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What is malware?
Malware short for malicious software is software that is specifically designed
to damage or disrupt a system, steal information (spy on you), or destroy data.
(1)
Malware types
Common Malware types are:
Hard drive continues to have excessive activity — even when you don't
use it
Unusual high network activity when not using your web browser
You want to open a website, but you are sent (redirected) to another
(different) website
Your antivirus program and/or its shields and update function is turned
off (disabled)
Your friends are receiving strange (weird) messages and/or emails from
you (which you didn't sent)
You're blocked from getting access to your system and get forced to pay
money (ransom) to regain access again
You are unable to access the Windows Control Panel, Task Manager,
Registry Editor or Command Prompt
Your computer automatically plays music
Malware threats have grown significantly in the past decade. These threats
grow so fast, that antivirus programs take too long to catch up with malware
(even the best programs). (13)
Click on OK, Yes, Continue or Run when a pop-up window appears and
asks you to install unknown software.
And now:
You should always use antivirus software on your computer – even when
antivirus programs can't protect you 100% against all malware.
But:
And:
Good antivirus software can protect you against most known malware.
You should always install and use only one (1) antivirus program on your
computer.
They might attack each other: because one of them might think that
the other one malware is because it's monitoring your system (same like
spyware or other malware) and then it will attempt to block and remove
it.
They will fight over malware: when one of them detects, removes and
places malware in quarantine, then the other program might also detect
the same malware (even when the other program already has it in
quarantine) and then it will also try to remove the malware and place it
in quarantine. Then you will keep getting the same notifications about
this malware over and over again.
They will make your system slow: antivirus programs use a lot of your
system memory to perform system scans and other related tasks. So
your system will become slower when using two antivirus programs.
There are so many free and paid antivirus programs out there that it's difficult
to choose one.
Most antivirus companies offer the option to download and try their paid
antivirus programs for free for 30 days.
Bitdefender Antivirus
Kaspersky Antivirus
Bitdefender and Kaspersky always have top results in antivirus tests, like AV-
TEST and AV-Comparatives.
It's also recommended to use second opinion malware scanners to get more
complete detection coverage, because some programs may detect malware
that others might miss.
You can use these scanners to scan your PC periodically (e.g once a week)
or when you think your PC is infected.
You can use malware scanners alongside your current antivirus software.
Which means you get the chance to use other antivirus software on your PC
without any problems.
Never click on OK, Yes or Run when a pop-up window appears and
asks you to download and install unknown software.
Never click to fast on Next, Install, OK, etc. when installing software,
because you might install extra unwanted third-party software (like
toolbars). If you see extra offers, then uncheck all their checkboxes.
Don't download and open email attachments – unless you can verify the
source.
Disable or uninstall Adobe Flash Player if you don't need it. You can
also disable Flash Player in your web browser.
Don't click on links you don't trust, but first, check the link. When you go
with your mouse cursor on the link, then you can see at the bottom left
corner of your browser window the REAL location the link is pointing to.
You can also check the link using VirusTotal.com.
When you insert a USB flash drive or external hard drive from someone
else into your PC, then scan it first with your antivirus program before
opening or copying anything.
If you want to take risks, then at least install VirtualBox on your PC, then
install an operating system, like Linux (Linux Mint or Ubuntu) as a virtual
machine in VirtualBox and do your risky things in there. But remember
that also this is NOT 100% safe.
Don't use a Windows administrator account for daily use, but use a
standard account instead. If malware or a hacker gets access to your
system, then the malware or hacker has the same rights to whatever
account you're using. So if you use an administrator account and
malware or a hacker takes control of your system, then the malware or
hacker can do anything he, she or it wants and have full control of your
system, but if you use a standard account then they can only do things
that don't require administrator permission, so he or she can't change
important system settings or install malware, and malware can't install
itself unless you enter the administrator password.
If you are curious about a file or link, then you can also analyze it
on www.virustotal.com.
Malware detection and removal
I will show you step by step how to detect and remove (get rid of)
malwarefrom your infected PC in a few different ways using free second
opinion malware scanners (malware removal tools).
The good thing about second opinion malware scanners is, that you can use
them alongside your current antivirus software.
