We read and understood what polymorphic virus is and what does it do in the previous blog. We also found that “Windows restore” is one of the options we have to remove polymorphous virus. In this blog, we will see how we can perform Windows restore successfully.

Few things to know about Windows restore before we move on

Novice people may not be comfortable with the idea of restoration to remove polymorphic virus. Let us clear few points:

1. Windows restore utility deals with windows system files, registry files, and windows programs only. It doesn’t touch, restore, remove or delete your personal files, photos, songs, documents, emails, or the like. This also implies that you cannot bring back your deleted files by restoration.

2. If you are unable to run windows restore from control panel, you can choose to do that from an installation disc. Make sure it is for the version of operating system you have.

3. This will remove polymorphic virus for you. You can select the restore point of the date that comes before the installation of polymorphic virus.

3. Check FAQs related to windows restore before you move on.

How to perform Windows restore to remove polymorphic virus?

1. Click-open the Windows Icon on the bottom left corner of your computer screen. In the search field, type “system restore.”

2. Click on “system restore” at the top of start menu.

3. Click “next.”

4. Choose the desired restore point from the list of restore points that appear. Make sure you guess it right. Keep in mind when the problem started or when the virus attacked your computer. Choose any date before that.

Note: You can also access System restore FAQs by clicking on the link “Is this process reversible?”

Note: If you check the box “show more restore points”, you will have more options. You can also scan your computer for affected programs by clicking on “scan for affected programs.”

5. Click Next. Now click “finish.” Wait for the process to be finished and Windows to reboot automatically.
Congratulations! Your drive has been restored and virus has been removed.

Polymorphic virus, as the term indicates, is the virus that takes many forms. Poly means “many” and morph means “forms.” It keeps changing its form every time it infects a file. It does so to avoid being detected at all.

Typical symptoms that you will notice your system exhibits will be:

• Computer slowing down, crashing, or freezing
• Random error messages popping up
• Irrelevant dialog boxes showing up
• Inability to access or open programs

Keep in mind that this virus changes its form each time it replicates. So, even if you think of getting the virus removed from your system by yourself, you might find one of its forms yet completely unaware about another. How would you get to know and find all of its instances? You may run an antivirus program yet make sure it is strong enough to tackle these kinds of complicated viruses. The antivirus software you use for viruses like polymorphic viruses must be having complex algorithms. If you have already run an antivirus scan yet not gotten rid of this deadly amorphous virus, read below to know what you can do further.

Is there any way to remove polymorphic virus which you know nothing of?

The best way to get rid of such a virus is “System restore.” Usually, you have multiple restore points set up. At any given point in time, you can restore your hard drive to any one of those available. You might be thinking how does system restore works? You may fear to lose important programs or activity conducted after that restore point. Keep in mind that “System restore” works only on files and programs related to windows system and registry. It doesn’t touch your personal files, photos, emails, or other documents. It will remove the virus. The key is to restore your system to a point that comes before the problem started. So, to remove polymorphic virus in all its forms, perform “system restore.”

A resident virus, as the name suggests, is a type of virus that resides in the Random access memory (RAM) of your computer. Every time you open a certain program or a file, resident virus gets activated. It will spread throughout the system through programs that are running. When users multitask and run several programs at the same time, the resident virus infects all those programs if activated. For instance, if resident virus activates when you open PowerPoint program, then it will infect all other programs that are running at the same time.

It is very common type of virus and usually gets detected and deleted by antivirus scans; however, you can still remove resident virus manually.

How to remove a resident virus manually?

To know which virus is being problematic, look up on internet for those specific error messages you are receiving. Get the error code or the virus’s name by searching through search engines and note down the name of that particular virus. Now you will know what you should find in Window’s registry.

Keep in mind that manual procedure can only be followed if you know exactly which virus has been affecting your system. Manual procedure usually involves editing Windows registry. So, be sure you do not mess up with Windows registry as any wrong edits would have serious consequences for your computer. If you are unfamiliar with how windows registry works or just got to know about it when you read in this article, then be more careful to edit. Follow the steps below:

1. Press “Ctrl+Alt+Del” and click “start task manager.” Go to the tab “processes” and find any suspicious viruses named resident virus or something like this. Also find and stop those running exe files you don’t know of. Keep in mind that exe file may not be a virus. So, be 100% sure before clicking “end process.”

