Remove Malware

Remove Malware - Malware is malicious software that gets installed on your computer in many ways. It can come by way of email or in a virus. It can also be downloaded and installed by free programs, toolbars, music and video downloads or by file transfers and IM. It is difficult to keep at bay. One of the best ways is through Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool.

You can download Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool from the following website: http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx it is free and if you are running Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Windows Vista this program will benefit your system by running and looking for malware in background mode. It runs once a month on the second Tuesday. It automatically updates to keep you safe from newest threats. Currently these include Sasser worms, Blaster and Mydoom. The version of this software received from either a Microsoft update or Windows update will run in the background and only report if a problem is found. Otherwise, you are not supposed to know it is there. This is one of the easiest ways to keep malware off of your system and to remove malware that does manage to get installed.

There are other ways to remove malware. The use of software designed for this purpose makes it much easier than a manual removal of malware. To remove malware manually you need a lot of time, patience and experience editing your systems registry. To remove malware manually first you have to know what files or files are affecting your computer. Usually if you know the type or name of malware that is attacking your system you can Google for help on what files to look for. Sometimes the registry keys can be found online. This can save you a lot of time. Once the files are located, see if you can remove, any of them through your computers add/remove programs utility. If you do not see the files there, go to the start menu and perform a search on the files you are trying to locate. Once found, delete the files. Then do a registry backup and restart your system in safe mode by pressing F8 when it boots. Go to the registry editor and search for the files you just deleted in addition to just searching on the names. Delete all instances of the offending files, and then reboot the computer. These are general directions on how to remove malware. Remember any time you attempt to change the systems registry you run the risk of permanently damaging your computer in error. Make sure that you understand what you are doing prior to making any changes.

Removing malware can be a difficult task. The more advances software to remove malware becomes, the more complex the malware threats. It is one entity trying to stay ahead of the other. For this reason, it is always a good idea to have more than one spyware removal program installed on your computer. You should never have to wonder about how to remove malware if you use the right tools for the job.