Windows Malware Removal
FreeGeek does not remove malware (eg. spyware, viruses, worms) from Windows computers. The only thing we can do is give you this sheet of tips for getting started.
There are some free options. However, please NOTE that removing malware CAN BE RISKY. There is a real possibility that you could lose your one-of-a-kind photos, documents, and music. If you aren't confident about your skills, or you want to avoid any risk, it may be best to pay a computer service to remove the spyware for you.
Generally, your options are:
- run an anti-malware utility yourself (free, but risky, requires moderate expertise)
- reinstall Windows (free if you have a Windows install disk, only risky insofar as you need to make sure you backup all off your important files first, doesn't require very much expertise. After you reinstall Windows you also have to re-install all your applications.)
- pay a computer service to remove it (costs some money, low risk, requires no expertise)
Run an anti-malware utility yourself
Before attempting to fix malware infections, be sure to back up all your personal files! Make sure you have a good copy of all your photos, documents, music, and other personal files written to an external medium (like a DVD, CD, USB thumb drive, or another computer) before starting.
Only use anti-malware software written by well-known authors. There are unfortunately many "anti-malware" programs that simply install more malware.
All of these have free versions available:
- Microsoft Security Essentials (microsoft.com/security_essentials)
- Ad-Aware (lavasoft.com)
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (malwarebytes.org)
- Spybot Search & Destroy (safer-networking.org)
- Avast (avast.com/free-antivirus-download)
- Avira (free-av.de)
- AVG (free.avg.com)
Just download one of the above products, install it, and run it to identify and remove infections. Since these products all have different capabilities and there are many different kinds of malware out there, we recommend installing and running more than one product.
Reinstall Windows
If your computer has a particularly bad infection, this can often be the best solution. If you don't have any photos/music/documents that you care about on your computer, this is an especially good solution.
If you do have photos/music/documents that you care about, you have to be careful that you copy these files to another computer before you reinstall.
You also need to make sure you have an original Windows install CD (pictured), or a "recovery partition" built into your computer.
After you reinstall Windows, you'll have to reinstall all applications you want to keep. In most cases, this means you need the install CD's for these applications.
Pay a computer service to remove it
This is the least risky option, but it also costs money.
- TODO: list Sam
- Alex Hanson, 773-793-0961
- TODO: how do we decide who to recommend? There are a TON of spyware-removal places nearby.
- only list ones that promise to send us broken computers / volunteers, in exchange for sending referral business?
- call each one once, find out their prices, and ask a few questions to see if they're reliable?
- don't do ANY work up-front, just remove any that we hear complaints about?
Avoid malware altogether
If you replace Windows with Linux, you won't have to deal with malware ever again. Also, FreeGeek would be happy to help you install Linux. (Sorry, we don't support Windows)
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