2. Press start+R key together on keyboard. On the search field, type “regedit.” Make sure to click yes when prompted for permission. Windows registry will open.

3. Expand “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” and press “Ctrl+F” to open a dialog box. Type the name of the virus in the “find what” field and check the first three boxes you can see below. Click “find next” and wait for Windows to complete the search.

4. Delete the suspected files by right-clicking on each one of them.

This will hopefully solve the problem.

System progressive virus acts like a legitimate antivirus software finding and notifying fake viruses which do not even exist in your system. You might think they do and take a step further to download whatever program system progressive virus is asking you to download. It claims to rid your system from all kinds of identified viruses and clean it. But actually it wants access to any confidential information it aims to steal.

There are more or less same steps for removing viruses. Read further to know what you can do to remove system progressive virus.

How to remove system progressive virus manually?

It’s preferred to run a trustworthy antivirus program that will scan your whole system and remove viruses from every nook and corner. But if, in any case, it fails, then you can go for removing system progressive virus manually.

Manual procedure:

1. Reboot your computer in “safe mode with networking” by pressing F8 repeatedly as soon as your system restarts and black screen appears.

2. When you see desktop, press “Ctrl+Alt+Del” to open task manager. Go to the tab titled “processes” and look for system progressive virus. When system progressive virus is highlighted, click “End process” which will terminate the virus for the time being. Shut down Task manager.

3. Now, go to start and open control panel. Click “programs” or “Programs and features” depending upon your version of Windows. When window opens up, look for system progressive virus program or the like and uninstall it. Close Control panel.

4. Press “Windows+R” keys together. In the “Run” box, type regedit. If you are prompted for permission, click yes. Alternatively, you can open start menu and type “regedit” in the search box.

5. When registry editor opens, first create a backup of the registry. Go to file and click “backup” from the drop down menu. You will be prompted to select location for registry backup. Select location, type name, and click Save.

6. Go to these registry keys and delete each one of them. For the first key, you will expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and then expand Software and so on.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “WarnOnHTTPSToHTTPRedirect” = 0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies \System “DisableRegedit” = 0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies \System “DisableRegistryTools” = 0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies \System “DisableTaskMgr” = 0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies \system “ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin” = 0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies \system “ConsentPromptBehaviorUser” = 0

7. Reboot your computer normally.

What is boot sector virus?

Boot sector virus, as the name indicates, is a type of virus that attacks the windows booting sector. It infects Master boot record (MBR). This virus inserts self made codes and infected files into the booting store and renders the system unable to boot properly. If the virus has got stronghold on your system, your system will not even start up at all. Keep in mind that the boot sector helps your system to boot up.

It comes from external storage devices that are infected with viruses and are attached to the computer while it is booting up. That makes it easy for boot sector virus to inject infected codes and files to the system’s booting part. As soon as you receive booting error messages, remove boot sector virus immediately. Do not ignore those error messages as something normal or that occurs once in a while.

How to remove boot sector virus?

You can always choose to run an antivirus scan that would probably help; however, if you are still not satisfied, you can remove boot sector virus manually through “System restore.”

Conducting System Restore

As we have seen that the boot sector virus sometimes affects the system to an extent that you cannot even boot your computer. For this reason, you may need an installation disc. It can be any installation disc only if it is compatible with your Windows’ version.

To get comfortable with the idea of system restore, you must read System restore FAQs.

1. Insert the disk into the drive and wait for it to open. Do not go for installations rather choose to repair. This will open up “System Recovery options” for you.

2. Click “system restore.”

3. When the system restore dialog box will open, you will see a list of restore points. Choose among those the one which is before the suspected attack of boot sector virus. After highlighting the restore point, click “Next.”

4. Click finish to start system restoration procedure. You cannot do multi tasking with the machine during the process. Please wait while the process is completed.

