Elamb Cybersecurity

Tag: remove malware

  • Remove Malware with Malwarebytes Free

    I am the resident computer guy.  So I get lots of requests to fix computers.  It is now so easy to remove most malware that I am really surprised people still ask me.  Here is how I remove malware on most systems.

    Step 1.  Download the Trial Version of malwarebytes

    You can get the trial version for 30-days.  It is great software so I encourage you to buy it - https://www.malwarebytes.com/  Download the free trial on your desktop or somewhere you can easily find it.

    Step 2.  Restart your system in “Safe Mode”

    Once malwarebytes is downloaded on your system, restart the computer and hit the “F8” key to over and over until you are given the option to boot the system in a different state. Select “Safe Mode”

    Step 3.  Install Malwarebytes

    Double click Malwarebytes, and follow the instructions.

    Step 4. Start Malwarebytes

    How long this takes depends on how much data Malwarebytes has to go through and how fast you system is.  Some things will take more than normal antimalware software.  Rootkits for example, are a little harder to get rid of.  For these, I have found it helpful to google the errors, warning banners and symptoms you are seeing to find someone else who had the same issue and fixed it.  Some are so bad you will have to search for an answer on a separate system.

    Good luck to you.

  • Malware Alarm

    A friend of mine wanted me to do some work on her computer, but when I fired up the computer all I saw was Malware Alarm.

    The computer was really slow and essentially un-usable. Malware alarm, I noticed, looks a lot like the scamware PS Guard and SpySheriff. These are applications that pretend to be anti-virus, anti-spam software that actually infect your system with spyware, mass-mailers, and backdoors into your system. This type of the malware is known as a trojan. As usual any attempts to shut this application down or minimized it are useless because even if you do manage to get anything else up, it will eat up so much system resources (CPU, memory, bandwidth) that the computer itself is close to useless. It you delete it in normal mode and miss a part of it, it will regenerate itself like a hydra.

    After looking at the Task Manager (which took 20 minutes or so), I decided to reboot in “safe mode”. Unless your system has something like a Rootkit (malware that replaces the main component of your operating system) Safe Mode only turns what is needed and nothing else. I used system restore to remove Malware Alarm. And Spybot Search and destroy/Adaware to remove everything else.

    System Restore should be used first because it is easiest and does require any additional software.

    1) Reboot in Safe mode: Restart system, hit F8, select “Safe Mode”

    2) Proceed in Safemode: When prompted (as in the picture above) Select “NO”

    3) Restore Wizard: Select a date prior to when you recieved the malware (system restore does not delete newly downloaded files, only new changes in the registry)