Virus Removal

If you searched for the question “How to remove a virus from your computer?,” you are in the right place. This article will describe to you what a computer virus is, options you have for removing the infection, as well as provide you with a brief tutorial to remove the malware.

What Is a Computer Virus?

The word ‘malware’ originates from the terms malicious and software, and that is what a computer virus isⴸa malicious piece of software. Often, when an infection enters a system, it can either replicate itself, such as with a ‘worm’ which will create a copy and then spread to other computers, or the virus can be a standalone piece of code. In all instances, however, malware infringes on a user’s privacy and it can also wreak havoc to the system as well as steal personal credentials like banking information and other sensitive information. So, how does a computer virus work and how do you get an infection on your system to begin with? Well, to begin with the latter, there are many different ways you might encounter a virus.

Visiting unsecure websites (always check for HTTPS, which means a secured connection), is one way. Downloading untrusted files can also lead to a malware infection. A third common way that a virus can enter a computer system is through email, and in particular, what is known as ‘phishing’. Phishing involves a malicious actor sending an email to a recipient, that at face value, looks to be authentic, but in reality, when the end user clicks on or opens the email or attachment in the email, the infection enters the system (SWGfL, n.d.).

A computer virus works by code execution, just as with any other type of program that is run on a system. Malware, once it becomes activated, will lead to devastation in more ways than one, and therefore, it is necessary to remain mindful and proactive in preventing a computer infection.

How Do I Know If I Have a Computer Virus?

There are varying symptoms that will appear if you have a computer virus. One of the first things that you will likely notice is a slowdown in performance. This means sluggishness, and even unresponsiveness, which can lead to complete freezing of the computer, requiring a hard reset. A hard reset will be needed because some viruses will prevent the Shutdown procedure from initializing (Hebert et al., 2022). Other issues you will notice include:

• The inability to delete programs.
• A sudden influx of pop-up ads, and ads running on pages that would normally not have ads.
• New browser toolbar plugins that appear in your browser.
• Emails sent by you in your ‘Sent’ folder, that were not emails sent by you.
• Sudden system crashing (Hebert et al., 2022).

Your antivirus program should also inform you if you have a virus, and the antivirus program will generally quarantine dangerous files to allow you to evaluate them prior to deletion. Windows Defender will also do the same.

If you do not have a separate paid subscription to an additional antivirus program or suite, and you want to use an additional program other than Windows’ integrated Windows Defender, there are a range of free programs for computer virus removal.

Remove Viruses for Free

You can opt to use Windows Defender to remove malware/viruses from your PC, or you can choose a freeware program to remove computer viruses.

Use Windows Defender

Windows Defender is a free integrated program utility that Windows offers with its Windows operating system. To use Windows Defender to scan and remove computer viruses, you can follow these steps:

1. Type in the Windows search bar, the following, without quotations: ‘Windows Security’, and when Windows Security populates in the list, click on it to open the program utility.
2. Select the option ‘Virus & threat protection,’ and then ‘Scan options’.
3. Select the option ‘Windows Defender Offline scan,’ followed by ‘Scan now’ (Microsoft, n.d.).

Please note that the Windows Defender scan will take approximately 15 minutes, followed by your computer restarting. Windows Defender will automatically quarantine and remove malware it finds. Ensure not to interrupt the scan during this time (Microsoft, n.d.).

Following the restart of your computer, you can now view the results of the scan. To do this, perform the following steps:

1. Type in the Windows search bar, the following, without quotations: ‘Windows Security’, and when Windows Security populates in the list, click on it to open the program utility.
2. Select the option ‘Virus & threat protection,’ and then ‘Protection history’.

Use Free Computer Virus Removal

If you prefer to use freeware for removing computer viruses, there are a range of programs available. You can browse the website Best Free Antivirus Software through Security.org to determine which computer virus removal program is best for you. Once you locate the program you want to use, simply download the program and double-click on the .exe file to install it on your computer.

The steps involved with the program you choose will vary, though the program will walk you through scanning, quarantining, and deleting malware. The virus removal software will notify you of any threats and will then provide recommendations to you on what you should do: this will include quarantining or deleting the threat (GCFGlobal.org, n.d.). Whichever program you choose, the commonality is that the program will use behavior-based scanning, on-demand scanning, will include a firewall, and offer 100% free virus detection (Vigderman & Turner, 2022).

