Emerald Green Software

There are a lot of ways to slip up and find your computer infested with Malware.  Well, whatever the circumstances, you?ll want to get rid of it once you know it?s there.

First off, you will want to figure out what?s on your machine.  Here?s a few of the online virus detection resources:BitDefender?s Online Malware Scanner, Kaspersky?s Online Malware Scanner, TrendMicro's Housecall, Mcafee?s Online Malware Scanner, Symatec?s Online Security Scanner.  You might want to use more than one of them, though not at the same time.

The first thing to do is download and install a legitimate antivirus-antimalware program with the latest updates.  After installation it will immediately run a scan of your system, give it time to work, and with luck it will find and with your permission remove all the malware.  Some good free antivirus programs with antimalware features too include AVG Free, Avira Antivir personal, and Avast Home edition.  There are also some standalone antimalware programs that can effectively supliment these, including Spybot ?Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes, and Ad-Aware Free.  The last two only have proactive functionality for their paid versions, but the free version offers plenty of power for Malware removal.

Even if your program can?t get rid of the malware, it should be able to identify it, and there?s a chance you could find a specially crafted tool to remove it with a google search.  Just double check the tool before downloading, to be sure it?s legitimate.

With a little luck, all you have to do is download the right cleaning program,and install and run it to clean out your computer.  Unfortunately, not all malware writers will make it that easy.  Many types of malware will prevent your system from installing antivirus software, or will make it crash when it tries to run, or will have been designed in a way that makes it hard for antivirus programs to get rid of them.

Time for the first escalation ? Reboot to Safe Mode.  Basically just shut down your computer, give it a few seconds to start booting up and start tapping the F8 key above your keyboard?s number keys.  This should offer the option to boot into safe mode, which boots your computer in the most bare bones almost nothing running setting as possible.  Which means that the malware you?re after is less likely to be able to interfere with your ability to install and/or run your antimalware program.

But if you can?t get rid of Malware even from Safe Mode, there?s another escalation to try ? System Restore.  There are a series of files and settings that control what programs work on your system and how they work together.  As a precaution against problems, your system periodically creates copies of these files and settings at various points.

Use the windows button to open the menu list, and go to accessories.  Then to System tools in the accessories submenu.  There you should see the icon to double click to open the System Restore option.  Open it, and assuming system restore was turned on (Which it is by default), you should have an assortment of restore points representing various moments when you installed different programs, changed settings, and generally made changes.  If you see one dated at a point when you?re pretty sure malware wasn?t installed on your system, select it and run the restoration.

After a few warning system restore will run and with luck erase all the connections the virus has to your systems.  Of course, it will also erase all the connections of any program you installed after that restore point was created so you may need to reinstall some of your programs to make them work again.  After running your antimalware program and hopefully getting rid of the now impotent malware file of course.

Sometimes though, even system restore will be compromised.  At this point, your pretty much stuck with the final option of reinstalling windows.  If possible, your goal should be to perform a Repair Install.  There?s slight differences for Windows XP and Vista.  A repair install will install the OS off the CD without getting rid of all the files on your disk.  Of course, it will remove most of the integrations between the programs and the OS and erase all the updates, so you?ll have to then invest a bit of time into updating the system and reinstalling all your programs.  I?d advise you to install your antivirus first, and let it take it?s time running it?s scans.  While the repair install should have rendered the malware impotent, it will still be there and should be eliminated promptly.

If every other option is lost, you can still run a clean install.  This will erase everything from your hard drive and reinstall the OS.  Naturally before you do this (And indeed before you try some of the earlier steps, just in case), you should download all your important documents and data off your current hard drive onto whatever sort of removable media you can use.  I myself would favor a portable hard drive, which are pretty affordable nowadays.  Just make sure not to try redownloading your data until after you?ve installed all your system?s updates and an antivirus.  And have that antivirus scan your portable drive for any virus?s that hitched a ride.

Of course, if you?re investigating Malware because it?s interfering with your systems performance, you may find it hard to extract your files and data.  Fortunately if you have any access to a clean computer with a working cd burner you?ve got a solution- Ubuntu.  I could talk a bit about Linux and Ubuntu, but all you need to know is that a Linux LiveCD is a freely available OS that can run off the cd, and can also access your disks just like your regular OS.  Just get whoever has the clean computer to download a recent Ubuntu Iso, burn it to a CD, and then you just have to load it into your PC?s optical drive and reboot.  At which point, I could go into the process of getting your data, but it?s been done with screenshots Here.