Simple Steps to Remove Viruses (Windows)

Having your device infected by a virus is terrifying. It could be stealing files or passwords, breaking your device and spreading it to other devices it now has access to.

Luckily, there are some ways to remove viruses from our devices and regain our control of them. Below, I will cover my main tricks for cleansing devices of malware, spyware and other viruses.

Virus Scans

Virus scans are a very effective way to remove viruses. They work by having a database of known viruses and methods of finding them. They use this database to scan your device and find potential threats your system may have.

There are many brands of anti-virus. Windows has its own anti-virus pre-installed called Windows Defender. This anti-virus is effective and non-intrusive. If you would like extra protection, it may be worth having a third-party anti-virus.

I do not use third-party anti-virus on most of my devices as they can often be intrusive and are only as safe as the provider. However, I use Windows Defender and NordVPN Threat Protection, which are effective and non-intrusive.

Offline Virus Scans

Offline Virus Scans run outside of the standard Windows operating system. They scan for more intrusive threats that try to bypass the Windows operating system.

These viruses are often used to hijack your whole system. The scan I use is through Windows security. The scan takes 15ish minutes and restarts your computer without running Windows to run the scan.

SFC Scans

The system file checker goes through all the files on your system to search for file corruption and repairs it. This scan's main use is for system repair; however, I like to run it in case any system files are corrupted to create system vulnerabilities.

They can repair the methods I use to make Windows vulnerabilities for password resets. Because of this, I now use it often.

To run the scan, open Command Prompt in Administrator mode (CMD), Write this command and press enter;

sfc /scannow

Wait for completion, then close CMD.

DISM scans

The Disk Image System Manager helps manage and repair the disk image when it goes wrong. The disk image is a copy of everything on a computer. It does this by going through the main system files and repairing them.

To run the DISM, open Command Prompt in Administrator mode (CMD), Write this command and press enter;

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Wait for completion, then close CMD.

Firewall Reset

A Firewall protects a device from communicating with devices it shouldn't be communicating with. Windows has a Firewall called Windows Firewall (Creatively named).

Essentially, this firewall is a list of rules the device follows. These rules combine to block nasty connections and keep the good ones. To make their jobs easier, often when a device is compromised, the firewall will be changed to allow unwanted access to a system.

If a device is compromised, resetting the firewall to default settings can help block the threat. This will block all apps until you authorise them access to your network.

Windows Reset

The operating system is the brain of a computer. Some viruses go deep into a system and operating system, corrupting it beyond repair with new vulnerabilities almost impossible to find.

If this is the case, Windows must be reset. There are a couple of ways to do this:

1. You can reset Windows through Windows settings.

2. You can reset it through Windows Recovery.

3. You can reset it from a disk image.

This process can be complicated and usually results in uninstalling some programs (and sometimes data).

PC Auditing

PC Auditing is not for the faint of heart. Your computer has many background tasks, and the goal of an audit is to find unusual processes. PC auditing requires a lot of patience and knowledge of how your PC operates.

Because of the extensive scope of PC Auditing, this article will only list the audits I use for suspected infections.

-Task Manager Audits

-Event Viewer Audits

These audits can help find the security breach, work out how it happened, and identify preventative methods for the future.

These methods all work towards removing viruses and malicious activity on your device. Some of these viruses may make it past one scan, but using this variety of tools to repair the device can be highly effective.

If you are struggling with these or are worried that your device is infected, I offer services to run advanced procedures to clean your PC. Feel free to contact me for help.