Antivirus is certainly a great way to protect yourself from viruses that can affect the PC, but often it is not enough and the user is required to do a manual work of control and, in case, also to delete the infected files or remove them. suspicious programs.
In many cases, in fact, especially following the installation of a particular malicious software, the antivirus may not be effective at all.
In fact, a click on a site or the installation of a sponsored program may generate the download of a file that is sometimes not recognized as a virus by the antivirus, setting itself to run automatically when the computer starts and generating a whole series of background processes that cause slowdowns and that do not have a defined function.
Often even the installation of legitimate and regular programs brings with it unsolicited additional software that end up loading itself when Windows starts.
In these cases, while anti-malware scanning programs can certainly be useful in getting rid of all traces of malware, manual intervention may first be required to uninstall suspicious programs, delete infected files (and folders) that they have. generated and stop the automatic execution of services or processes related to them.
So let's see how to work to manually remove viruses from your PC, infected files and malicious programs .
READ ALSO: How to remove malware and viruses from the infected computer
1) The first step that must be taken to eliminate any infected file or suspicious program is to start the PC in safe mode .
Safe mode starts the computer with only the most essential programs and drivers and will also prevent the PC from connecting to a network and the internet.
Usually, to enter Windows safe mode, you have to press the F8 key several times after turning on the computer or, in Windows 10, you can go to Settings> Update and security> Recovery> Advanced startup, by pressing on Restart.
Another way to start the PC without loading external programs is to use the selective start function of the System Configuration utility.
From the start menu, open the Start menu, then search for MSConfig and open the system configuration.
Here you can select diagnostic startup to load Windows only with essential services.
Note that in the Services tab, after clicking on " Hide all Microsoft services ", you can check the names of the services generated by external programs and, if necessary, identify intruders or suspicious programs to disable them.
Disabled programs must then be removed and uninstalled as written in point 3.
When needed, there is also a way to automatically close all external processes loaded since Windows starts, without going into safe mode.
To do this you need to download and run the magic rKill tool which terminates any malware or suspicious process .
2) From the safe mode of Windows 10 or Windows 7, you have to change the settings to view hidden files.
In summary, you need to open the Start menu, look for the File Explorer options, go to the View tab and select the " View hidden folders, files and drives " option.
Also, if it hadn't been done before, uncheck this option:
- Hide file extensions for known file types
- Hide protected system files (only if you have experience)
Then click on Apply and OK.
3) How to know which files are infected "> check if the processes are safe or harmful on Windows, automatically and visually, as seen in another article.
4) Delete infected files
All files in Windows will now be visible, so if you know the location of the infected file, you can search for it from File Explorer, right click on it and delete it.
If you have unchecked the option that hides system files, then you must be careful not to delete Windows files.
When you find a process to delete in the Windows task manager, then you have to click on it with the right mouse button and then on Open file path .
Now there are two ways, you can delete the file and the folder containing the process or, if it is a program, first try to uninstall it normally and then, later, delete the folder and the file if it has not been removed.
To uninstall a program, you can use Control Panel> Programs> Uninstall a program .
For files that cannot be deleted, try using the tools listed in the guide to delete files that cannot be deleted.
5) If we have removed the suspicious program, deleted the infected files or alleged viruses and if there are no longer strange processes that load with Windows, then we have almost solved the problem because any malware will no longer be able to start, but we can certainly complete work with a special automatic scan .
In particular, a check of rootkits and registry keys is required.
Optionally, Comodo Cleaning Essential can be used to recognize and remove all types of viruses and malware.
Instead, a check must be made with MalwareBytes Antimalware or any other antimalware tool and free removal tool.
In many cases, in fact, especially following the installation of a particular malicious software, the antivirus may not be effective at all.
In fact, a click on a site or the installation of a sponsored program may generate the download of a file that is sometimes not recognized as a virus by the antivirus, setting itself to run automatically when the computer starts and generating a whole series of background processes that cause slowdowns and that do not have a defined function.
Often even the installation of legitimate and regular programs brings with it unsolicited additional software that end up loading itself when Windows starts.
In these cases, while anti-malware scanning programs can certainly be useful in getting rid of all traces of malware, manual intervention may first be required to uninstall suspicious programs, delete infected files (and folders) that they have. generated and stop the automatic execution of services or processes related to them.
So let's see how to work to manually remove viruses from your PC, infected files and malicious programs .
READ ALSO: How to remove malware and viruses from the infected computer
1) The first step that must be taken to eliminate any infected file or suspicious program is to start the PC in safe mode .
Safe mode starts the computer with only the most essential programs and drivers and will also prevent the PC from connecting to a network and the internet.
Usually, to enter Windows safe mode, you have to press the F8 key several times after turning on the computer or, in Windows 10, you can go to Settings> Update and security> Recovery> Advanced startup, by pressing on Restart.
Another way to start the PC without loading external programs is to use the selective start function of the System Configuration utility.
From the start menu, open the Start menu, then search for MSConfig and open the system configuration.
Here you can select diagnostic startup to load Windows only with essential services.
Note that in the Services tab, after clicking on " Hide all Microsoft services ", you can check the names of the services generated by external programs and, if necessary, identify intruders or suspicious programs to disable them.
Disabled programs must then be removed and uninstalled as written in point 3.
When needed, there is also a way to automatically close all external processes loaded since Windows starts, without going into safe mode.
To do this you need to download and run the magic rKill tool which terminates any malware or suspicious process .
2) From the safe mode of Windows 10 or Windows 7, you have to change the settings to view hidden files.
In summary, you need to open the Start menu, look for the File Explorer options, go to the View tab and select the " View hidden folders, files and drives " option.
Also, if it hadn't been done before, uncheck this option:
- Hide file extensions for known file types
- Hide protected system files (only if you have experience)
Then click on Apply and OK.
3) How to know which files are infected "> check if the processes are safe or harmful on Windows, automatically and visually, as seen in another article.
4) Delete infected files
All files in Windows will now be visible, so if you know the location of the infected file, you can search for it from File Explorer, right click on it and delete it.
If you have unchecked the option that hides system files, then you must be careful not to delete Windows files.
When you find a process to delete in the Windows task manager, then you have to click on it with the right mouse button and then on Open file path .
Now there are two ways, you can delete the file and the folder containing the process or, if it is a program, first try to uninstall it normally and then, later, delete the folder and the file if it has not been removed.
To uninstall a program, you can use Control Panel> Programs> Uninstall a program .
For files that cannot be deleted, try using the tools listed in the guide to delete files that cannot be deleted.
5) If we have removed the suspicious program, deleted the infected files or alleged viruses and if there are no longer strange processes that load with Windows, then we have almost solved the problem because any malware will no longer be able to start, but we can certainly complete work with a special automatic scan .
In particular, a check of rootkits and registry keys is required.
Optionally, Comodo Cleaning Essential can be used to recognize and remove all types of viruses and malware.
Instead, a check must be made with MalwareBytes Antimalware or any other antimalware tool and free removal tool.