Preventative and Proactive Steps

Prevention is always preferable to reaction, and this especially applies to computer safety. With that said, there are different ways to prevent computer viruses. Aside from the obvious, involving the installation of an antivirus program, and/or the use of Windows Defender (if using a separate virus removal program, Windows Defender will automatically turn off (Microsoft Support, n.d.-b)), there are some steps that you, as the end-user, can take when considering precautions. These steps include:

1. Do not open messages/attachments from emails you do not recognize. Many email services have filters in place that will inform you if a message is suspicious and could include malware or could be a phishing attack (i.e., emails that look authentic but will steal your credentials).
2. Install and use a pop-up blocker.
3. Observe Windows SmartScreen notifications that will inform you of potentially unsafe programs or executables downloaded.
4. Ensure that Windows is updated routinely. You can set Windows Update to automatically install updates, with an emphasis on security patches.
5. Verify that Windows’ User Account Control (UAC) is on. In the Windows search bar, type, without quotations, ‘uac’. Once the User Account Control program appears in the populated list, click on it. In the User Account Control program utility, click on ‘Change User Account Control settings’. Here, you can set different levels of security clearance/authorization. In short, any changes to Windows will require administrator-level permission (Microsoft Support, n.d.-b). UAC prevents unauthorized programs or changes from being made, whether they are legitimate or potentially unauthorized and/or dangerous.
6. Verify that ‘Tamper Protection’ is on, if you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11 (Microsoft Support, n.d.-b). To do this, type in the Windows search bar, without quotations, ‘Windows Security,’ and when the program populates in the list, click on it. Navigate to ‘Virus & threat protection settings,’ and then click on ‘Manage settings’. Here, verify that the ‘Tamper Protection’ toggle is switched to ‘On’ (Microsoft Support, n.d.-a).

When to Stop and Call Someone

The steps above resolve most infections. There are a few situations where continuing on your own tends to make things worse rather than better:

• The scan finds and removes something, but the same symptoms return after a restart. If your antivirus removes a threat but the exact same symptoms return immediately after a restart, you are not dealing with a standard virus. According to Baker (2023), of the cybersecurity research firm CrowdStrike, this behavior points to a low-level threat like a bootkit, which acts before the computer’s operating system even loads, essentially hiding outside the standard file system to reinstall itself every time you power on.
• You cannot open Windows Security, Task Manager, or your antivirus at all. Some malware disables these deliberately.
• You banked, shopped, or logged into a work account on the machine while it was infected.

That last one is less about the computer than about what the infection may already have sent somewhere. If any of these describe your situation, give us a call at (760) 760-4096 and we will tell you over the phone whether it is worth bringing in.

Sources

Baker, K. (2023, January 4). What is a bootkit? CrowdStrike. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/cybersecurity-101/malware/bootkits/

GCFGlobal.org. (n.d.). Internet safety: What to do if your computer gets a virus. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/internetsafety/what-to-do-if-your-computer-gets-a-virus/1/

Hebert, A., Hernandez, A., Perkins, R., & Puig, A. (2022, February 9). How to recognize, remove, and avoid malware. Consumer Advice. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-remove-avoid-malware

Microsoft. (n.d.). Remove malware from your Windows PC. Microsoft Support. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/remove-malware-from-your-windows-pc-360379ec-153b-4ab4-93ff-85be97789dbb

Microsoft Support (n.d.-a). Prevent changes to security settings with Tamper Protection. Retrieved May 14, 2023, from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/prevent-changes-to-security-settings-with-tamper-protection-6fd8d8ff-0e6d-4df5-b994-ea4df20ca969

Microsoft Support (n.d.-b). Protect my PC from viruses. Retrieved May 14, 2023, from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/protect-my-pc-from-viruses-b2025ed1-02d5-1e87-ba5f-71999008e026

SWGfL. (n.d.). What is a computer virus? Security. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://swgfl.org.uk/security/what-is-a-computer-virus/

Vigderman, A., & Turner, G. (2022, October 19). The best free antivirus software in 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://www.security.org/antivirus/best/free/