Your computer suddenly becomes slow, taking several hours to load a file. You are witnessing unexpected behavior from the machine, you see blue screen frequently. You have bad sectors on your disks; you
are facing unusual error messages
Most probably your PC is under attack.
What the hell has happened to the Antivirus you installed? Well this is not an uncommon situation and yes this is a tough but you can’t do anything, if you panic. Here are some steps which you can execute in case you are in similar situation. Let’s save what you can!
Step 1: Disconnect the suspected system from internet.
Step 2: Virus detected but not cured
If antivirus program has detected
a virus but can’t fix it, update it immediately as daily new malware is introduced and so is its antivirus update. The new species of infection can be handled by the latest updated version of the antivirus. Update all the virus definitions for all the products that you will use to scan the infected drive.
Step 3: Remove from boot
If you know how to remove suspicious program from boot, go ahead else take expert help.
Step 4: Check if it is actually the virus
There are several bootable rescue CDs are also available in the market like Kaspersky Rescue CD, BitDefender Rescue CD etc. The CD will boot a specialized operating system on your computer, which will then scan the hard drive. You can also create one for you. Take the most recent version of a good anti-virus program on a computer that’s behaving normally; install it on a clean disk and write protect the diskette. Boot the suspect computer with a clean bootable diskette and run the anti-virus program from the newly created disk. If the program gives you the option to use heuristics, enable them only after the initial scan finds nothing and then scan again. (But don’t turn on heuristics during the first scan, because they will increase the probability of false alarms.).
Step 5: Try other antivirus
Different developers use different algorithms and ways to eradicate the malware and hence some other antivirus may suite your situation in a better way. You can also use Spybot Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and perform a full scan. Using multiple antiviruses will ensure the detection of maximum number of threats as even if a single virus stays there, it will download several new.
Step 6: If malware is very strong
If the virus is quite strong and has installed rootkits then the only option would be to wipe the disk completely and re-install the operating system from scratch.
You can also join some moderated internet newsgroups for help. But be aware of any false advices on non-moderated groups. Last but not the least if you are unaware of the technicalities behind the system; please contact your support centre. Spending service charges will be nothing in front of your valuable data’s cost, which can be protected if post attack process is followed properly. Also, always keep your antivirus updated to keep yourself safe and secure.
This guest article is written by Ilya Elbert who is an expert in computer repair service.
