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Whether you’ve seen a message saying a virus was detected, or your computer seems slow and unreliable, you’ll want to scan your PC for malware and remove any you find. Here’s how to clean your PC from viruses and malware.
While many viruses and other types of malware are designed simply to wreak havoc, organized crime is increasingly creating malware to steal credit card numbers, online banking credentials, and other sensitive data. Typical old school viruses are not a real problem. The problem now is ransomware and spyware, and that requires new tools and new techniques.
Did your antivirus say a virus was detected?
If you saw a pop-up message from your antivirus saying a virus was detected, that’s a good thing. His antivirus detected a virus and probably removed it without warning him.
Warning: Make sure all pop-ups warning you about a virus are legitimate. It is a common tactic used by malicious websites to pretend be antivirus software. When in doubt, don’t trust your browser pop-ups on malware, and always check your antivirus security logs.
This type of message does not mean that you have ever had a virus running on your computer. You could have downloaded a file that contained a virus and your antivirus removed the file before it could cause a problem. Or, a malicious file on an infected web page could have been detected and dealt with before it caused any problems.
In other words, a “virus detected” message that appears during normal use of your computer does not mean that the virus is actually made anything. If you see a message like this, you are probably visiting an infected web page or downloading a harmful file. Try to avoid doing that in the future, but don’t worry too much.
RELATED: What is the best antivirus for Windows 10? (Is Windows Defender good enough?)
You can also open your antivirus program and check your quarantine or virus detection logs. This will show you more information about which virus was detected and what the antivirus did with it. Of course, if you’re not sure, go ahead and run a scan, it couldn’t hurt.
How to scan for malware, spyware, ransomware, adware, and other threats
If your computer is behaving badly, whether it’s running extremely slow, webpages behaving strangely, or you’re seeing ads appearing in places you wouldn’t normally see, you probably have some kind of new malware on your computer. . Spyware will track everything you are doing or redirect your search and home pages to places you don’t want to go. Adware will infect your browser and even Windows, and ransomware will try to crash your PC.
Regardless of what the problem is, our first step is forever to download and run a scan with Malwarebytes, the best anti-malware tool on the planet. It is not an ordinary antivirus product, it is designed to solve modern threats. It is the only product on the market that can easily clean crapware and spyware.
Download, install and then run Malwarebytes, and then start a scan of your PC. It will guide you through cleaning your system.
You don’t have to buy a license to clean your PC, but if you don’t want this to happen again, you probably should, because it will make sure you don’t have this problem again.
How to scan for regular viruses
To check your computer for malware and remove any malware it finds, you’ll need an antivirus program. Windows 8, 10 and 11 include Microsoft Defender, Microsoft’s own antivirus. Windows 7 doesn’t include any built-in antivirus, so you’ll probably need something else, like Avira.
Microsoft Defender isn’t intrusive and is great overall, but it’s not the only thing you need. Our favorite antivirus solution is a combination of Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes so you have complete coverage.
To scan for regular viruses in Microsoft Defender, open it and start a new scan. It will go through and fully scan your system to see if there is anything missing. And of course, Microsoft Defender also runs in the background by default.
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The combination of Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes should remove the vast majority of malware you can find, and if both are running, they should also protect you in the future.
If Malwarebytes and Microsoft Defender couldn’t get rid of malware
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Use safe mode for stubborn malware
If you have a very persistent malware infection, you may need to search for malware from outside of your normal Windows system. To do that, you’ll need to start Windows in safe mode, which will prevent it from loading normal startup applications, including, hopefully, that nasty malware. Run a Microsoft Defender scan and then a Malwarebytes scan from Safe Mode and you may have better luck removing malware that you normally can’t.
To boot into safe mode in Windows 8, 10, or 11, hold down the Shift key while clicking the “Restart” option, and then go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Windows Startup Settings > Restart > Safe mode. In Windows 7, press the F8 key while your computer is starting up and you will see a boot options menu that allows you to select “Safe Mode”.
Use a bootable antivirus tool as a last resort
If that doesn’t work, you may need to completely exit Windows and use a bootable antivirus tool. This type of antivirus tool starts in a clean environment, completely outside of Windows, to find and remove persistent malware that you might not be able to see or remove from within Windows itself.
Microsoft Defender itself can do this with the “Microsoft Defender Offline” feature if you’re using Windows 10. You can refer to our guide to using Microsoft Defender Offline. Other antivirus software can also do this: look for antivirus “boot disks” like Avira Rescue System. You can check out our guide to using the Avira rescue system here.
RELATED: How to find and remove malware with Microsoft Defender offline
How to get a second opinion from Microsoft Defender
If you already have an antivirus program installed, but you think you may have viruses that it doesn’t detect, you can get a second opinion from another antivirus product. It’s usually a bad idea to run two antivirus programs at the same time, as their real-time scanning can conflict with each other. But if you have one that runs real-time scans all the time, you can use a second for occasional manual scans.
RELATED: How to periodically scan your computer with Windows Defender while using another antivirus
On Windows 10 and 11, Microsoft Defender is perfect for this. Even if you have another antivirus program installed that is monitoring your system, Microsoft Defender can occasionally scan on a schedule, or manually scan when you choose, to see if it can find something your current antivirus is missing. Here is a guide to enable and use that option.
A variety of other antivirus vendors offer one-time scanning tools, for example ESET Online Scanner. These programs will download to your computer and perform a quick scan without a lengthy installation process.
If the scanner alerts you to a problem, you’ll want to remove the malware. If you had a virus, your current antivirus may not be up to the task. You may want to uninstall it and install another antivirus product once the process is complete.
You should also install Malwarebytes to deal with adware and other junk
As we mentioned in our guide to the best antivirus programs, antivirus is not enough; you should also have a more comprehensive anti-malware program. Not all nasty software is covered by normal antivirus scanners, which primarily check for harmful infections. You might have “junkware” on your system, such as browser toolbars, search engine changers, Bitcoin miners, and other types of nasty programs that only exist to make their creator money. Be careful when downloading programs from the web, so your PC doesn’t get cluttered with nasty toolbars and other junk software.
But if you already have junk software on your system, you’ll want to remove it.
Most antivirus programs won’t bother touching PUPs. To deal with PUPs, we recommend getting MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. As long as you use it occasionally to scan your system, you’ll be able to stay free of nasty software that your average antivirus program doesn’t detect or remove. And since it includes vulnerability protection, it can keep you safe in the future, too.
How to clean your computer (and check your backups)
RELATED: Everything you need to know about “Reset this PC” in Windows 8 and 10
If nothing can remove viruses properly, or if malware has damaged your system so badly that Windows still doesn’t work properly after removing viruses, you can take the “nuclear option” – reverting your computer to its factory state. You will keep all your personal files, but any programs you have installed will be removed and your computer’s system settings will be reset to their default state.
In Windows 8, 10, and 11, this is much easier: you can just use the “Reset this PC” feature to reset Windows to its factory default settings. The process is basically the same in Windows 8 and Windows 10, but the menu to reset your PC changed in Windows 11. If you’re using a Windows 7 PC, your manufacturer probably provides a restore partition that you can access by pressing a certain key during the boot process. Check your computer manual for the exact key you need to press for this.
You can also reinstall Windows on your computer by downloading Windows installation media for your computer from Microsoft.
Warning: Just make sure you have a backup of all important files before you wipe your hard drive and reinstall Windows!
If you’ve had to fight malware once, try your best to make it the last time. Install a good antivirus program, keep your computer up to date, and avoid running potentially dangerous software. Follow our tips for staying safe online to keep your computer and personal information safe.
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