5. Windows will restart automatically. If it does, that means the boot sector virus has been successfully removed.

Tip: Run an antivirus scan to leave no stone unturned.

PC defender plus virus is a fake antivirus or anti spyware that bluffs you about some non-existent viruses, spywares, malware and what else. It is also known as scare ware because they are distributed and worked under cyber criminals just to make you get false antivirus through scaring you about some hidden viruses and infected files. Trying you to get PC defender plus virus in your computer, they show false alerts and bogus scanning and showing fake viruses in your computer system.

Remember that don’t ever buy or download such antiviruses because they ask you to give your credit card numbers. Giving your codes freely to these false software can affect you badly because this information is shared with the third parties and your information is completely unsafe. This rogue spyware sometimes blocks windows system utilities like task manager so that you are unable to figure out that there are no such viruses existing in your computer.

How to remove PC Defender Plus virus?

As this virus restrains you from running security programs easily. So, it is recommended that you open your computer with safe mode. This way, you will have access to internet and you will be able to remove it then. To remove PC Defender plus virus, follow the instructions given below:

1. Restart your computer and press F8 or F2 and then F8 to run your computer in safe mode. Navigate through the advance windows options by pressing up and down arrow. Press Enter when “safe mode with networking” is highlighted.

2. Open the task manager by pressing “Ctrl+Alt+Del”. Click on “Processes” tab and uncheck the option “choose a proxy server for your LAN”.

3. Stop these processes if they are running.
%AppData%\NPSWF32.dll
%AppData%\Protector
%AppData%\result.db

4. Press the start icon appearing in the bottom left corner and write “regedit” in search. Press “Enter” to open the registry.

5. Go to the “file” and click “export”. Choose the location where you can save all your system’s back up. When your back up is saved, open registry and remove following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Win 8 2013 Antivirus”

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Windows PC Defender” HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3F2BBC05-40DF-11D2-9455-00104BC936FF} HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WP345d.DocHostUIHandler

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes “URL” => http://search-gala.com/?&uid=201&q={searchTerms} HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer “PRS” = http://127.0.0.1:27777/?inj=%ORIGINAL%

6. Now reboot your system normally.

Freecause virus is a virus, which enters in your computer as a hijacker through your web browsers such as Google chrome, Internet explorer and Mozilla Firefox, when you download freeware programs from the internet. By entering your computer system via free downloads, it adds an additional a toolbar in your browser, which appears mostly on your web browsers along with many other free download ads. When you use that toolbar, it may duplicate your real web homepage and create a home page, whose default search engine might be “toolbarservice.freecause.com” or “search.conduit.com”.

Freecause is a firm in US which creates a platform for third parties through creating affinity toolbars which enhances the earnings of third parties through offering the users, a free web search feed, an online shopping mall which does not exist in real and many other applications like that.

The amazing fact is that they mostly use Yahoo.com as their search engine with additional affected ads, and this is the duplicate and does not get paid. And when you try to remove it from Control panel, disappointing it might be but you will not find that tool there. Your computer may not inform you of such installations, in this case it must have came with a malware or usually Trojan horse. With that said, it is very urgent to remove freecause virus.

How to remove freecause virus?

Headache it might be, but there are cures for every disease. So if you want freecause virus to get out of your computer, then follow these instructions:

1. Click on F8 button on the top of your keyboard to restart your computer with safe mode and select “safe mode with networking” from advanced options menu.

2. To bring the task manager, click “ctrl+alt+del” altogether. When it appears, go to the processes tab and click once on the process you want to stop and then press “end process” option.

3. Close the task manager and go to start menu, write the given files address on the search one by one and by right clicking on them, delete every file if you find it in your computer.

4. Now at the search of start menu, write “regedit”. Press “Enter” which will open your computer’s registry. Delete the following files from your computer:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{99079a25-328f-4bd4-be04-00955acaa0a7} “[trojan name] Toolbar”

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{A40DC6C5-79D0-4ca8-A185-8FF989AF1115}VersionIndependentProgID “[trojan name]IEHelper.UrlHelper”

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{A40DC6C5-79D0-4ca8-A185-8FF989AF1115}ProgID “[trojan name]IEHelper.UrlHelper.1″

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{A40DC6C5-79D0-4ca8-A185-8FF989AF1115} “UrlHelper Cl
And close registry.

