How To Remove Malware Virus

By: Mister Bruce

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Computer threats are a daily fact of life, and any computer user who values their data or their privacy will want to know how to remove malware virus infections. Viruses can get into your system even with the protection of the best antivirus software available, and when they do, they can do an incredible amount of damage. Whether you've become a victim of some form of digital pestilence or wish to have a plan in place in case you do, knowing how to remove malware or virus infections is an absolutely essential part of your online survival toolkit.

You will need the following tools to get rid of malware virus infections:

  • Antivirus software installed on a separate, uninfected computer

  • An external hard drive enclosure

  1. Remove the infected hard drive from your computer. Turn off your computer, unscrew and unplug the infected hard drive from your computer.

  2. Place the drive in an external hard drive enclosure. It is important to identify whether the drive is an IDE/PATA or SATA drive, because this will determine how you interface it with an external enclosure. Follow the enclosure's instructions on how to place the drive in the external case.

  3. Prepare your secondary computer. Download and burn an anti-virus boot disk image to CD or DVD and use this to boot up the secondary computer. Once it is booted into this safe environment, then hook up your infected hard drive's enclosure (with the drive installed).

  4. Scan and disinfect the drive. Let the antivirus program scan and remove the malware virus from the system.

  5. Call a computer professional. If you suspect that this has not managed to remove the malware virus, you may need to call a computer technician to be sure.

Tips and warnings:

  • Be sure to test the uninfected secondary computer with an uninfected external drive first, to see if the antivirus program scans the drive before you can use it. Connecting an infected drive to a running Windows or Macintosh-based system can cause a malware virus to infect the machine.

  • A full scan and decontamination of an infected drive can take hours, or even days, depending on the size of the drive.

  • Don't try downloading an anti-virus boot disk unless you have an infected drive. It will become out of date over time, as it will not have the latest virus definitions available for antivirus programs on the Internet.

References:

TechSoup

Posted on: Apr. 07, 2010