METHOD TO REMOVE MALWARE MANUALLY

Trend Micro HijackThis is a free utility that generates an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer. HijackThis makes no separation between safe and unsafe settings in its scan results giving you the ability to selectively remove items from your machine. In addition to this scan and remove capability HijackThis comes with several tools useful in manually removing malware from a computer. Advanced users can use HijackThis to remove unwanted settings or files.


To analyze your computer, start HijackThis and run a scan. HijackThis will display a list of areas on your computer that might have been changed by spyware. Do not change any settings if you are unsure of what to do. It is important to use extreme caution when choosing to removing anything using HijackThis. HijackThis also comes with a process manager, HOSTS file editor, and alternate data stream scanner.


Usage
· 1. Download and install HijackThis.
· Once installed, open HijackThis by clicking Start > Program Files > HijackThis and click the button labeled “Do a system scan only”.
· Once the scan is complete, click the AnalyzeThis button. A web page will open containing helpful information regarding HijackThis.


Note: Once the scan is complete, the scan button will read “Save log”. You may save the log file to your PC. Once you select where you would like to save the file, it will open in your system’s default text editor. Typically this application is Notepad.


How to Generate a Startup List Log File
· Open HijackThis by clicking Start > Program Files > HijackThis > HijackThis.
· Click the “Open the Misc Tools section” button.
· Click the “Generate StartupList log” button and a warning box will appear.
· Once you click “Yes” to continue, the log will open in your system’s default text editor.


Common Log File Uses
Once you have generated a log you can analyze the results to identify what settings have been made by malware. The web offers a wealth of resources outside of TrendSecure that can help you interpret your log file results and help you manually clean your system of malware. A common practice for novice users is to generate a HijackThis log file and submit it one of the many forums devoted to HijackThis on the web. Experts at these forums provide information on which items are causing your problems and how to remove them safely from your computer.


IMPORTANT: HijackThis does not determine what is good or bad. Do not make any changes to your computer settings unless you are an expert computer user.