>U Mom Knows Best: How To Get Viruses And Malware Off Your Computer

Monday, February 24, 2014

How To Get Viruses And Malware Off Your Computer

Is your computer running slow?


    As a blogger, my computer is very important for my job. If my computer does not run well, I can not do my job.  I have had problems with my computer in the past with a computer virus and malware getting on my computer. Thankfully, I was able to use my husband's computer to do research on to solve the problem of fixing my computer. So this experience has increased my knowledge of how to keep my computer safe from bugs and viruses. This information in my go-to whenever my computer is running slow. When my husband complains of computer problems, I always tell him to run these programs. 




Could it be a Virus?

 This past week my father-in-law clicked on something that introduced a virus into his computer. He did not realize that he had problems until his email sent all his contacts an email saying he was stranded in Ukraine and needed money. That was when my husband and I asked to look at his computer. We found that his computer was infected with malware and it was a bad one. Thankfully because I had a virus back in December I knew what to do. This below information cleaned up his computer without having to pay for someone to fix it.

How do I fix my computer?

 Most people are afraid of fixing a virus on their computer as they don't know what to do or what websites can be trusted. I once made the mistake of downloading what I thought was a program to help my computer and it instead introduced more problems into my computer. I have found a trusted site called http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ to download software to get a virus, malware and other junk off your computer. This is the website that fixed my computer in December and where I turned to fix my father-in law's computer. I had to download 3 programs to fix our computers.

Three programs to run to get a virus/malware off your computer

Step 1 disable the bug 
The first thing to do to get a virus off the computer is to disable the bug. I used a program called rkill. Go to http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/ to download the free program. This program will terminate the virus so you can begin to clean your computer. Do not restart your computer after to program as that will turn the virus back on.

Step 2 remove the junk 
The next step is downloading a program called Junkware Removal Tool. Junkware Removal Tool is a security utility that searches for and removes common adware, toolbars, and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) from your computer.  A common tactic among freeware publishers is to offer their products for free, but bundle them with PUPs in order to earn revenue.  This tool will help you remove these types of programs. Go here http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/junkware-removal-tool/ to download this program.

Step 3 find and remove the viruses
The next step which will take the longest, depending on how much crap is on your computer, is called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. This program will scan all your files on your computer and find viruses and then delete them. The first time you run the program it will take a long time but your later weekly scans will take under an hour. Malware Anti-Malware is a great program to run weekly on your computer to keep it safe from problems. Go here http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/malwarebytes-anti-malware/ to download this program.

4. The last step is to restart your computer
The virus that was on my father-in-law's computer was a bad one and as when we went to download each program a new window opened up with a different fake program. So make sure you are downloading the correct program and if a different window with a program with a different name comes up just X it out. When we started the Rkill we had a program called RegClean Pro came up and my husband thought that was the program and started it but I quickly realized it was not and I Xed it out. I found a list of some fake virus remover software at wikipedia.org that you should check out.

  I hope my experience helps you to know how to fix your computer. Feel free to ask me questions and I will try my best to answer them. I can say with confidence my father-in-law's computer is fixed for now.

Computer still running slow?

 Another thing that could be making your computer run slow is temporary files. Most computers clear the temporary file folder but sometimes they do not get cleared. If you enjoy playing computer games, you might have temporary files that did not clear. My husband was complaining that his computer was slow and we did all of the above thinking that he had a virus. When the computer was still running slow, I did some searching for answers and discovered that his temporary file folder needed cleaning. That fixed his computer. To clean the temporary file folder, enter %temp% into your search bar on your taskbar. Then click on the %Temp % file folder and that will bring you to a list that you can delete the files by right clicking on them.



Update 
 Since introducing this information, I have downloaded a better virus protection program on my computer. My internet service provider provides my household with a Security program that you can purchase and this does a pretty good job of keeping my computer clean. I also installed a Smart Internet Firewall on my network for an added layer of protection. This Smart Firewall stops the connections to unsafe sites so my family can't go to bad sites on the internet.  When I look at the weekly report for my firewall, I am always amazed at the number of websites it has blocked. No system is 100% safe so if I do notice that my computer is running slow or not performing correctly, I will run all of the above programs. When my husband complains about his computer and askes me what the websites are that he needs to download, I just tell him to go to my website and search for Virus and that will lead him this post. You can also search for mom knows best virus and that will lead you to this post. I hope you never have to deal with a virus on your computer but if you do, these steps will take care of it. 