5. You have to reset the browser which had the toolbar with troublemaker virus. Open browser and follow the pattern below:
Tools> internet options> Advanced> Reset.
Keep in mind that by resetting you might lose other toolbars and add-ons that you may want to retain. You can do that manually afterwards.

6. Now go to tools> manage add-ons> Extensions. Look for “Toolbarservice.freecause.com” to delete it permanently.

7. Reboot to complete the process of removing freecause virus.

Trojan zeus also known as zbot or ZeuS is a Trojan horse which is primarily designed to steal confidential information. It runs as computer malware on Microsoft windows operating systems.

What Trojan virus does?

Trojan zeus is a specific kind of malware which attempts to gather banking information or financial details from people like bank account numbers and passwords, charge cards information etc. It has the potential to cause greater damage than some other well known viruses.

The Trojan Zeus is a little aggressive for the reason that it spreads through social support systems and maybe not just through websites and e-mail attachments. Once you download a certain program or click on an infected link, it will download suspected files into your system by itself and steal your confidential information through them. Zbot spreads by wide variety of techniques, including junk e-mail and internet downloads. It creates a big botnet that gathers information about victim’s credit card, banking and social network logins.

How to remove Trojan Zeus virus?

Just as you clicked a link you shouldn’t have clicked or downloaded something you shouldn’t have downloaded, run an antivirus program. If you do not have one, download from internet for free. If you are still not satisfied, you can remove the virus manually as well as choose to restore windows to any past date.

Remove Trojan Zeus manually:

1. Start windows in safe mode. Restart your computer and press F2, F8, or Del key as soon as black screen appears. You can also see which key to press in your version of windows by looking carefully at the bottom of your screen as your computer starts to reboot. When you reach windows advanced options, choose “safe mode with networking” by pressing down arrow and then press enter.

2. Go to start and then right click on “Computer.” Choose “properties” from the popup menu.

3. Click “system protection” and then click “configure.” Check “turn off system protection” and hit OK. Exit system properties.

4. Go to start menu and click control panel. Click “Folder options” or “Appearance and Personalization” and then “Folder options.” Click on the tab “view” and check the option “show hidden files and folders.” Click “apply” and then OK.
5. Now press “Ctrl+R” and type “regedit” in the search field. Press OK.

6. Navigate through the registry to find following registry keys and delete each one of them.

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun”userinit” = “%System%ntos.exe”

HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun”userinit” = “%System%ntos.exe”

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionNetwork”UID” = “[COMPUTERNAME]_[UNIQUE_ID]”

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer”{6780A29E-6A18-0C70-1DFF-1610DDE00108}” = “[HEXADECIMAL VALUE]”

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer”{F710FA10-2031-3106-8872-93A2B5C5C620}” = “[HEXADECIMAL VALUE]”

Exit the registry.

7. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 except that check “restore system settings and previous versions of files” instead of “turn off system protection.”

8. Reboot your computer in normal mode.

More Tips for Trojan Zeus removal

You can also run “System restore” so that any viruses included in the system may be deleted b restoring the system to a point when these viruses were not part of it.

You can also download Microsoft’s malicious software removal tool.

Caution: As it is a very dangerous virus, you should learn more about Trojan zeus virus to rectify your system completely.

File restore virus, also known as file recovery virus, is a kind of virus that pretends to be a legitimate program finding fake issues in your system. It prompts to rid your system of any malware that hinders smooth functioning and opening of various programs and files. It poses like antivirus software, but actually prompts you to take a downloading action by sending out fake random pop-up ads. It tries to convince you that you need to download and run a file restore program for removing viruses or corrupt files. Once you will download such a program to remove file restore virus, it will attempt to take classified information from your system.

How to know if my system has been attacked by file restore virus?

