Temp File Cleaner
* ATF CLeaner
* Cleanup
These tools will make the steps of virus / malware scanning quicker but please make sure you know how to use them.
Please be aware that if you use autocomplete in Internet Explorer etc to store usernames or passwords for websites then you should NOT empty your temporary internet files or cookies or use TFC instead.
Step 2
Create a system restore point. Should anything go wrong with the cleaning process then you always have a safe point to return to. There is a freeware tool that makes this task simple. Get SysRestorePoint here.
Step 3
Backup your registry with ERUNT. As removing viruses / malware etc requires changes to the Windows Registry then it is very advised to back this BEFORE any changes are made. Then, like the system restore method above, should anything go wrong you can always revert back to a working copy of the registry. Failure to do this could leave your system unbootable / usable. Download and install ERUNT accepting all the defaults.
* Download ERUNT
* Double click erunt_setup.exe and select Run
* Choose English as the language
* At the ERUNT setup wizard click Next, install in C:\Program Files\ERUNT (the default),click Next and Next and Next again then Install
* Choose NO to create an ERUNT entry in the Startup Folder
* Untick Show Documentation and leave Launch ERUNT checked
* ERUNT will launch with the following screen:
ERUNT settings
* Choose the same settings as shown above
* ERUNT will prompt you to create the folder if it doesn't exist (mostly likely won't)
* ERUNT will start backing up the registry to the desired location as shown:
ERUNT backing up registry
* Once this has been done you should get the following output:
ERUNT backup registry complete
* This output screen tells you that the registry backup was successful and how / where to restore it in future.
Step 4
Spyware / malware removal
Download and install Malware Bytes Anti Malware (MBAM).
Update MBAM and do a FULL scan until nothing is found as shown below. You might have to reboot and rescan to achieve this.
MBAM Clean Log:
Step 5
Scan for viruses with a decent free anti-virus program such as:
* Avast Free Edition - FREE FOR HOME / PERSONAL USE
* Avira Free Edition - FREE FOR HOME / PERSONAL USE
* Scan suspicious / unknown files with VirusTotal
* Use an online anti-virus scanner such as: TrendMicro HouseCall or Kapersky
Download, install, update and scan until nothing is found.
Step 6
Restart your system and see how the performance is doing.
If you are still experiencing problems then see our slow computer fix tutorial then our HiJackThis tutorial
If your system is now OK then please carry out the following to ensure protection in future:
System Restore
* Create a new system restore point by Get SysRestorePoint here.
* Get rid of all old, possibly infected system restore points. XP guide here. Vista guide here.
Virus / Spyware / Malware / Trojan Protection
* Clean your temp files regularly using TFC
* Update and scan with both your anti-virus and anti-malware software atleast once a week.
* Install SpywareBlaster - Many known malicious programs are ActiveX programs that integrate into Internet Explorer. If you use Internet Explorer, then we recommend that you download and install SpywareBlaster. This program will load a huge list of known malicious programs into your computer's configuration and make it so that you can not run these programs on your computer and therefore become infected.
* Install SpywareGuard -This will give you realtime protection against spyware etc.
* Make sure that the anti-virus / spyware / malware program you installed IS NOT listed here.
Peer to Peer Programs
* DO NOT install or use peer to peer (p2p) downloading applications such as Limewire, blubster, Kazaa, uTorrent etc
Windows Updates
* Keep up to date with Windows Update by turning ON automatic updates. XP Guide here. Vista Guide here.
Limited Users
* Create limited user accounts (ideal for kids, limited users, public users etc) with Windows Steady State
Web Filtering
* Use a web / content filtering program such as OpenDNS or K9.
Backup
* Once all this has been done then create a system backup - preferably a system image. FREE solutions are Drive Image XML , DiscWizard (FREE for Maxtor / Seagate drives)
Any questions / comments / suggestions welcome.
