The Best Free Virus Removal Tools for Windows
A word of caution first: when looking for a virus removal tool or an antivirus solution be sure to avoid rogue products sometimes referred to as ransomware which may make your problems even worse!
Given a plethora of viruses out in the wild, new malware and variants of existing viruses being constantly discovered a computer can become infected despite all the efforts, as, for instance, in the case of a 0-day attack, particularly if the virus self-propagates, that is a worm. Along the same lines, as makers of malicious software invent new attack vectors, such as relatively new drive-by infection - landing on an infested web page resulting in virus infection without the user clicking or taking any other action – a system’s AV defense may neither be adequate nor sufficient in preventing a computer virus infection.
Fact is that there are countless (tr)additional ways a virus infection can take place, for instance, due to outdated databases of anti-virus software, unaware users of Microsoft Windows installing software from untrustworthy sources, or by opening infected email attachments. The bottom line is that any signs, evidence or manifestation of a computer virus infection demand appropriate action, such as, deleting the virus and running a full system scan clean-up with antivirus software for example.
However, some specific viruses and some types of viruses (e.g. armored virus) can be very difficult to remove by standard means. In addition to that can a virus’ payload damage or undermine system stability, computer security and anti-virus software functionality so that it might be best considering the use of a virus removal tool. Cases when virus removal tools came in handy include dealing with acute virus threats and infections for which vendors of anti-virus software had not yet released a solution, using it as a patch, or, alternatively, fighting acute worm infections of epidemic scale, especially in a networked environment, and doing initial damage contamination just to name a few. Yet, to make use of virus/worm removal tools in general you have to know detail information of the virus or who caused the infection in general.
The best Tools if your Computer is Infected
AVG removal utilities are a number of virus or worm removal utilities for specific infections. Documentation could be improved a bit though. The date of the latest addition is missing.
Avira AntiVir Removal Tool is a virus and worm removal tool for relatively few specific infections. Reasonable documentation is kept to a minimum, and the date of the latest addition is missing.
BitDefender Free Virus Removal Tools
BitDefender Free Virus Removal Tools are a number of virus or worm removal tools for specific infections. A reasonable amount of useful documentation is available, but the date of the latest addition is missing.
ESET FREE Spyware Removal and Antivirus Tools
ESET FREE Spyware Removal and Antivirus Tools are a number of virus or worm removal tools for specific infections. Documentation would be an asset, and the date of the latest tool addition is missing, too.
F-Secure Malware Removal Tools
F-Secure’s malware removal tools are is a number of virus or worm removal tools for specific infections. Its documentation is kept to a minimum, and the date of the latest tool addition is missing.
Kaspersky Lab Virus Removal Tools
Kaspersky Lab Virus Removal Tools are a number of virus or worm removal tools for specific infections listed by date as well as alphabetically. Documentation would be an asset.
McAfee’s Stinger is a virus and worm removal application for a relatively large number of specific infections. Stinger has recently been updated; a fair amount of useful documentation is available.
Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
MSRT is a virus and worm removal tool for specific infections addressing memory resilient malware. Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool is well documented and updated at least monthly.
Panda QuickRemover Repair Utilities
Panda QuickRemover Repair Utilities are a number of reasonably documented virus or worm removal utilities for specific infections. The date of the latest addition is missing though, and users must register to download.
Symantec Removal Tools are number of reasonably documented virus or worm removal tools for specific infections which have recently been updated.
The Bottom Line
Virus software removal tools can come in handy as complements of anti-virus software, and at the time of this writing I would try Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool in combination with McAfee Avert Stinger should there be a need to turn to virus software removal tools but, of course, it is always worth checking all Top 10 Free Virus Removal Tools vendors for a more straight-forward solution.
Note that while these tools will remove viruses and malware, they will not stop your computer from becoming infected in the first place (and prevention is, of course, better than cure!). So, if you are not already running a real-time antivirus solution, be sure to check out Bright Hub’s article Top Antivirus Software for Windows 7 (and previous editions) covering for instance, the free top-rated Comodo Internet Security.
Reference
Author’s own opinion