If you are unable to open certain programs in your computer, like task manager, to avoid being detected and removed. You will receive messages like these and more:

“Hard drive boot sector reading error.”
“System blocks were not found.”
“Error 0x00000024 – NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM.”

At the end, it will ask you to have a free trial of the file recovery program and fix the listed issues. So, you can guess that this kind of program is actually a virus which is presenting fake hardware and software issues. All it wants is downloading a particular thing. Do not fall for its fake messages or download any such software. Please do not download anything you know nothing of. Read further to know how you can remove file restore virus.

How to remove file restore virus?

Caution: These steps should be followed only if you have partial or complete knowledge about how Windows Registry works and you are comfortable about editing it. Any wrong step would lead to serious consequences.

Editing Windows Registry

1. Run your computer in safe mode. To do this, restart your computer and press F2 to enter setup. Then press F8 to enter windows advanced options. Navigate through the options by pressing up and down arrow keys and select “safe mode with networking.” Press Enter.

Note: Keyboard shortcut for entering windows advanced options might be different in different versions of Windows. This applies to Windows 7.

2. When you reach desktop, Click open Start menu and select control panel.

3. Now select “folder options”, go to “view” tab, and do two things under Hidden files and folders. First check “show hidden files, folders and drives” and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).” Click OK.

4. Now press “Windows + R” keys together. When run command box opens, type “regedit.” Or click open start menu and type “regedit” in the search box. Click on regedit. You will be prompted for permission. Click YES.

5. Open the following keys and delete each one of them.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ‘Inspector’

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\protector.exe

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Win 7 Antispyware 2013

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System ‘DisableTaskMgr’ = 0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall \File Restore

For instance, in the last key mentioned, you will expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Then go to Software. Under Software, you will find Microsoft and so on. When you reach the respective key, right click on it and click delete.

6. Restart your computer in normal mode and go to control panel> folder options and reverse the changes you made in step#3.

Bottom line:

You can always choose to run antivirus software you may or may not have already installed. Download any preferred software for free from internet. If you cannot access internet or software installation doesn’t complete, install it through an external storage device like USB.

Much annoyed with the unwanted advertisements appearing on your PC, aren’t you? Sometimes, it so happens that your computer, due to insufficient security, gets attacked by nasty coders who infect your computer with Adware to endorse their own product. Then it becomes urgent to remove adware.

What is Adware?

Adware is legitimate software which automatically downloads advertisements for you on the basis of information like websites you visit, pages you check, or products you see more often, thereby intruding your privacy. When it does this without your permission and knowledge, it becomes a spyware. It tracks computer’s web history and disturbs you with undesired ad pop-ups and directs you to websites you don’t want to visit. But don’t panic! We have a simple solution for you to remove adware.

How to remove Adware?

They are many methods to deal with Adware. Tag along the following points if you want to remove it manually:
1. Firstly, disconnect your internet and close all browser tabs.
2. Open start menu and type ‘control panel’ in the search field.
3. Open ‘control panel’ and select ‘Programs and Features’ option.
4. Find the unwanted program in the list and highlight it.
5. After highlighting, simply click on ‘Uninstall’.
6. After uninstalling, reboot your computer.
7. After rebooting, do a full-system scan for your computer using an antivirus scanner.

After being successful in removing the Adware, make sure that it does not rejuvenate. For that purpose, tag along the following instructions:

1. Before you reconnect to your internet, reset your browser.
2. Make sure your HOSTs files are not hijacked.
3. Recheck your ‘Trusted Sites Zone’ and make sure any unwanted site is not added in that list. For that purpose, follow the instructions written below:

a) Close all browser windows and right-click on Internet Explorer icon on the desktop.
b) Select properties.
c) Select the ‘Security’ tab.
d) Click on the ‘Trusted Sites’ icon.
e) Select the ‘Sites’ button to check the list of sites added in it.
f) If you spot any unwanted website, click on it. It will be highlighted.
g) Simply click on ‘remove’ button to delete it.
h) After removing the sites, click on ‘OK’ button and then on ‘Apply’ button to save these settings.