How to Use McAfee's Avert Stinger Virus Removal Utility

McAfee's Avert Stinger Virus Removal Utility isn't a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but this stand-alone utility can detect and remove viruses in an infected system. Stinger is updated whenever there's a new threat receives a medium or higher classification. When required, a special version of Stinger is released to specifically target specific threats. The utility is easy to download and simple to use.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Download McAfee's Avert Stinger from the McAfee website download. When prompted save the file to a location on your computer, such as your Desktop or Program folder.

2. Open the Stinger folder and run Stinger.exe when the download is complete.

3. Use the Stinger interface. This interface will be displayed whenever you click on the Stinger icon. From here you can start and stop scans on your computer. The default scan drive is the C: drive, so if you have other drives that need to be scanned, you'll have to add these by clicking the Add or Browse buttons.

4. Click "List Viruses." This button on the Stinger interface will provide a list of viruses that the version you've downloaded will repair. Newer versions of Stinger can be downloaded when new threats have been added to the utility.

5. Scan for viruses. Hit the Scan button to start a new scan of your computer. By default, the McAfee Avert Stinger Virus Removal Utility will repair any infected files it finds.

Tips & Warnings

• Windows ME and XP users should disable their system restore prior to scanning with Stinger to ensure that the Windows System Restore doesn't have locks on any viruses which would prevent the utility from repairing these viruses.
• Stinger is not a substitute for regular anti-virus software. It's designed to look for specific threats, so it may not catch all viruses contained on your computer.
• Stinger is an unsupported application, and Avert provides no guarantees for the product.

Resources

• More info on the McAfee's Stinger utility.
• Get the Stinger.