How to Repair an Infected Laptop

Laptops are great for portable computing on the go. Combined with the prevalence of free and public Wi-Fi, you can now be connected no matter where you are. The problem with this is it leaves your laptop open to infection by viruses and other malicious software. Downloading a virus to your computer can cause damage to your system, but catching it in time and treating it is the best way to repair your infected laptop.

Things You'll Need

• Antivirus software
• Internet connection
• Firewall software

Instructions

How to Repair an Infected Laptop

1. Get your infected laptop off any type of network it is on as soon as possible. This will keep it from getting further infected and from infecting others. If your laptop has built-in wireless, turn this feature off.

2. Run any antivirus software that is already installed on your system. Do this until the antivirus program reports that your system is clean.

3. If you don't have antivirus software on your laptop, purchase a software package or borrow one. Or, using a different computer, download one of the many antivirus software packages available on the Internet, such as AVG Anti-Virus, copy it to a disk, and install it on your laptop.

4. Reconnect your laptop to the Internet when your antivirus program reports that it is clean. Go to the website of your antivirus program and make sure you have the latest updates. Run the antivirus program again.

5. Prevent future reinfections by installing a firewall program, such as Windows Firewall, if your laptop doesn't already have one. Also install a spyware/malware program, such as Spybot.

Tips & Warnings

• Use your antivirus program's scheduling feature to ensure that the program runs on a regular basis and keeps itself updated.

• Always keep backups of your system handy for occasions like this. For example, on a PC laptop, use Window's System Restore feature to make backups of your operating system.

References

• Computer Virus Help
• Windows Firewall Features

Resources

• AVG Freeware Anti-Virus Package
• Spybot S&D Malware Package