Virus, Spyware and Malware Removal Toolkit
Articles on this site form the rogue antivirus category:
- How to Remove Live Enterprise Suite | Live Enterprise Suite Removal Guide
- Windows XP Unable to Login After Cleaning Out Rogue Antivirus
- How to Remove APCSafe | APCSafe Removal Guide
- How to Remove PCSecure | PCSecure Removal Guide
- How to Remove Desktop Security 2010 | Desktop Security 2010 Removal Guide
- How to Remove APCSecure | APCSecure Removal Guide
- How to Remove ProtectSoldier | ProtectSoldier Removal Guide
- How to Remove ProtectDefender | ProtectDefender Removal Guide
- How to Remove Armor Defender | Armor Defender Removal Guide
- How to Remove DefendAPC | DefendAPC Removal Guide
Virus Removal
The absolute BEST way to make absolutely certain that a system is clean is to wipe it fresh and reinstall Windows XP. Unfortunately, many people lose their Windows XP install cds, or never received it from the pc manufacturer (which is worth a several page RANT all of it’s own!) So, for them the option is 1)clean up their existing install, 2)buy another windows xp license and disk 3) buy a new computer. Usually the cheapest option turns out to be #1.
Since I have to do a lot of virus cleanup I’ve got a collection of favorite virus removal tools that I make use of. Why so many utilities here? They each have their strengths. Antivirus software of course specializes in cleaning out viruses but in recent years is doing better in the spyware removal. Antispyware software usually has better antispyware coverage, but the landscape is so diverse that it still seems no single product is a bulletproof answer. Also, I like to think of it as getting two or three opinions on if the system is clean. If I can get each of these tools claiming the system is clean, it’s a pretty good bet that we’re finally cleaned out.
Virus Removal Tools
First off, is an essential. A freely available antivirus download. If I’m working on a persons home computer the first choice is usually the free AVG antivirus. If it’s a business I usually steer people towards the pay version of AVG. If they already have antivirus that they want to keep, that’s fine, but it usually has to be reinstalled or renewed because many pests disable or maim your existing antivirus. 8.0 of AVG does a good job identifying and getting out all of the myriad trojans and “possibly unwanted programs” that do sneak installs that previous Antivirus versions didn’t seem to blink an eye at.
Spybot Search and Destroy – this is another good removal tool in the arsenal. This is good to cover the classic spy and adware programs. This includes many rogue antivirus and rogue anti-spyware programs.
Malware bytes anti-malware this is a nice recent addition to my toolkit for cleaning up systems. It seems to be able to pick up some things I’ve missed with spybot and or AVG. In recent months this has become my virus removal tool of choice.
SuperAntiSpyware is another good malware and virus removal tool. They have a portable scanner which is saved to a new random filename each time it’s downloaded and includes all their latest definitions. So, download this on a clean pc to a flash drive, boot up into safe mode if necessary and clean. SuperAntiSpyware also has a standard free edition available for download as well that is a standard installable application. If it were me, for a system cleanup, I would opt for the portable edition as it’s more likely to be able to work due to the random filename.
For some of those specific bugs it can be handy to have a tool for a specific type of bug.
CWShredder is the tool of choice to remove CoolWebSearch.
To the surprise of many, the antivirus companies typically have standalone FREE virus removal tools for various viruses and baddies out there:
Symantec FREE virus removal tools
McAfee Free virus removal tools (this may not have been updated in a while.)
They also have a removal tool called Stinger for a variety of bugs.
Kaspersky has a raft of removal tools too for free download.
As does Grisoft (AVG).
As time allows I’ll be adding more of the handy virus removal utilities I use here. A good place to start for general system utilities though is the sysinternals utilities which are currently owned by Microsoft.
Free Online Virus Scans
I’ve not typically been VERY enthused about “online virus scans” because of some potentially fundamental drawbacks with such, but from time to time I make use of Trend Micro’s Housecall (online java/web based malware scanner) as a quick first or second opinion on a system’s status.
