Virus Removal – DIY Guide

Avatar photo
Anthony Lewis

Just like human virus, computer viruses are difficult to deal with. However, you can try and get rid of the computer virus yourself! If you are infected and need immediate virus removal, use this guide to take back control of your computer.

Terminating most viruses can be achieved by doing 3 things:

  1. Booting in safe mode
  2. Terminating the malicious process
  3. Scanning for and eliminating the threat.

I. SAFE MODE

To begin in safe mode, turn on or restart your computer. Soon as it boots, please continually press the F8 key on your keyboard until you enter the Advanced Boot Menu.

You will see a screen that looks like this: [safe mode picture]

Choose SAFE MODE with NETWORKING

II. TERMINATE PROCESS

You will need to download the program from here. Run the program and let it work its magic. If you have trouble downloading RKILL from that link, visit google.com and search for rkill.com instead of .exe.

[Rkill interface]

III. RUN MALWARE BYTES

Download and run malwarebytes from this link

  1. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
  2. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button.
  3. MBAM will now automatically start, and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.
  4. On the Scanner tab, make sure the Perform full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Smart Guard Protection related files.
  5. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.
  6. [scanner]
  7. Once the scan is finished, it will display a list of what it found.
  8. Right Click and SELECT ALL.
  9. Then click the REMOVE SELECTED button and restart computer.

Once that is complete there are other items that should be address by a computer professional. Startup items, defrag, update antivirus, install DNS filter, etc.

New Resources In Your Inbox

Get our latest cybersecurity resources, content, tips and trends.

Other resources that might be of interest to you.

AI Shields & Cybersecurity Potions for October Cyber Threats

October is the spookiest time of year for your tech team, and not just because of Halloween. October is also Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and more often than not, businesses are not cybersecurity aware. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the perfect ti
Vivian Lee
>>Read More

New Warning About Royal Ransomware

Airiam’s AirRescue™ incident response (IR) team recently helped several companies that fell victim to the Royal ransomware. We are seeing an up-tick in organizations falling victim to Royal and urge IT and business leaders to learn about the ransomware
Avatar photo
Conor Quinlan
>>Read More

Check Your Email: PTD, Verizon, Dejazzd, or Windstream From Any Computer

Most people have a PTD, VERIZON, or DEJAZZD email from their home or office computer. But what if you are away from that computer and need to get to your email? Below is a list of the companies and the corresponding websites where you can check your em
Avatar photo
Anthony Lewis
>>Read More