Remove the Latest Malware Threats!

Malware, spyware, viruses, trojan horses, scareware, worms, rootkits, oh my! You’ve most likely heard of all or some those terms describing nasty software infections that harm your computer. Well, get comfortable with them because you will be hearing about them for a long, long time to come. I’ve discussed a little bit more about viruses in one of my earlier blog topics as well as free antivirus software you can download and use at no charge so I won’t go too deep explaining it here. Read on to see how you can use two free tools to zap away some of the most notorious malware on the scene today.

While a lot of different computer professionals and home users-alike like to use different tactics when cleaning up malware-ridden computers, there is one method I especially like to go for first. That is to fry the big fish first, before going for the smaller one. Basically, I prefer to root out the more notorious/popular malware infections first on a computer system. While you certainly can do just a full virus scan of your hard drive from your installed antivirus software in hope of catching everything, a lot of time that’s not quite enough when you’re dealing with a heavily infected PC. Heck a lot of times you’ll find that the infected computer’s antivirus software haven’t been updated in months! There is a reason why there are so many antivirus products out there and without doubt, some do a better job at detecting and cleaning out malware than others so using a one stop approach will likely fail.

Two malware removal tools I will be discussing here consist of the Microsoft Software Removal Tool (MSRT) and F-Secure’s Easy Clean software tool. If you’re wondering why the MSRT sounds so familiar, well it’s because during every month you update your Windows operating system from Microsoft Updates (you are updating right?), Microsoft also includes in the update a new version of the MSRT and scans your computer automatically with it in the background. For this tutorial, we will download the tool so that you can run it whenever and wherever you wish to. Both free software scans your hard drive for some of the most notable malware spreading on the Internet today.

It is worth to note that both the Microsoft and F-Secure tools are meant to detect only ‘specific’ types of malware infections if found on the computer. They are not a substitute for traditional antivirus software because firstly, they don’t offer any type of live protection (you must run the tool manually) and secondly, there are millions of ‘lesser’ viruses and malware out there that both of these tools will not detect.

The MSRT has a list of all the malware that the tool currently detects, while Easy Clean doesn’t give out that information. However, don’t count it out. F-Secure is a reputable computer security company. It’s just a shame that most users most likely haven’t heard of them before due to bigger names like Norton and McAfee taking center stage.

Using the Tools

Using  these tools are dead simple. Download, install and run.

MalwareBytes

Microsoft Software Removal Tool

Choosing a full scan will obviously allow the tool to more thoroughly scan your computer but will take much longer. If you are infected with a malware on its list, it will of course notify you and usually, rebooting your computer should take care of it. Remember, this tool only scans for specific malware that’s on its hit-list.

F-Secure Easy Clean

Before starting the Easy Clean tool, you’ll want to temporarily disable whatever antivirus software you are using at the moment. Not doing so might cause it to lockup some files and the Easy Clean tool might not be able to scan them. Once the tool is finish scanning, you’ll want to obviously re-enable the antivirus software. For more information about the Easy Clean tool, visit their FAQ page.

If you are helping friends or family members with their computer problems, simply running these tools will go a long way. You can dump these executable files on your thumb drive so that you can quickly scan any computer you come across for serious malware infections. Malwarebytes, however, you’ll want to update each and every time because it does use signatures. As mentioned in the beginning, there are many methods in combating malware infections on a computer. I simply prefer to use these three tools first in hopes of getting rid of some of the more deadlier infections. Also, if you run Microsoft update once a month, the MSRT will automatically scan your computer as well. If you wish to run it manually or on other computers, than download it and store it on your thumb drive. Remember that F-Secure’s Easy Clean makes a fine companion as well! With Malwarebytes, you can get rid of those pesky rogue antivirus applications in no time!