Malware
- Malware is programming or files that are developed for the purpose
of doing harm. Thus, malware includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan
horses, spyware, hijackers, and certain type of adware.
This article will focus on those malware that are considered viruses,
trojans, worms, and viruses, though this information can be used to
remove the other types of malware as well. We will not go into specific
details about any one particular infection, but rather provide a broad
overview of how these infections can be removed. For the most part
these instructions should allow you to remove a good deal of infections,
but there are some that need special steps to be removed and these
won't be covered under this tutorial.
Before we continue it is important to understand the generic malware
terms that you will be reading about.
Adware - A program that generates popups on your
computer or displays advertisements. It is important to
note that not all adware programs are necessarily considered malware.
There are many legitimate programs that are given for free that display
ads in their programs in order to generate revenue. As long as this
information is provided up front then they are generally not considered
malware.
Backdoor - A program that allows a remote user to
execute commands and tasks on your computer without your permission.
These types of programs are typically used to launch attacks on other
computers, distribute copyrighted software or media, or hack other
computers.
Dialler -
A program that typically dials a premium rate number that has per
minute charges over and above the typical call charge. These calls
are with the intent of gaining access to pornographic material.
Hijackers - A program that attempts to hijack certain
Internet functions like redirecting your start page to the hijacker's
own start page, redirecting search queries to a undesired search
engine, or replace search results from popular search engines with
their own information.
Spyware - A program that monitors your activity
or information on your computer and sends that information to a
remote computer without your knowledge.
Trojan - A program that has been designed to appear
innocent but has been intentionally designed to cause some malicious
activity or to provide a backdoor to your system.
Virus - A program that when run, has the ability
to self-replicate by infecting other programs and files on your
computer. These programs can have many effects ranging from wiping
your hard drive, displaying a joke in a small box, or doing nothing
at all except to replicate itself. These types of infections tend
to be localized to your computer and not have the ability to spread
to another computer on their own. The word virus has incorrectly
become a general term that encompasses trojans, worms, and viruses.
Worm - A program that when run, has the ability to spread to other
computers on its own using either mass-mailing techniques to email
addresses found on your computer or by using the Internet to infect
a remote computer using known security holes.

How these infections start
Just like any program, in order for the program to work, it must
be started. Malware programs are no different in this respect and
must be started in some fashion in order to do what they were designed
to do. For the most part these infections run by creating a configuration
entry in the Windows Registry in order to make these programs start
when your computer starts.
Unfortunately, though, in the Windows operating system there are
many different ways to make a program start which can make it difficult
for the average computer user to find manually. Luckily for us,
though, there are programs that allow us to cut through this confusion
and see the various programs that are automatically starting when
windows boots. The program we recommend for this, because its free
and detailed, is Autoruns from Sysinternals.
When you run this program it will list all the various programs
that start when your computer is booted into Windows. For the most
part, the majority of these programs are safe and should be left
alone unless you know what you are doing or know you do not need
them to run at startup.
At this point, you should download Autoruns and try it out. Just
run the Autoruns.exe and look at all the programs that start automatically.
Don't uncheck or delete anything at this point. Just examine the
information to see an overview of the amount of programs that are
starting automatically. When you feel comfortable with what you
are seeing, move on to the next section.
example for anti virus remove tool program
- Nod32
- Symantec internet Security
- Bit defender
- Trend Micro AntiVirus, Office Scan
- Kaspersky
- Ad-aware professional
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