What is malware?
Malware is a term that is used for malicious software that is designed to do damage or unwanted actions to a computer system. Examples of malware include the following:
How to remove malware such as a virus, spyware, or rogue security software?
Removing a computer virus or spyware can be difficult without the help of malicious software removal tools. Some computer viruses and other unwanted software reinstall themselves after the viruses and spyware are detected and removed. Fortunately, by updating the computer and by using malicious software removal tools, you can help permanently remove unwanted software.
How to remove a computer virus and other malicious software?
follow these steps in order.
Install the latest updates from Microsoft Update :
Note A computer virus may prevent you from accessing the Microsoft Update website to install the latest updates. We recommend that you set the Automatic Updates service to run automatically so that a computer is not missing any important updates.
Use the free Microsoft Safety Scanner
Microsoft offers a free online tool that scans and helps remove potential threats from your computer. To perform the scan, go to the Microsoft Safety Scanner website and download and run.
Use the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool helps remove specific, prevalent malicious software from computers that are running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows XP
Manually remove the rogue security software
If the rogue security software can’t be detected or removed by using Microsoft Safety Scanner or the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool,
try the following steps: If you suspect that your computer is infected with rogue security software that was not detected by using Microsoft security solutions, you can submit samples by using the Microsoft Malware Protection Center submission form. Install and run Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender. If you know and can do just go the control panel and remove and remove all the plugins and extension of your browser.
How to protect your computer against malware?
There are actions that you can take to help protect your computer against malware.
Here are some tips that can help protect you from downloading software that you don't want:
Only download programs from websites that you trust. If you're not sure whether to trust a program that you want to download, enter the name of the program into your favorite search engine to see whether anyone else has reported that it contains spyware.
Read all security warnings, license agreements, and privacy statements that are associated with any software that you download.
Never click "Agree" or "OK" to close a window that you suspect might be spyware. Instead, click the red "x" in the corner of the window or press Alt + F4 on your keyboard to close a window.
Be wary of popular "free" music and movie file-sharing programs, and make sure that you understand all the software packaged with those programs.
Use a standard user account instead of an administrator account. For more information, go to the Why use a standard account instead of an administrator account website.
Malware is a term that is used for malicious software that is designed to do damage or unwanted actions to a computer system. Examples of malware include the following:
- Viruses
- Worms
- Trojan horses
- Spyware
- Rogue security software
How to remove malware such as a virus, spyware, or rogue security software?
Removing a computer virus or spyware can be difficult without the help of malicious software removal tools. Some computer viruses and other unwanted software reinstall themselves after the viruses and spyware are detected and removed. Fortunately, by updating the computer and by using malicious software removal tools, you can help permanently remove unwanted software.
How to remove a computer virus and other malicious software?
follow these steps in order.
Install the latest updates from Microsoft Update :
Note A computer virus may prevent you from accessing the Microsoft Update website to install the latest updates. We recommend that you set the Automatic Updates service to run automatically so that a computer is not missing any important updates.
Use the free Microsoft Safety Scanner
Microsoft offers a free online tool that scans and helps remove potential threats from your computer. To perform the scan, go to the Microsoft Safety Scanner website and download and run.
Use the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool helps remove specific, prevalent malicious software from computers that are running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows XP
Manually remove the rogue security software
If the rogue security software can’t be detected or removed by using Microsoft Safety Scanner or the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool,
try the following steps: If you suspect that your computer is infected with rogue security software that was not detected by using Microsoft security solutions, you can submit samples by using the Microsoft Malware Protection Center submission form. Install and run Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender. If you know and can do just go the control panel and remove and remove all the plugins and extension of your browser.
How to protect your computer against malware?
There are actions that you can take to help protect your computer against malware.
- Turn on the firewall
- Keep your computer up to date
- Install Microsoft Security Essentials and keep it up to date
- Don’t be tricked into downloading malware
Here are some tips that can help protect you from downloading software that you don't want:
Only download programs from websites that you trust. If you're not sure whether to trust a program that you want to download, enter the name of the program into your favorite search engine to see whether anyone else has reported that it contains spyware.
Read all security warnings, license agreements, and privacy statements that are associated with any software that you download.
Never click "Agree" or "OK" to close a window that you suspect might be spyware. Instead, click the red "x" in the corner of the window or press Alt + F4 on your keyboard to close a window.
Be wary of popular "free" music and movie file-sharing programs, and make sure that you understand all the software packaged with those programs.
Use a standard user account instead of an administrator account. For more information, go to the Why use a standard account instead of an administrator account website.
