If your computer has ever had a virus, then you will know the frustration it can cause. This tutorial is written to help those who have suffered a virus on their PC and need help cleaning their system. Due to the complexity of viri, it is not always possible to just remove the virus with an antivirus scanner. The aim of this tutorial is to provide several steps which will help you rid your PC of a virus and be able to use it hassle free.
What is a Virus?
Before we get to the tutorial I will quickly explain what a virus is. A computer virus is a program which can install it’s self with out you giving approval. However, this is not all a virus does. The computer virus gets it’s name due to being programmed with the ability to spread and infect other systems. When your system gets infected a number of problems can occur such as a slow down of your PC or completely making your PC unusable which effects productivity and can make for a really annoying time. For the home user, this can effect browsing the internet, creating spreadsheets and even playing games. For the business user, this can effect the company financially and slow down the work of an individual who’s PC was infected.
The other part of the problem is having to remove the virus. Viri are programmed in a way that sometimes it is not a simple task to remove them. If you have virus scanning installed it might not always clean up your system completely, and you may find that after a reboot the same virus problem is back.
This tutorial is designed to give you best practices on how to remove a virus and fix your computer so that you can use your system hassle free and for the way it was designed to be used. Should you get stuck at any point of this tutorial, or feel that your virus cannot be removed then feel free to comment below.
How do I know I have a virus?
You may not always know that your PC has a virus as some do not slow the system down. However, due to their nature you will almost always spot a virus by the system acting differently to what it did when you first purchased it. The best practise is to have a decent virus scanner installed and running at all times and also make sure that the definitions are updated regularly. However, if a virus has managed to sneak past the anti virus protection then do not worry, we can help you remove it.
Virus Removal Tutorial
The first step to removing a virus is to get some virus protection on your PC. Several options are available with prices ranging from free for personal use to £50 or more with a yearly subscription. I personally have not had any problems using free anti virus protection software from AVG. If you already have anti virus protection installed then continue on. If not, then download AVG and follow the simple steps to get it up and running.
This tutorial will use AVG as an example. Feel free to post a question in our support forum should you have a question about updating and using a different antivirus product for removing virus’s.
Now that you have anti virus protection installed you first need to check that you are using the latest virus definitions. To do this, double click on the yellow, black, green and red icon in the task bar as shown below. If the icon shows as grey then it means your virus definitions are out of date.
After clicking here you will be presented with the AVG virus console. Once loaded you should click the Update button and follow on-screen instructions to update the virus definitions to make sure you are fully protected. This process takes just a minute or 2 and will let you know when it is complete.
Now that your virus definitions are up to date, it is time to scan your computer and get rid of the pesky virus’. To do this click Start > All Programs > AVG 7.5 > AVG Test Center. At this point you just click Scan computer and let it do it’s job. You can either sit and watch, or wait the good amount of time for the virus scanner to finish working. Once complete it will let you know what virus it found and what was done with it. If it gives you the option, click quarantine, clean or delete and AVG will sort it out for you.
Occasionally a virus will not remove and this requires safe mode to be used to clean the virus. If you find this to be the case then check out our Virus Removal in Safe Mode tutorial.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
barbie 11.13.08 at 11:15 am
hi there i have 3 virus scanners running on my computer which i think might be to many the 3 i have are MACAFEE AVG MALWARE BYTES i have commented to matthew on computer that my computer is running so slow and sluggish could this be the trouble . i did have a virus on my computer a while ago which was a malware virus,had some one in to remove it but all they said they did was hide it in the back of computer in a corner / ? so is this the trouble with my computer ? i really dont know its driving me mad . and if i am still talking to matthew may be this is a bit more information that can help you to help me to sort my com out barbie
Matthew 11.13.08 at 11:45 am
Three virus scanners will more then likely cause a slow down on your computer. I’d remove McAfee and Malware Bytes and just leave an updated AVG on there (as it’s free).
If all three are doing real time scans of files then it could cause a huge slow down of your PC. Try remove the other two and see how that goes.
barbie 11.14.08 at 7:49 pm
hi matthew i have removed macafee virus scanner but do you know that malwarebytes is all so a free one as well that you can load down from your computer but i dont think i can tell you much that you dont all ready know . i am still working on removing some of the icons on bottom right hand corner just takes me time .scaredy really . there is still a lot i need to learn and i hope you dont mind me pestering you .as i said i have AVG virus scanner on mine how would i know that it is up to date or is that a silly question? thanks for being patient with me and replying to my questions there is another one i wonted to ask in the tutorials but i have got to find it again now i hope i am not pest I THINK YOUR SERVICE IS GREAT . barbie
Matthew 11.15.08 at 5:29 am
Barbie…
No problem. Keep asking questions if you need help. AVG should pop up a window saying it’s out of date once in a while. If not then double click on the AVG icon near the clock in the system tray (it’s the one split in to four colours). AVG will then pop up and you can select the Update Now option down the left side of the window.
barbie 11.15.08 at 2:24 pm
hi matthew thank you again for your reply , your a treasure i have found on my computer ” i have sorted my avg is up to date , and as i said i had deleted my mcafee anti virus but every time i have restarted my com its there . wonder if you can help with my neighbours com she cant email you for the reason her computer will not open up all plugs are in the only thing that she can get on there is the spider game which she plays but other than that nothing said i would ask you hope you dont mind . she seems to have lost all that was on there. barbie