Anti Virus & Malware - One Methods which works.

Its seems everybody has a different view, on these two topics.

In which case, which is the method(s) which WORKS to remove virus and malware from a Windows System without the need to reinstalling windows (even then the infection could be within the personal files).

Thanks

Hi Music,

The method depends entirely on the type and severity of the infection. With very serious infections, a fix requires several different steps/methods using lots of different software. Unfortunately, the fact is there isn't a single method that will fix everything, with the exception of a format/install.

Some infections are relatively easy to remove using a single tool such as MSE, Norton, AVAST, Comodo, NOD (nominate your favorite anti-malware software here). Everyone has their favorite, so I have learn't to never ask "which is the best anti-malware software" : you will come away more confused than when you started.

Other infections might be more difficult, for example some rootkits. Some require a significant amount of work - visit a malware forum and watch people being helped to remove something very serious : its a long, arduous and time consuming exercise involving many steps with several tools that most of us have never even heard of.

Many people, including respected security experts here, advocate that the only way to be completely sure that an infection has been removed, is to wipe/format the disk and do a clean install. This is especially important in the case of the more severe infections that are known to steal and pass on personal information to other computers.

Regards,
Golden

A lot of cleanup revolves around how much damage was done and how trusting you are.

Personally, if I get hit with something (which I haven't in years), unless the cleanup process was documented and proven by an AV vendor or other tech site, I wouldn't ever trust that it was really gone without reinstalling Windows.

So, if I got hit with something and handfuls of things were broke, I would quickly reach the point where I wouldn't trust the box any longer and would focus efforts on rebuilding the system versus repairing it.

Golden said:

Many people, including respected security experts here, advocate that the only way to be completely sure that an infection has been removed, is to wipe/format the disk and do a clean install. This is especially important in the case of the more severe infections that are known to steal and pass on personal information to other computers.

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I agree 100% on this method, I can't honestly remember the last time I was infected but the only way I could ever have piece of mind using my computer again is by wiping the drive and then using a image of the OS created prior.

I can re-image my drive in less that 10 mins which is nothing for piece of mind

Maybe that's overkill but that's how I'd go about it.