The Process of Virus Detection and Removal Explained

If your computer is running significantly slower than usual, is getting a lot of pop-up advertisements or is suddenly experiencing any other types of unusual issues, it’s quite possible your system is infected with some form of malware. It doesn’t matter if you already have an antivirus program installed—malware evolves quickly and gets around these programs, especially if you do not stay on top of your antivirus software updates.

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide from a computer shop in St. Charles County, MO for the process of virus detection and removal so you can restore your computer to optimal operating condition.

Enter Safe Mode

Before you begin the process, disconnect your computer from the internet until you’re ready to clean the PC. This will prevent more malware from entering your system, and from spreading or leaking your private information.

Boot up your computer into Safe Mode, in which only the minimum required programs and services will be loaded up. This can also prevent malware from loading, if it’s set to automatically load on Windows startup.

Delete temporary files

While in Safe Mode, delete your temporary files to help speed up virus scanning, clear some disk space and also potentially remove some malware. There’s a disk cleanup program that comes standard with Windows 10—just type “disk cleanup” into your search bar. After the disk cleanup process is complete, run a virus scan.

Download a malware scanner

Running a standard malware scanner will be enough to remove the vast majority of malware infections. If you were already using an antivirus program but your system still got infected, you should use a different scanner, since your current one likely did not detect it. There are real-time antivirus programs that run in the background of your computer, as well as scanners that search for infections when you run a scan manually. These on-demand scanners are better used for this process. We specifically recommend Malwarebytes, as it is free, high-quality and used by millions of people internationally. You’ll need to reconnect to the internet so you can download the program, install it and update it, but you should disconnect again after that before beginning the scan.

Run the scan

In Malwarebytes, go to the Scan tab and run the default scan option. It will first check for updates, then go into actually scanning your system. This scan should find all infections affecting your system. It could take anywhere from five to 20 minutes, depending on your computer and the number of programs and files you have on it. When the scan is complete, you’ll get the results, and can then remove the infections. You will then be prompted to restart your computer to complete the process.

There are some pieces of malware that are tougher to remove, which may require some additional steps. Therefore, for more thorough information about your particular problem, we encourage you to contact Computer Paramedic. Our computer store in St. Charles County, MO has been assisting customers for over two decades, and we look forward to helping you clean up your computer!

Categorised in: Computer Store