How to Remove a Virus from a Computer

Level of difficulty: Easy

Because online transactions have become very common these days, hackers and intruders have used these transactions to perform malicious activities in a user’s computer. A computer can be infected with viruses when files are downloaded from unsecured sources. Viruses can also be transmitted through portable hard disks and flash drives. It is important to get rid of the virus as soon as possible to avoid loss of data and corruption of files on the computer.

Materials Needed:
- Anti-virus software
- Internet connection (optional)
Step 1
Use an anti-virus software application to run a system scan of your entire computer. If you do not have an anti-virus software application installed on your computer, download one from the Internet. Install the software and run a system scan.
Step 2
The full system scan can take a few minutes to an hour to finish. Once the anti-virus software has finished scanning your system, a report will be displayed on your desktop.
Step 3
Determine the virus infecting your computer. The virus can simply be removed from your computer by clicking on the 'Delete' button on the options provided by the anti-virus software.
Step 4
Sometimes, the anti-virus software is not capable of removing the virus from the computer. When this happens, take note of the name of the virus infecting your computer. Use the Internet and search for the name of the virus. Check forums and guides that provide instructions on how to manually remove the virus from the computer.
Step 5
Be sure to follow the instructions carefully to remove the virus from the computer. The instructions may ask you to delete some files and processes from the computer. Make sure that you are deleting the correct file or process. You do not want to delete an important file or process from your computer.
Step 6
After doing all the necessary actions to remove the virus from the computer, launch your anti-virus software, and perform another system scan to make sure that the virus has been completely removed from the computer.
Step 7
Wait for the system scan to finish. If the virus has been removed, the anti-virus software should not detect any threats on the system.
Step 8
Make sure that your anti-virus software is always updated. It is also advisable to perform a system scan whenever you open your computer. You can also set an option on the anti-virus software to perform automatic system scans. This is to make sure that no other viruses and threats infect your computer.