Making the Most of Trojan Horse Defenses

Find free do-it-yourself Trojan horse removal

As a small business owner infected with a Trojan horse, you want the quickest and cheapest route back to functionality. You probably have McAfee or Norton, and have had some scary pop-up that keeps coming up over and over. Your antivirus hasn't been able to get rid of it, so what next?

You can easily spend between $200 and $500 hiring a computer repair service to remove a Trojan horse from your computer. That's a big financial hit for a small company, especially in tight economic times. The path to making the most of Trojan horse removal lies in finding the quickest and most cost effective methods of getting back on your feet, and finally getting your files backed up in the process:

1. Don't even mess with it--back up your data and do a fresh install of Windows.
2. Download and run the ComboFix Trojan horse removal software.
3. Install, update and run a SuperAntiSpyware complete system scan.
   

 

Get rid of your Trojan horse by backing up your files and reinstalling Windows from scratch

If you don't have the slightest idea of how to remove a Trojan, and want the simplest if slightly more time-consuming solution, a fresh reinstall if Windows will usually do the trick. The up-side is this is the easiest way to be sure that the Trojan is completely gone from your system. You can backup your data to an external hard drive, burn it to CD or DVD, or even put it on a USB key. Once your files are backed up, use the Windows Disk or Recovery Disks that came with your computer to do a fresh install of Windows--ensuring that your entire hard drive is formatted.
Try: The Argentum Corporation backup guide does a great job pointing you to the location on your hard drive where you can find your Outlook data files, important document files and even messenger data. You can backup yourself on any media, but if you feel more comfortable letting something else do it, they have pretty cheap backup software for sale on their site. WindowsReinstall has excellent guides on how to do a reinstall of Windows 2000, XP Home or Pro and even Windows Vista.

Run a scan with the best Trojan remover software: ComboFix

If backing up your data and starting from scratch isn't an option, your best chance for getting rid of a Trojan horse virus is to use some first-class trojan horse detection software. Most computer technicians use ComboFix as their first step in Trojan and virus removal. Make sure your data has been backed up and that you thoroughly read the instructions before running ComboFix.
Try: Download the latest version of Combofix to your desktop from the Icrontic forum. There is a guide to using Combofix at Bleeping Computer.

Download and run SuperAntiSpyware as your secondary Trojan horse remover

ComboFix does an excellent job of getting rid of an active infection, but it won't get rid certain inactive infected files or clean out any infected system restore points. For that reason, it's always good to run a SuperAntiSpyware scan after ComboFix runs.
Try: Download the free version of SUPERAntiSpyware from their website. Always update the program with the latest definitions before running a complete system scan. Read a tutorial on using the program at Help2Go.

 

• It's easy to lose faith in your antivirus software when it detects Trojan horses but then fails to remove them. Just remember that for every virus it can't remove, you're being protected from thousands of others. No matter what, you'll never be irreparably harmed if you regularly back up your data.

Copyright © 2011 Business.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

---