Removing Viruses From Your Computer

Any work presents risks of data loss so make sure you have a backup of your important data before proceeding with any of these suggestions.  If you need help to make sure your backup is performed properly, please call Fireytech at 918-258-3473 to schedule a on-site computer repair tulsa visit.

How do we approach an onsite computer repair of a machine with viruses and or malware?  It all depends on whether you still have control of the computer.  Some viruses will take over the machine to the point that you can no longer install programs, run virus scans, or even get into Windows at all.  If you do not have control of the computer any longer then you will have to run a pre-boot virus scanner or physically remove the hard drive and place it into another machine to gain enough control to run anti-virus scans.  If you have control (or once you move the drive to another machine) we use the following methods to remove viruses.

Scanning / Removing Viruses

Some of the easiest and most useful tools we use when we do a great on-site computer repair in Tulsa are free.  Two of our favorites are Malware Bytes and Super Antispyware.  Each of these can be quickly downloaded and installed.  They will pitch you their paid services and when you are installing them be sure to watch for the offers and de-select them.  Once the scanning programs are installed, run the full scans.  Most of the time I will run both programs together and just let the computer sit there and run them until they complete.  Full scans can take 2-4 hours to run depending on how large the hard drive is and how much data is on the hard drive.  Start the scans and go get lunch.  Check back on the software periodically to see if they have popped up any immediate removal messages.  Sometimes they will find a virus or something that is best removed before the entire scan finishes.  Once they complete, have the anti-virus program remove all the suggested items.  Then, reboot the computer and run the scans again.  I will run each program over and over again until it finally comes back with no results.  For some reason, even a full scan will not find everything the first time.  Think of it like peeling an onion: You remove the top layers and then the anti-virus software will see additional viruses or malware the next time around.  Super Anti Spyware locates tracking cookies and not all of these are bad.  Once you’ve ran the initial scan Super Anti Spyware will continue to find these but if that’s all it finds then you can consider your machine clean.  Sometimes these scans take a long time to run so an onsite computer repair tulsa may not be the most economical solution.

Resetting Web Browsers

Another important step is to open the web browsers you use (Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, etc.) and go into the settings.  You want to find the setting to reset the browser to defaults.  In most cases you want to leave personal data like favorites, bookmarks, passwords but reset everything else.  This will get rid of extensions / add-ons installed by malware programs that may re-direct your web activity even though you no longer have virus software installed on your computer.  This is a simple thing our excellent on-site computer repair professionals can do for you as well.

Removing Malware or Junk Programs

The final step we take is to go into your Windows programs list and look for any software that you don’t recognize.  Leave most programs by Microsoft, your pc manufacturer, your printer brand, etc.  You want to delete any programs that are “Driver Helpers” “Search Helpers”, “Web Optimizers”, or “Shopping Tools”.  Most of these are going to do nothing but slow down your user experience or could be actual malware programs themselves.

Testing

Once you have ran scans on your computer, you want to test it and see if it runs correctly.  One of the best ways is to open a web browser and try to browse to a few pages that are well-known, reputable sites (like www.Ford.com, www.chevy.com).  If you are able to browse to web pages without pop ups occurring or being re-directed to a site other than the one you clicked on that’s a good sign.  The other thing we do is to do a Google search for anti-virus programs and then actually click the search results for a program you know and trust like Norton, McAfee, Avast, etc.  If your computer is still infected when you try to click the link to go to the legitimate site, the virus or malware will re-direct you to a completely different site.  If you are beginning to pull your hair out and need to have someone else take a look at your pc, then call Fireytech so we can come help you with an onsite computer repair you with which you will be pleased.  It is always our pleasure to help customers with on-site computer repair Tulsa and surrounding suburbs.

Additional Scanning

If your computer still appears to be infected after running scans with Malware Bytes, Super Antispyware, and you have reset your web browsers, try some additional programs like Avast, Bitdefender, etc.  Each program has their own methods and virus databases so trying 2-3 different programs should do most of the work for you.  There are times when virus programs will hide and protect themselves so that a standard Windows based scanning tool can not remove them even if it sees them.  If you encounter a stubborn virus you are going to have to take a more aggressive approach.  One method is to remove the drive and scan it in another machine.  One alternative to that is to use a program that scans before Windows loads.  These are usually dos-based programs that load themselves before Windows loads to scan without the virus program being able to protect itself.

Fireytech is always happy to do an onsite computer repair for you so if all this seems too involved for you, schedule a time for us to perform a quick and quality on-site computer repair.

Spoofing

Another issue similar to a virus infection is called spoofing.  Fireytech was recently contacted by one of our on-site computer repair tulsa customers about suspicious emails their clients were receiving.  They checked their email outbox and there were no sent items matching what the clients were saying they had received.  In all likelihood, someone had discovered his password and had set up their email in a remote location and were sending messages to everyone in the clients address book.  We would gladly go do an onsite computer repair tulsa if needed but in this case the best solution was just for the client to change their password and improve the quality of their password.

To schedule an onsite computer repair tulsa with Fireytech, please call 918-258-3473 or visit our website at www.fireytech.com.  You can also visit our computer repair shop Tulsa in person for high quality computer repair Tulsa.  We are the best on-site computer repair tulsa service in Tulsa!