Important tips!
1. Create a system restore point. If something goes wrong you can restore
the mistake with a system restore point.
3. Always double check the results of each scan and make sure that
nothing important is selected for removal. Even malware scanners can
make mistakes and sometimes see something harmless as a threat.
Why?
Well, if your antivirus (anti-malware) software detected malware, then you will
never know for sure if that's the only piece of malware that has infected your
system.
Malware can nestle itself deeper into your system and hide so that it can't be
discovered by your security software and it can also open doors to other
malware.
Now:
I know that most people don't want to reinstall Windows or don't have a
system image backup, so that's why I will show you step by step how to
remove malware from your infected PC in a few different ways.
Deleting your temporary files can speed up the scanning process and also
free up disk space.
You don't need to install any extra software, because Windows has a built-in
tool called Disk Cleanup.
Go to the Windows search bar and search for cleanup and click
on Disk Cleanup.
2. Select the Windows drive (when asked for and if not already selected).
3. Click on OK.
The tool will now calculate how much disk space you will be able to free on
your system drive.
5. Click on OK.
This may take a while. The time it takes depends on how many files need to
be deleted. When it's finished the tool will close by itself.
Look:
Your antivirus program may have missed the malware that has infected your
PC the first time.
But:
First, you update your antivirus software and then run a full system scan with
the program.
1. Start TDSSKiller.
6. Click on OK.
TDSSKiller will now scan your computer for rootkits. This process can take up
to 30 seconds.
When the scan is completed it will show you the results of the scan.
Step 4: Malwarebytes
You can download Malwarebytes here (note: to download the free version,
you will have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and then click
on DOWNLOAD 14 DAY TRIAL. You will get the Premium version for the first
14 days and after the 14 days, it will turn into the free version – which is an
on-demand malware scanner).
1. Start Malwarebytes.
4. Go to Scan Options.
1. Open Malwarebytes.
Malwarebytes will now scan your computer for malware. This process can
take up to 15 minutes.
When the scan is completed it will show you the results of the scan.
You can download Zemana Antimalware here (for the download button of the
free version you will have to scroll down to the comparison table).
1. Start Zemana Antimalware.
Zemana will now scan your computer for malware. This process can take up
to 10 minutes.
When the scan is completed it will show you the results of the scan.
3. If malware is detected, you click on the Next button to remove the malware.
Kaspersky will now scan your computer for malware. This process can take
up to 40 minutes.
When the scan is completed it will show you the results of the scan.
4. Click on Scan.
ESET will now scan your computer for malware. This process can take up to
40 minutes.
When the scan is completed it will show you the results of the scan.
Select the threats you want to delete and click on Clean selected.
6. Now you will have the following (optional) option Delete application's data
on close.
7. Click on Finish.
Emsisoft will now scan your computer for malware. This process can take up
to 15 minutes.
When the scan is completed it will show you the results of the scan.
Quarantine selected
Delete selected
How to start Windows in Safe Mode with Networking
If you are having problems installing and/or opening second opinion malware
scanners, then start Windows in Safe Mode with Networking and try again.
Booting into Safe Mode with Networking will only load the minimum required
programs and services.
This mode may also prevent certain Malware from loading automatically when
Windows starts.
This could help to remove certain Malware easier since it's not running and
active.
1. Start your PC and keep tapping on the [F8] key repeatedly until a menu
appears.
2. When the Advanced Boot Options menu appears, you select Safe Mode
with Networking.
3. Press Enter.
Method 1
1. Start your PC and keep tapping on the [F8] key repeatedly until a menu
appears.
2. When the Advanced Boot Options menu appears, you select Safe Mode
with Networking.
3. Press Enter.
Method 2
4. Click on Troubleshoot.
8. When the Startup settings menu appears, you press the [5] key on your
keyboard for Safe Mode with Networking.
4. Click on Troubleshoot.
8. When the Startup settings menu appears, you press the [5] key on your
keyboard for Safe Mode with Networking.
That's all. Hopefully, you learned enough about malware to keep your PC
clean and safe. If you want to learn more about computer and Internet security
(cybersecurity), then visit this page.