Personal Virus and Rogue Removal, Prevention, and Advice

Any person interested in computer security has probably heard of rogue programs (not to be confused with “rouge”). These programs pretend to have helpful uses- like antivirus/malware protection, or registry and file cleaning- but really have another purpose. A lot of them find supposed “malware” on your computer, but you have to give them your credit card details before they will “clean” those infections. I will show you how to remove some rogue programs and get your personal computer some real protection.

The process of removing a rogue will be a lot like removing any virus, as rogues are viruses in disguise. Before going into how to try and remove an infection, I must admit something here: if you have an infection, there is little chance of a full recovery. My process is to backup all my important documents, boot from the Windows installation CD you probably got with your computer (or if you bought Windows), then reformat and start all over. Yes, that's right. You will have to personalize your computer again, but at least you have a chance to get rid of extra clutter.

Think of this analogy (not perfect, but I think it can give the point). You all know that as you get older (this example is starting from about the age 25-30), your body gets weaker. A fall affects you more, and you generally slow down. (I hope you are not crying yet or anything.) That is similar to how a computer works. If you like new stuff, and click on buttons without paying attention, your PC will get slower over time, and things will not always work. There isn't much of a cure to this except to start over.

If you think you like the idea of starting over, but you consider yourself fairly computer illiterate, it is a good idea to either research reformatting or ask someone who is a “computerian” to help you.

Now, back to cleaning your computer from rogues (or malware in general). Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware (MBAM) is thought to be a good program to remove nasties from your computer, when already infected.

After downloading and installing MBAM, make sure to run an update (at the end of the installation, you have that option).

When you open MBAM, you see a page where you can run a quick scan or a full one. Select “Perform full scan,” then click “Scan.”

You will see a window asking what drive to scan. Probably, what is preselected is fine. Continue on, and the scan will start. It may take anywhere from five minutes to an hour. This is what you will see at the end of the scan (if it finds malware):

Click “OK,” then “Show Results.”

All the malware found is preselected, so you can review them then click “Remove Selected.”

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