As you already know  viruses, spyware and other malicious software on your computer is a bad thing.  These programs often go undetected because your computer may be running perfectly fine.  If your computer is running good why would you need to get it looked at?  I will share with you why. Your computer has a lot of private information you wouldn’t want a stranger looking at.  Identity theft is a big issue these day and most of the cases happen because of computer systems.  Recently, I was at a friend’s house and I knew they hadn’t cleaned up their computer since they bought the thing so I sat down to do some routine maintenance.  After cleaning up their system I found over 836 infections lurking within their computer.  Each and every one was potentially stealing their information.  The Entire family uses that computer.  They use it like everybody else; they do their online banking and they store their pictures and financial documents on it.  With the computer running fine, who knew there were more than 836 infections spying on their activities?  Scheduling a routine computer clean up with a technician is the best thing you can do to ensure you are protected from identity theft  and from others selling your family photos on the internet.  When you have a technician come out to take a look at your computer, I’m sure they will point out to you many vulnerabilities in your security.  That’s what they’re there for after all, keeping your computers running and secure.

Warning: these instructions are for experienced users. For virus removal help, contact Exact Repair. Exact Repair assumes no responsibility for what you do with your computer. Always back up your data first. If you have any doubts, seek the services of a professional.

Few things are as annoying as a virus that keeps re-infecting your system even after you’ve removed it with an antivirus scan. If a virus is haunting your system, don’t worry. There are several things you can try to get rid of that intruder.

Firstly, cover the basics. Make sure your antivirus program is valid, running and updated with the latest virus definitions. You can always check your antivirus’ manual or help file if you’re not sure how this works.

Next comes the difficult part—figuring out why the virus keeps recurring despite your best efforts to clean it. In all likelihood, it’s because the virus has stored a copy of itself somewhere outside of your antivirus program’s reach. If true, you’ll have to clean the virus manually. Here are some things you can do to take back your computer.

Clean out your Browser Temp files and Trash bin

These are certainly favorite hiding spots for infected files, so try emptying out their contents. Right click on the Recycle bin icon and hit Empty Recycle bin. For your temp files:

1. Open the browser you use and select Tools.
2. Under Tools, look for and click Delete Browsing Data or Delete Browsing History.
3. Try running another scan to see if the virus is still there.

Check your removable media devices

You may not know it, but you probably have a copy of the virus in your USB or external hard drive. This can happen if you lend out your media devices to other users.

If your antivirus is capable of it, do a scan on your removable media devices and clear out any infected files. If you cannot do this, you will need to clean them manually:

1. Attach your media device to your computer.
2. Click Start.
3. In the Run box, enter the command cmd.
4. Go to the media device by entering its drive letter with a colon (ex. F:)
5. Type attrib -r -a -s -h and hit Enter. This command will reveal all hidden files in your drive.
6. Look for any suspicious files, particularly ones that have the .exe extension. Delete these files by typing del (complete filename).

Delete your System Restore points

Windows creates system restore points as a failsafe measure; you can always return to a restore point if you want to rollback any changes to your computer’s software. However, a virus can abuse this feature by hiding itself in your system restore points. From there, it can re-infect your computer after you do an antivirus scan.

By deleting your system restore points, you can remove all copies of the virus. However, you should try other means before doing this option.

1. Click Start.
2. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
3. (For Win XP) Under System Properties, click System Restore.

(For Vista and Win 7) Click on System Protection, then Configure.

1. Select Turn off System Restore, or click the Delete button (whichever is available).
2. Click Apply, then confirm your decision if prompted.
3. (Win XP) Turn System Restore back on.
4. Once again, run a check to see if the virus recurs.

If after all these steps you find you still have a problem, don’t fret. There’s always something more you can do. Do a search on the name of the virus and see if there are any special instructions for removing it. If you feel you need more help, Exact Repair is ready to provide expert Michigan virus removal assistance—give us a call at 248-667-8707.