Good Removal Programs

Learn about Computer Security Virus/Malware Removal Assistance
1

The below are good scanners that should not interfere with your current AV or Firewall, these are here so it is easy to reference to products and have a central database of links to removal tools. I have used most of these at some point.

All products below are from varying companies, so check each individual site for the author(s) and company that owns the product(s)/service(s). Just to point out the obvious 88) .

All scans are best run in safe-mode, how too boot into safe mode: PC Hell: How to Start Windows in Safe Mode

Anti-spyware:

BOClean does a scan on startup of the computer…

  1. BOClean - http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html
  2. a-squared antispyware - http://www.emsisoft.it/it/software/download/
    2.- Spybot Search and Destory - Products - Spybot Anti-Malware and Antivirus : Spybot Anti-Malware and Antivirus
    3.{RT}- AVG - antispyware - http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5
    4.- SUPERAntispyware - Download SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
    5 - Ad-Aware SE - http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html
    6.{RT}{HP}- Spyware Terminator - http://www.spywareterminator.com/dnl/landing.aspx
    7.{RT}- Spyware Doctor - Official Site | Norton™ - Antivirus & Anti-Malware Software
    8 {RT}- Spyware Sweeper - http://www.webroot.com/consumer/downloads/
    9 {RT}- * Microsoft Windows Defender - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

KEY

{RT} = Real-time scanning capabilities: Can be disabled on install/ just before the reboot to finish the install. It can also be disabled any time after that too.

{HP} = HIPS included: May have conflicts with other HIPS, Firewall, Antivirus products. Can be disabled on first install (As far as i know, please confirm someone (-: )

No-install Anti virus scanners:

  1. KAV engine scanner - http://www.mwti.net/products/mwav/mwav.asp

  2. Dr.Web CureIt! - http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/
    {Credit to Forum Member “Rednose” for finding this one}

Online antivirus scanners -

Symantec - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym
Bitdefender - http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
Trend Micro (Also has online spyware scan) - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
CA Etrust Anti Virus Scanner - http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
F-Secure Online Scanner - http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
{Credit to Forum Member “Rednose” for finding the CA and F-Secure scanners}

Handful scanners (Detect remove from ~3 to ~70 viruses/trojans/worms/rootkits)

  1. stinger - http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
  2. CWSSchredder - Antivirus.com - Cybersecurity, Data Leaks & Scams, How-Tos and Product Reviews
  3. *Microsoft Malicious software Removal Tool - http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Single file scanners (These give the best indication that a file is infected as you can get):

1.Jotti - http://virusscan.jotti.org/
{Credit to Forum Member “user4” for finding this one}

  1. Virus Total (Another scanner more scanners in total) - http://www.virustotal.com/en/indexf.html

Some of the anti virus engines used may be a little old, but that changes over time as they update them.

Program Uninstallers (Helps uninstall programs that did not uninstall themselves properly).

  1. Smarty Uninstaller 2006 - http://www.winnertweak.com/
    {Credit to Forum Member “Anderow” for finding this one}

Information scanners (These do not remove anything but give people trying to help you useful information):

  1. Bazooka scanner - Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download

  2. Trend Micro “Hijackthis” (This can remove things, but is meant as a diagnoses tool for starters) - http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/threat_analytics/hijackthis.php?page=download

*These require Genuine windows, i personally don’t think the WGA program is a good idea. So here are alternative places to download some of them (They may need WGA, but to date i am not aware of it): Windows – Windows Essential Updates - Software Patch

Suggested OS settings

  1. Run as a limited user for general web surfing.

Problem programs with Limited user account:

Nero - (PROBLEM - will not load driver that interacts with the burner) SOLUTION - on a shortcut to nero, right click the shortcut and click “run as”, select an account that has administrative privileges and put in the password and press enter.

Microsoft Outlook 2002 (Mail would not transfer from the administrator account to the limited account, SOLUTION - Move the .pst mail file into a dedicated folder on ROOT Drive and set Microsoft outlook to use that .pst file for the mail database)

Sites that list good instructions and software :

PC Cleanup - Lunarsoft Wiki (Credit to Tarun for this link)

I have not included COMODO Antivirus yet because it is still in beta. I hope that COMODO for now while their product is in beta does not mind me linking to other Companies products. Once COMODO is finally release (:CLP) , i will remove the other links to anti virus vendors, or keep them as a side note. For the purposes of cleaning users computers i hope this is appropriate…

2

Thanks for this Rotty.
Do you want me to lock this thread?

3

I will go ahead and make it sticky, as for locking, if we do lock it later on (with Rotty’s permission of course) we should delete all posts except the first.

4

I reckon leaving it open for a bit to see if anyone knows any more services that could be added.

5

Spybot is really bad. Here is the review: The Latest News in Technology | PCMag

You forgot Ad-Aware, Spyware Doctor, and Spy Sweeper 5.2. They’re all good, but Spyware Doctor is the best(yes it is the best).

6

Have an issue with that comment about Spybot Search and destroy. The provided link to a story written in June 2005 does not claim that it “is really bad” at all.

If used in context it is a very useful tool and is one of a few programs I use to clean up systems after things have gotten out of hand, mainly due to users agreeing to every popup download and installing inappropriate software.

