How to Remove a Virus from Your Computer

Posted on February 24th, 2009 by Elaine

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Having a virus like trojan, malware or worm, in your computer system can cause major disruptions and cost you a lot of money, especially if it destroys important programs and lead to hardware failure. It’s better to get rid of the culprit before it wrecks havoc on your system. Here’s how to remove a virus from your computer.

What You’ll Need

Anti-virus program
Command prompt syntax knowledge

Using An Anti-Virus Program

No computer should be without a good and reliable anti-virus protection program. This is the easiest, but most effective way of taking out a virus from your PC.

Find and download an anti-virus protection program. Choose one which suits your system requirements. Many programs are free, like AVG Anti Virus Free Edition, but there are some that require you to pay a fee before they can be downloaded. The costs of these are a small price to pay compared to what you’ll spend if viruses invade your computer, though.
Keep your anti-virus setting on auto update, so you’ll always have the latest definitions and version. Keep your operating system up to date too, with the latest security patches and service packs.
Schedule daily scans to ensure that you don’t have any virus.
When the anti-virus program detects a threat, heal or delete it. In a few seconds, it should be able to remove the virus. If not, you can move the virus to a vault and keep it quarantined.
If the program detects a malicious software, check online if there are necessary steps you need to take. (Tips on how to get rid of malware)

The Command Prompt Syntax Tactic

Sometimes, anti-virus take a long time to remove the infection. If you don’t want to wait too long, here’s a simple alternative you can try. You don’t need special programming skills for this.

Make a back up of your files. Put them on another partition apart from the Windows drive or in a removable storage.
Run the command prompt. You can do this either by Clicking on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt, or simply by pressing Windows + R on your keyboard, then typing “CMD”.
Go to the folder where the virus is located. Most viruses reside either on the Windows system folder or the Windows temporary folder. You can check drives and partitions for these viruses, such as by typing cd e:\virus. In this example, the virus is on a portable USB drive.
You’ll have an easier time if the virus is visible. Remove the virus attributes, which are either system file, read only, archive or hidden file.
Delete it by typing “del virus.vbs”. In this example virus.vbs is the name of the virus.

Virus Preventive Tips

Keep your anti-virus up to date all the time.
Never use a removable storage device (USB or CDs) without scanning them with your anti-virus program first.
Install an Internet firewall to avoid Internet threats.
Don’t open e-mail attachments from anonymous senders.
Be wary when visiting unknown or suspicious sites.

A virus might not seem like a big deal at first, but when it starts destroying your programs and files, it’ll be something you’ll regret. When you get a virus alert, just try the tactics above, and protect your computer the right way.