How to Get Rid of a Desktop Virus

A computer virus can slow your computer.

A computer virus is a small program that can copy itself and spread to other computers. Computer viruses may slow your computer, decrease your available memory, change your Internet settings or flood your computer with pop-up advertisements. In addition, many computer viruses alter your desktop. For example, a computer virus might add shortcuts to your desktop and change, or even disable, your wallpaper.

Instructions

End Infected Processes

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

2. Click on the "Task Manager," then click on the "Processes" tab.

3. End all of the processes associated with the virus. To end a process, right-click on it and select "End Process." To determine if a process is associated with the virus, type the name of the process into the Process Library database (see Resources).

Delete Infected DLL Files

1. Click on the "Start" menu.

2. Click on "Run."

3. Type "cmd" (without the quotation marks) into the open box and click "OK." The Command Prompt will open.

4. Type "regsvr32 /u SampleDLLName.dll" (without the quotation marks) into the Command Prompt and press "Enter." Note that "SampleDLLName.dll" should be replaced with the name of the Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file associated with the virus. You can find this information by typing the name of the virus into the search box of your web browser.

Delete Infected Files

1. Click on the "Start" menu.

2. Click on "Search Files and Folders" or "Search Programs and Files."

3. Search for and delete all the files associated with the virus by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Delete." To find this information, type the name of the virus into the search box in your web browser to find a database of associated files.

Tips & Warnings

• In addition to following the steps in this article, it is important to update and run your antivirus program. This will help detect and remove any traces of the virus you may have missed.

References

• Microsoft Support: Computer Viruses

Resources

• Uniblue Process Library: Process Listing Database