virus removal

How To Do It Yourself - Virus Removal

Removing a virus from your computer can be complicated sometimes L let’s try to keep it simple in this article on the “do it yourself” method of removing viruses before they have had a chance to really damage your operating system.

If you keep getting that annoying antivirus soft or similar message that prompts you to buy their software because your machine is infected, then you are not alone. This is a common virus today – what we call the “antivirus virus”. It will continue to ask you to purchase the “fix” for what it has found on your computer, enter your credit card information to download the remedy for your fix – DON’T DO IT!

Some buy the software because they do not know any better. They think it is a legitimate message from a freeware program that must have downloaded onto their computer. Others actually buy it because they don’t know how else to get rid of the annoying pop ups that are rendering their machines useless. Not good L if you have purchased this in the past, contact your credit card company and dispute the charge. Don’t pay these people.

If you have this virus - you need to remove it. You can start by booting your computer into safe mode with networking. To do this, restart your computer and press the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you see a black screen with some options to choose from.

Once you are at this screen, select Safe Mode with Networking. This will run through a startup process and take you to the Windows login. The screen will look a little different than your use to so don’t be alarmed.

Once you are logged in, launch your web browser. If you are not getting on the internet and are using a wireless connection, hard wire your computer to your network. Sometimes the wireless is disabled in Safe Mode.

If your computer is hard wired and you are still not getting on the internet, you need to uncheck the proxy server option in your browser. Open up Internet Explore and go to the Tools menu. Select Internet Options and then click the Connections tab. Click the LAN settings button and uncheck the box under Proxy Server.

Try your browser again and see if you are on the internet. If so, google malware bytes and download their free product. Install the software, install the updates and do a quick scan. This will find viruses, malware and spyware on your PC. Remove what if finds and restart your system.

Boot your PC normally and then download Microsoft’s Security Essentials and install. Do a full scan of your system and remove any viruses it finds. Once you have removed anything it finds you should be back to normally operating conditions with your computer.

If after installing and running these two programs you are still experiencing slow runtimes or just want a second opinion – give us a call at Computer Guy (817) 791-6216, or in Dallas at (214) 394-2795. We service the entire Fort Worth, mid-cities and Dallas area with onsite service or visit us online at www.FixMyBox.com for more help and information J