How to delete viruses from Windows PC without antivirus
If you have a computer equipped with a Windows operating system, this is the most suitable section for you, in which I will explain the steps to follow to eliminate viruses from your computer without the aid of an antivirus. As mentioned above, follow the suggested procedures very carefully, in order to avoid finding yourself with a further compromised operating system.
Create a restore point
For the reasons listed in the previous steps of this guide, the wisest move you can make before starting to "work" on the system is to create a restore point, that is, a “photo” relating to the status of the operating system files, to be used in the event of problems or freezes of the same. So, for starters, open the menu Home by clicking on the icon pennant located at the bottom left, type the phrase Create a restore point in the search bar and open the first proposed reont.
Once in the new window, click on the button Create ... located at the bottom, enter a name to correctly identify the restore point you are about to create (eg. Step before virus removal) and when done, click the button again Crea to start the file copy procedure. Then wait patiently for this to be completed.
If you want more information on how to create restore points in Windows, I recommend you read my guides on how to create Windows 10 restore point and how to create Windows 7 restore point, in which I told you in detail about the topic.
Analyze suspicious processes
Once the restore point has been created, it is time to start "operating" on the system, first of all identifying the file (or files) containing the active malware: therefore, first of all, start Activity management Windows (i.e. the application that displays the status of all active processes on the system) by pressing the key combination Ctrl + Shift + Esc on the keyboard; alternatively, you can get the same reont by right clicking on the taskbar Windows 10 or by pressing the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Canc, then select the item Activity management from the menu or screen displayed on the screen.
At this point, if necessary, click on the item More details to enter "advanced" mode and presses on the card Processes: very carefully, check the name of each running process for "strange" or unexpected names.
If there is any item that you are not convinced or that you are unable to associate with any of the active programs (both in the foreground and minimized or active in the area next to the system clock), write down its name and proceed with a quick Google search (eg. what is [ProcessName]), so as to immediately underste whether it is a process combined with a legitimate program or malware.
Locate and scan the potentially infected file
Has previous research confirmed your doubts? Then it is good to act as soon as possible and carry out a second check using the web service VirusTotal, which allows you to manually upload suspicious files and compare them with multiple databases at the same time, without installing anything on the system.
To proceed, from the Activity Management, right click on the name of the offending process and select the entry Open file path, to open a File Explorer window directly in the folder where the potential virus is “hidden”.
Once this is done, using the browser you prefer (eg. Chrome), connected to the VirusTotal website and drag the suspicious file from the File Explorer window to the appropriate box located on the website (or, if necessary, press the button Choose file to recall it via the File Explorer panel): after a few minutes, the site should reply with the reont of the complete scan performed on the uploaded file.
If the file is infected for a relatively large number of antimalware engines (at least 8-10 to consider the file a threat), it is good that you immediately run for cover and proceed with the manual removal of the same.
Eliminate the threat
The first thing you need to do, at this point, is to "deactivate" the threat immediately, so as to prevent it from replicating again or automatically protecting itself, thus preventing you from deleting it. To do this, log back into the tab Processes of the window Activity management, right-click on the name of the process linked to the threat, then select the entry End Task / End Process Tree from the proposed menu, confirming the will to proceed by pressing the button Yes.
At this point, you have two different ways of acting: if the belongs to a known program or that you have already seen in the list of programs on your computer, right click on the button Home and recati nella sezione Impostazioni> App, are these poisons are Windows 10, or go to Start> Control Panel> Programs and Features> Uninstall a program if you are using an older version of Windows.
Once this is done, identify the program that is dangerous or contains suspicious files, select it and finally click the button Uninstall, following the procedure shown on the screen to proceed with the removal. In case of problems, I invite you to conont my guide on how to uninstall a program, in which I have explained to you in detail how to proceed, in case the "steard" procedure is not successful.
If the previous solution is not for you, you can opt for the "manual" cancellation of the infected file: keep in mind, however, that this procedure could lead to system instability, not to mention that the malware in question may have already left traces and "replicated" itself on other files or in other locations.
If you are convinced to act anyway, open the path of the infected file in a window of File Explorer / Windows Explorer, right-click on the file identified as a threat e, while holding down the key Shift on the keyboard, click on the item Delete placed in the proposed menu, then confirms the will to proceed by pressing the button Yes. If necessary, repeat the steps for any other suspicious files or for the entire folder in which the threat appeared.
Always pay attention to what you delete, as deleting some files and folders could irreparably compromise the stability of the operating system: therefore, make sure to act only on folders that are not essential for the functioning of the operating system (such as the folder Programs or your folder User), carefully avoiding to intervene "by he" on fundamental folders for the operating system, such as the folder Windows and all its subfolders.
Disable auto-start malware
After deleting the suspicious file, I advise you to check if it is present among the programs that start automatically with the system e, if so, proceed with deleting the entry related to it.
To do this, call up the program once again Activity management (by pressing the keys Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard), brought to the tab Start e, if the infected program is present in the list of auto-starting files, right click on it and select the item Disable from the proposed menu. When you're done, as a precaution, restart your operating system.
Su Windows 7, however, the procedure to follow is slightly different: press the combination of keys on the keyboard Win + R to access the panel Run, type the comme msconfig in the text field provided and press the key Submit on the keyboard to start the system configuration manager. Once the program is open, go to the tab Start placed inside it, identify the name of the infected file in the list that appears on the screen, remove the checkmark corresponding to it and press the buttons OK e Restart to confirm the changes and restart the system.
Once the system reboot is complete, reboot Activity management to verify that the malware has actually been eradicated and carefully observe the functioning of the computer: if everything went well, the computer should be reactive again and not give rise to "strange" and unexpected events (such as the automatic opening of advertising windows, just to give you an example).
If, on the other he, the file is still there, if the problem recurs or, again, if the conditions of the operating system were further worsened, I recommend that you restore the restore point created previously (following the instructions I gave you in this guide) and try to fix the problem by installing an effective antimalware and following the steps outlined in my guide on how to clean your computer from viruses.
How to get rid of viruses from Mac without antivirus
You have to know that about MacOS it is quite difficult to fall victim to viruses and malware in general, especially if the protections built into the operating system have not been disabled.
If, however, you still encounter abnormal behavior of your Mac (slow navigation, strange warnings or the appearance of new programs on the Dock bar), it is always good to check: the first step to take is to check the processes currently running. execution on the system, using the appropriate Activity monitor even in macOS.
To call up the utility in question, click on the menu go placed in the top panel of the system, presses on the voice Utility e then on the icon Activity monitoring placed in the window that appears on the screen. If you wish, you can further refine your search using tabs CPU, Memory, Network and disc: in this way, you can check for processes that are occupying resources in a manifestly anomalous way. If you identify a suspicious process or one that is behaving strangely, check that it is really a threat by doing a quick Google search (eg. what is [ProcessName]).
Has research confirmed your doubts and is the one identified actually a virus? Then deactivate it immediately by returning to the window Activity monitoring, by clicking on the name of the offending process and then on the buttons (I) and Logout twice.
Once this is done, you just have to delete the program from the folder Applications Mac: to do this, go to the menu Go> Applications located in the top panel, identify the malicious program, right click on it and select the entry Move to the trash from the context menu that appears on the screen. At this point, completely empty the Mac's trash by right-clicking on the trash can icon located on the right side of the Dock bar and selecting the voice Empty the trash give the purpose menu.
Now that the threat is eliminated, I advise you to check the other components at risk of the system (such as the Safari browser) and to reactivate the security measures previously disabled on the Mac
