How to Remove Computer Viruses
If you think you have a computer virus, it is important to find and remove it before you lose any important data or have personal information stolen. This guide will walk you through the 5 quick and easy steps to detect and remove viruses from your Windows 7/8/10 Laptop or Desktop Computer. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this yourself, our local technicians can come to your Perth home or office and permanently rid your computer of viruses, spyware and other malicious software. Plus you will receive the best free antivirus software to prevent future infections!
Step 1 – Detecting a Computer Virus Infection
Common signs of an infected computer:
- Your computer is slow and unresponsive
- Strange programs appear as soon as you turn on your computer
- Pop-up messages prevent you from working and are difficult to close
Step 2 – Enter Safe Mode
Safe mode is a limited Windows environment which should prevent viruses from running. This will give you a chance to remove them.
Open the Start Menu, type ‘msconfig’, and press enter.
Under the Boot tab, tick Safe Boot and select Minimal. Press OK and then Restart when Prompted.
Step 3a – Uninstall Unknown Software
This step will remove any unwanted programs from your computer that may have been accidentally installed.
Once you have booted into safe mode, open the start menu, type ‘add or remove programs’ and press enter. Here you will find a list of all programs installed on your machine. Look through the list for any software you don’t recognise, and click uninstall. If you are not sure about some of the listed software, call us to have a technician investigate.
Step 3b – Disable Unknown Startup Programs
This step will prevent unwanted software from starting after you login. It will also speed up your computer and improve boot times.
On Windows 7, you can access startup programs by typing ‘msconfig’ in the start menu. Select the startup tab and disable the programs that you don’t need.
For Windows 8 and Windows 10, you can access startup programs by typing ‘Task Manager’ in the start menu. On the startup tab, you can right click to disable unneeded programs.
Be cautions when disabling software on startup, as this could cause unexpected behaviour. If you are not sure about some of the programs listed, contact us to come and take a look.
To exit Safe Mode and test the changes you have made, repeat Step 2, untick Safe Boot and restart the computer. If you are still experiencing symptoms of viruses, continue to Step 4.
Step 4 – Scanning and Removing Viruses
In this Step we will download and run a virus scanner to clean the virus infections. Download the Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool from this link.
You may need to do this on another machine and transfer it via USB.
Enter Safe Mode following Step 2.
Run the Security Scan tool you have downloaded and allow it to find and remove viruses from your computer. This can take some time. Once finished, exit Safe Mode as mentioned in Step 3b and observe your computer’s performance.
Step 5 – Restoring Windows
Virus removal may not always solve your problem. If your computer is too heavily infested, it can prevent you from entering Safe Mode and performing the virus scan. Even if the viruses are removed, the operating system may be left damaged and unusable. This can be solved by resetting your Windows installation. We can copy your important files off your computer and scan them with antivurs software. We will then reset your entire operating system back to a fresh clean installation. We will then copy back your files and reinstall your programs. Click here for more information about our operating system reinstallation service.
