How to Remove a Trojan Horse From a Computer That Is Already Infected
A Trojan horse is a type of computer virus that can infect your computer. Trojan horses often masquerade as innocent or legitimate software programs. It is only when they are executed that their malicious nature is revealed and they install other viruses and malicious software onto your computer. If your computer is already infected with a Trojan horse, you can remove it by following some simple instructions and using some free tools.
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Instructions
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Restart your computer in Safe Mode. Safe Mode is a special startup mode that allows the computer to start with the minimum required drivers to run Windows. With only the minimum amount of drivers loaded, your computer can more easily remove the Trojan horse. To start your computer in Safe Mode, reboot it and press the "F8" key as the computer starts up. When you see the Windows boot menu appear, select the choice marked “Safe Mode with Networking” and press the "Enter" key.
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Open a web browser and visit one of the online virus scanners that have been linked in the Resources section of this article. These online virus scanners are free for personal and home use and are a great way to remove Trojan horses from your machine. Perform a complete system scan of your computer with the scanner you selected and use the removal option to get rid of all Trojan horse infections.
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Download and install an anti-malware program such as "Spybot Search & Destroy", which is linked in the Resources section of this article. An anti-malware program is capable of detecting certain types of malicious software that virus scanners are not programmed to pick up. Once you install "Spybot Search & Destroy," you can run a full system scan of your machine and remove any Trojan horse infections that are found.
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Restart your computer and allow it to boot up normally.
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References
Resources
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