On a computer, the real protection against computer viruses is antivirus, which protects the system in real time from the intrusion of malicious software. You can certainly install several programs to protect your computer like a do-it-yourself security suite, but what matters is the antivirus program that must be updated and remain active in the background.
Unfortunately, despite this, sooner or later everyone will have to face the infection of a new malware or computer virus that is not detected by the antivirus causing damage on the computer making it also unusable.
In this article we see which free program to use to eliminate viruses from the PC, especially if the antivirus fails
The important thing to know is that, if the virus manages to penetrate and hit a computer, the antivirus that until then protected it, becomes completely useless, like a vaccine that has expired or made irrelevant by the virus itself, which it can no longer cure the sick.
In this list there are free programs that can be used one after the other until the virus is eradicated and out of the way .
READ ALSO: Manual removal of viruses to delete infected files
1) RKill is a small ingenious indispensable tool before running any other removal tool. The program was designed to close and terminate the processes kept by the malware so that the antivirus can then remove the files that generate them (because the antivirus cannot delete files in use on the PC from the computer). Ideally, this like other programs should be run in safe mode.
2) Alternatively, you can also use Comodo Cleaning Essentials to recognize viruses, which works similarly to RKill, but with a button-based graphical interface that is easier to understand and use.
3) The most powerful scanning program is MalwareBytes antimalware
As already seen in the guide to MalwareBytes, the free version of this program allows you to scan your computer for malware of all kinds and remove them.
These are scanners that can be run alongside the main antivirus, manually, to check and remove viruses and infected files escaped from the antivirus.
4) Dr. Web CureIt is another free on-demand scanner for Windows PC that has the particularity of being able to be run from a USB stick, without installing anything. So if you can't install MalwareBytes, you can run this scanner. Dr. Web CureIt is one of the portable antivirus for emergency scans including SuperAntispyware, the real alternative to Malwarebytes Antimalware.
5) ComboFix is a special program that scans your computer for traces of malware and attempts to clean automatically detected infections.
Be sure to close all other programs before using it.
As written in a dedicated guide, if a virus is not eliminated from the PC, remove it with the ComboFix advanced scan .
6) If you do not like Combofix, you can use a program designed with the same ambition to remove the hardest viruses: Hitman Pro, a program that is not free but can be used for a few days for free and which allows you to "have a second opinion. " If you are not sure that things are okay, even after using MalwareBytes, also run Hitman Pro which is capable of finding and removing even unknown forms of malware.
7) RogueKiller is a specialized program to detect and remove harmful processes from the system generated by so-called ransomware, that is, to eliminate fake antivirus or software that take your computer hostage.
8) Malware Fighter is a program similar to Malwarebytes, completely free of charge, capable of finding and removing all types of threats and infections that may be hidden in your PC.
9) HijackThis is a program that scans critical points on the system to find problems or possible malware to be analyzed.
If you don't know how to recognize a virus, you may want to use one of the rootkit scan programs, such as McAfee RootkitRemover .
10) Hiren Boot CD and antivirus rescue disks are the programs to use if the PC no longer starts.
These are recovery and antivirus tools to be run before Windows, by starting the computer from CD or USB stick.
READ ALSO: What to do if your computer is affected by a virus