Has your computer ever had a virus?

27 comments:

Buzz4Mommies said...

Great post! I think this will help lots of people for your to share your experience!!

Rose Powell said...

I HATE removing viruses from the computer, most issues are clicked or downloaded by my kids, to resolve this, they're use on my BLOGGING computer has been limited to work only, of course now they all have their own laptops, but still like to find themselves on mine from time to time, removing viruses are so terribly time consuming if they're even removable that easily. Nice post.

Jamie said...

Some of those are great. I use Malwarebytes all the time. CCleaner is still my favorite, though for cleaning things up.

Jessica said...

Glad you were able to figure it out. My husband is a bit of a techie, so I get his help if this happens.

Robin Wilson said...

Wow! Thank goodness he had you! I would have no idea what to do if that happened to my computer. Especially the part where fake programs pop up! WTH? That's crazy serious! Makes me afraid to click on anything!

Ida Mae West-Simone a.k.a. "That Fun Reading Teacher" said...

Tara, thank you so much for this post. I wouldn't have the first clue how to do any of this and I will share and pin and reshare this valuable info so that there is no way I can lose it! You are a tech ROCK STAR.

Lisa said...

Thank For The Great Tops I'm Always Getting Something On My Computer This Will Help Out ALOT Next Time It Happens!!

Yona Williams said...

This is a helpful post. You know what I've found lately...I feel people talk less and less about computer viruses and malware - even though they are still out there. It's like it isn't a huge threat like before, because years ago, I remember everywhere you turned...it was scary to click on ANYTHING. One thing I learned from this post is that there are fake virus removers out there...THAT is scary to me. I think I rely a lot on my Norton virus protection, but things can slip through the crack. I probably should run scans more often too.

Melissa said...

This is so nice to know! Thank you so much for thoroughly explaining everything too.

Mom Knows Best said...

I use this at least once a month on my father in laws computer. He tends to download things that contain malware and viruses.

Shubh said...

Good list of tools. I need to update my anti-virus. One of my laptop crashed due to malware as I missed to update things on time.

Joan said...

This is great always nice to have a backup when everything decides to go wrong I will be checking this site out thank you.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Oh man, I HATE when I get viruses. My kids get them too since they tend to download everything and I'm like, "Stop that!" So I'll be saving this post.

Passion Piece said...

These are some really great tips! Hope they will help me keep my laptop safe from viruses. :)

GiGi Eats said...

No viruses here thanks to Mac! My computer has been pretty clean! KNOCK ON WOOD!

Anonymous said...

Oh absolutely nothing worse than when your computer catches a bug. I had that happen to a desktop once and it didn’t bother me until I took it to the store and they weren’t able to extract the pictures off the computer that I didn’t get a chance to sort and upload. Lost tons of memories and at that point have been absolutely cautious about ensuring my malware and antivirus software is always up-to-date. Great insight!

Hannah Marie said...

This is absolutely helpful in many ways. It is so important to get into bottom of viruses. I have learned a lot from here honestly.

Why Girls Are Weird said...

Ugh viruses are the worst! Luckily my husband knows a lot about computers so I always yell for him if something happens!

La Historiadora said...

Thank you for the recommendations on anti-virus software, especially the link from Wikipedia talking about fake software programs to be aware of. I appreciate that you went through the steps for us, very helpful.

aditi said...

Much needed post as this is everybody's nightmare. Thanks for listing the clear steps! Makes it seem doable.

Sandra said...

Great tips!! Thinking about it, I might have a lot of these malwares lurking in myPC without me knowing.. I better make a check right now!

Alexandra Cook said...

This is some really great information. My husband does this kind of stuff for a living.

Candace said...

Good advise! I've had my Macbook for a long time now. I haven't checked it or installed any softwares yet. I need to check it and make sure that everything is running just fine.

XO
Candace
http://www.thebeautybeau.com

Anonymous said...

Ugh it is so precarious out here in the blogosphere... I've gone to many other people's blogs which have nearly infected my computer. Thankfully my virus detector caught the perps but STILL... it's scary! I back everything up CONSTANTLY.

Mom Knows Best said...

I to have a strong firewall and it blocks sites that may be infected.

Mom Knows Best said...

The ironic thing is these fake software maybe in ads on sites that have the legit advice for viruses.

Enriqueta E. Lemoine said...

I used to be a PC girl and it was always something. Eight years ago I switched to Apple. Macs are worth every penny!

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