Any PC user has to have a range of protection that is right for them, given the environment the system is in. The above list is a list of options for most users, some are preventative and others are diagnostic and none will cause any issues to anything but virus’s and/or scumware.

Having got that of my chest - I think it is time to delete all posts after the first one and lock the thread. Suggestions and comments can be made elsewhere.

Barry

7

Spybot is reliable, stable and useful.

It will not mess up your system to such a state that it will not boot. (I have had that before).

Unless something i have listed has a hidden trojan or spyware/privacy risk (I know they all don’t) then please tell me.

I did add Ad-Aware, but i did not add spyware sweeper or spyware docter of both which i have used before, i will add the trials as they can still be useful in cleaning up a computer

Ok, locking this thread is an idea. But how do i update the list or do mods do that?

8

Windows Defender is another one. But do you really need to say a negative comment on ST? It really is a good program, and these are suggestions not … Oh this one is good, this one is good, this ones meh, and this one I would say bottom of the list.

9

If you want to do an on-line virus scan, you might just as well do it the best way. :wink:
This site combines fifteen different scanners.

http://virusscan.jotti.org/

10

It is because REAL-TIME programs have a much greater ability to interfere and possibly blue-screen a users computer because of in-compatibilities with the users software. Usually a program that starts when the OS starts is allot harder to get rid of. Even if one of the above does something adverse at least it only happens when you voluntarily run the program.

Usually and i say Usually a program that creates registry entires, files etc in it’s own space will not crash or inhibit other programs. Because Spyware Terminator uses HIPS and has a real-time scanner it is obvious that it hooks the kernel and other programs a fair bit and has it’s own device driver. This means greater room for problems when a user is already having problems with viruses/spyware/trojans.

Spyware terminator used to be a spyware/adware spreader, i do not fully trust the company and i do not think i should have added it at all to be absolutely honest.

In saying that, it is also meant to be very effective.

Again the admins are absolutely welcome to edit out that bit, but that does not change my opinion, history or the technological facts.

11

Thankyou for the two suggestions they have been added.

12

A useful program if you need to uninstall something thoroughly prior to installing new versions etc.
I have used this to successfully remove CAVS 1.1 beta on a problem pc and also a recurring corrupt Firefox installation.

Great for beta testers.

The Smarty Uninstaller 2006 is free for a 15 day trial period:

:SMLR

13

I did a google search for that domain and cannot find any info. It would be good to get info from a thread of users asking about the program to see what some users report and any official tests/documents about it.

I like information even though it MAY not be “Official” just for certainty.

I don’t doubt that you have found it useful, and i am not accusing you of “selling” a product etc, i just like multiple users opinions, this is very true for software i have never heard of and can bring out problems for certain OS/Software configurations.

I want to put the software through the same research that i would put a piece of software through for my own use before recommending it to other people.

14

You are correct Rotty, I am a little overenthusiastic about the uninstaller as it helped quickly solve uninstallation problems for CAVS 1.1 on several computers and solved some other problems I had been trying to fix for weeks. There are limited reviews available and the opinions are mixed so far:

http://www.download.com/Smarty-Uninstaller-2006-Pro/3640-2096_4-10547090.html

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Smarty_Uninstaller_2006_Pro/1137797420/1

I shall try to moderate my enthusiasm in future.

(:WIN)

15

Well those sources seem to think it is ok as well, so I’ll add it.

Thankyou for the addition.

16

The ZSoft Uninstaller suggested by Andyman35 also seems to work well:

https://forums.comodo.com/index.php/topic,4755.0.html

:SMLR

17

Check out this http://lunarsoft.net/wiki/PC_Maintenance guide found on http://lunarsoft.net/.

18

Like Anderow said ZSoft Uninstaller it’s a very good application to uninstall programs.

And it’s freeware…

If the users had been installed CAV v.1 with this program (and their analyze feature) maybe nobody hadn’t been problems with the uninstall…

I advise to use ZSoft Uninstaller. You can download HERE.

19

I use SpywareTerminator and i think its the best free antispyware you can get rigth now with real-time-protection. and it does a really great job removing malware, i have seen a HiJackThis log before and efter SpywareTerminator did remove the malware.

It also found some malware that AVG antispyware didnt remove 100%, and avg didnt find when i scanned igain. but spywareterminator found what avg didnt remove 100%, and removed it…

I still wont use SpywareTerminator as the “main scanner” i use AVG and SuperAntiSpyware, and if they find anything (what they havent done yet on my computer) i will scan with spywareterminator just to see if it would find it to (because i dont really know how good it is to detect malware yet, and hey a scan with spywareterminator only takes 16min)

But i still agree i dont trust the company “Crawler” 100% yet, and probably never will because of the past…

but when the new comodo firewall is released and gets the word “beta” removed then it will probably replace ST’s “HIPS”. then i just need a free antispyware with real-time-protection then i will probably remove ST from my computer… but there isnt any yet (and no i wont install WD i have heard it slows down the computer, and have a very low detection rate)

So if Comodo could make a standalone antispywarescanner it would be cool. Because right now i dont want to replace Antivir antivirus.

20

When code is executed under Administrator privileged accounts, you need to be able to trust the person/people that wrote the program 100%. Also previous actions tend to indicate future actions.

Based on the above, the company “crawler” will most likely get rid of the bad reputation (People forget). And who knows, maybe they will be better at fighting spyware/adware since they have created it in the past… (:TNG)