Here’s Panda Antivirus ActiveScan – only cleans out what it finds after registration. (And some things are not cleaned out by the online scan, but by the paid software.)
Kaspersky Virusscanner – another good online scanner.
F-secure has an online scanner.
SuperAntiSpyware has a free home edition.
Other Virus Removal Tools
Other tools are SDFix and Combofix.
Another useful tool for finding hidden registry entries and the like (possible rootkit activity) is RootkitRevealer.
Finally, a very powerful tool for finding running processes:
Process Explorer (link to sysinternals download.)
Virus Removal Toolkit
Now, since many rogue antivirus or malware infestations will prevent you from downloading from the websites of legitimate security tools you will want to develop a toolkit in one of a number of ways. First you may wish for a cd. For many years this was my favorite method because I could just keep a folder on my desktop with the current version of the security tools listed above (or whatever I was using the most at the time.) I could even script updates of them and then I could burn a fresh cd to take out with me.
The other option and probably the better choice today is the USB flash drive. They are cheap and most of these utilities are fairly small. For $20 you can get a 2GB memory stick to put all of your virus removal tools and even have room left to copy data off for forensic analysis (whether it’s log files or other suspicious files that your removal tools did not detect.)
Subpages of this page that may have more detail on some of the tools listed:
Virus and malware removal in the news:
“malware removal” – Google News
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 – PC Magazine
 ITP.net |
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011
PC Magazine Earned mediocre scores in my hands-on malware removal and blocking tests. Erroneously identified two PCMag utilities as malware (false positives). … Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 |
Make A Bootable USB Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 – Ghacks Technology News
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Make A Bootable USB Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10
Ghacks Technology News … the computer using anti-virus applications or malware removal utilities (such as Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool) running under the operating system. … |
Panda Internet Security 2011 – PC Magazine
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Panda Internet Security 2011
PC Magazine In my own hands-on testing, Panda achieved a good score for overall malware removal. It detected most of the samples but didn't remove them as thoroughly as … |
How To Uninstall / Remove Wireshark Antivirus Virus ( Removal Guide ) – Soft Sailor (blog)
 Silicon.com |
How To Uninstall / Remove Wireshark Antivirus Virus ( Removal Guide )
Soft Sailor (blog) The Wireshark Antivirus malware removal process is complete and your system is clean of any type of malicious software. This is all you need to do in order … How to remove Wireshark Antivirus (Virus Removal Guide) Cloud Computing Defined |
BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 – PC Magazine
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BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011
PC Magazine It didn't thoroughly remove everything it found, winding up with 6.3 of 10 possible points for malware removal. Spyware Doctor and Malwarebytes' … BitDefender Total Security 2011 |
How to remove Security Suite (Virus Removal Guide) – Free PC Guides (blog)
 Free PC Guides (blog) |
How to remove Security Suite (Virus Removal Guide)
Free PC Guides (blog) For this, we will use probably the best malware removal tool out there, called Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. Run the setup from the desktop and follow the … Security Suite Removal Instructions – How to Remove Security Suite Quickly … |
How To Uninstall / Remove The Fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert Trojan … – Soft Sailor (blog)
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How To Uninstall / Remove The Fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert Trojan …
Soft Sailor (blog) This means that you need to download the malware removal application on other PC and then transfer the files on the infected PC with a memomry stick or you … |
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AV Security Suite Removal – How to Get Ride of AV Security Suite Easily
Boosh News (press release) (blog) The ill-effect of AV security suite is that it hinder you from using any protective software such as antivirus, malware removal programs etc. … |
Stopping Viruses Spread through Social Networking – Cadalyst Magazine
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Stopping Viruses Spread through Social Networking
Cadalyst Magazine For removal help, see my discussion of free malware removal tools in CAD Manager's Newsletter #233. Do yourself a favor by reading up on removal procedures … |
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Peak Protection 2010 Removal – How to Remove Peak Protection 2010 From Your PC
Boosh News (press release) (blog) The way to get rid of this is to use what's known as a âmalware removal programâ. This is a type of software which works by scanning through your system and … |
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