Serious Virus Repair

Virus repair is a serious business. Irrespective of whether you're running Windows 9X, XP or Vista it's highly probable that your laptop has malware on it.

Symptoms

These are some of the symptoms:

• Slowing performance
• Unidentified processes
• Strange pop ups
• Malfunctioning programs
• Unavailable functions
• Browsers mysteriously redirecting

Some of these symptoms can also be the result of hardware and housekeeping issues so before locking into a virus repair mission, check that these conditions don't apply:

• Disk space running low.
• Badly fragmented disk drive.
• Corrupted Windows Registry requiring a cleanup.
• Browser cache requiring a flush.

If the symptoms still persist a virus or some other form of malware has almost certainly taken up residence.

There is more to exhaustive and successful virus repair than simply running an antivirus scanner. A regular scan with an antivirus tool will pick up low hanging fruit, but invariably there will be smarter and potentially more damaging critters left undetected in crevices and under rocks. They will emerge from time to time or when the risk of exposure is lower.

If that sounds incredible just note that virus developers have been refining their art for over 25 years. They have mastered skills that enable them to not only make their products nearly undetectable, but to also sense the circumstances when the risk of exposure is greatest.

Antivirus products vary in their ability to pick up concealed viruses and so it's not uncommon to run scans on a PC with different products and find that one detects a virus that another couldn't. That doesn't prove that one product is better than another, they all have blind spots.

The trick to achieving a successful virus repair is to present the scanning tools with the optimum conditions for exposing as many types of malware as possible, whether virus, spyware, adware or whatever.

Virus Repair Preliminaries

Before starting a repair it's essential to get all the tools lined up and sharpened ready for use in the correct sequence.

1. Download and install either the best free antivirus software or better still a commercial product from the top 5 antivirus programs list.
   
   (Note, only one antivirus and software firewall is required. Never use more than one concurrently on a single PC.)


2. Download and install the latest available updates.


3. Download and install spyware and adware removal tools. These should include 2 or more of the following:


• Spybot - Search and Destroy
• Webroot Spysweep
• Ad-Aware SE Personal

None of the options for the free removal of spyware will will detect all infections. It's essential to run scans several different scans.


4. Download and install the latest available updates for these products.


5. Download and install CCleaner from here.

Virus Repair Sequence

The success of a repair will depend on following the sequence below:

1. Start then Control Panel then Add or Remove Programs. Delete all programs that are not required or not in use.
2. Start then RUN "msconfig" OK General tab - select "Normal Startup" click Apply and OK
3. Enable viewing of hidden files, system files and extensions. Under Windows XP this is achieved by: Right click Start, select Explore, select Tools menu, click Folders Options, select View Tab. Select "Show hidden files and folders" Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" Apply, OK
4. Physically unplug and switch off internet and wireless connections.
5. Reboot in Safe Mode (hit F8 repeatedly before Windows starts up)
6. Do not open any applications or browsers.
7. Delete all malware from quarantine folders (Repeat this process in all accounts including Administrator).
8. Empty the Recycle Bin (Repeat this process in all accounts including Administrator).
9. Run CCleaner using default cleaner options (Repeat this process in all accounts including Administrator).
10. Run the antivirus scanner.
11. Run the anti-spyware and anti-adware scanners.
12. Turn off System Restore (Windows XP) Start then right click My Computer then click Properties. In System Properties dialogue box click System Restore tab. Select "Turn off System Restore on all drives," OK
13. Reboot PC in normal mode.
14. Turn on System Restore.

The result should be a complete virus repair. In a very small percentage of cases the symptoms will persist. In those cases it's time to seek professional assistance. If data recovery is not an issue check out how to format a hard drive and use a free hard eraser, then reload Windows from installation disks.

Antivirus software has a cost and a overhead, but so does malware. The immediate problems and inconvenience caused by a virus are typically the tip of the iceberg.