Steps to Scan and Remove Malicious Viruses

Whenever an outbreak happens, you should take the following steps:

1. Run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.
2. Run the McAfee Stinger Tool (optional)
3. Make sure you are using Updated Anti-Virus Software.
4. Make sure Windows Updates are turned on.
5. Get Notified for Microsoft Security Alerts.

We aren’t talking about regular viruses… your anti-virus software can handle those. We’re talking about the terrible viruses that will crash your computer, steal your information, delete the pictures of your kids – and cause your computer to be remotely controlled by a spammer. Bad stuff, but they can usually be prevented.

Run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

The first step in detecting and removing horrible viruses and worms from your computer is to run Microsoft’s own Malicious Software Removal Tool – it’s not a replacement for anti-virus, but it’s the best way to get rid of some of the worst offenders, like the current Conficker worm.

To run the tool, you simply need to download the file from Microsoft and run it. There’s no installer required.

Malicious Software Removal

If you were affected, the tool would remove the virus and alert you. Since we’re thankfully safe, we got the friendly message that no malicious software was detected. You can click the “View detailed results of the scan” to see more information.

No malicious software detected

By scrolling down in the list, you can find the current threat and make sure that you are not infected.

Scan results

The tool should be updated automatically through Windows Update, but you can always just download it directly as well. This is an important tool to keep around.

Download the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool from microsoft.com
Run the McAfee Stinger Tool (optional)

An alternative tool is the McAfee Stinger tool, which is a freeware tool that removes only the worst viruses from your computer. You can check to make sure that Stinger can remove the current virus problem by checking the List Viruses dialog… make sure you have the latest version of Stinger before you use it.

List of viruses Stinger can detect

Simply hit the Scan Now button to do a full scan of your computer, but be warned that this will take a long while.

McAfee Stinger

Once it’s done, you should get a report with the number of clean files.

Stinger Results

It’s a simple and rather ugly tool, but it does the job. It’s still not a replacement for real anti-virus though.

Download McAfee Avert Stinger from vil.nai.com
Make sure you are using Updated Anti-Virus Software

This is one of the most important steps in keeping yourself safe. You need to make sure that your anti-virus software is enabled and properly working! Here’s a quick list of what you should do:

1. Make sure your virus definition updates are automatically updated.
2. Make sure that real-time scanning is enabled.
3. Run a full scan (optional but useful)

ClamWin Update

If you aren’t sure what anti-virus software to use and don’t have money to spend, you can try out AVG Free edition, or you can take a look at the big list of anti-virus software we tested with Windows 7.

Note: We don’t necessarily recommend ClamWin for regular users, because it has no real-time protection. It’s just what I have installed on this computer and I needed a screenshot.
Make sure Windows Updates are turned on

Now we arrive at the most important step: making sure that Windows is fully patched and Windows Updates is enabled. You can’t protect yourself against worms and hackers if you are running a woefully out-of-date version of Windows that isn’t patched. It just won’t work.

Open up Windows Updates, make sure to click “Check for updates” and install every security patch they recommend. Then click the Change settings link…


And make sure you have it set to check for updates automatically, and installing updates automatically isn’t a bad option. Just remember, if you are running an un-patched system, you are leaving yourself open for all sorts of bad things.


Note: Please pardon the alarmist nature of this point, but patching is the #1 key to keeping safe against internet worms.
Get Notified for Microsoft Security Alerts

If you really want to make sure you are secure, you can sign up for alerts from Microsoft whenever there is an important patch that needs to be installed. You can also check the current security bulletins at any time by visiting their security bulletin home page.

Subscribe to Microsoft Security Alerts by Email or RSS

Latest Microsoft Security Bulletin Home Page

How Do I Make Sure the Patch is Installed?

So now we get right down to it… how do you know if you are vulnerable to one of the security holes? As an example, we’ll look at the security hole that leaves you vulnerable to the Conficker worm: Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution. If you look through the list of downloads, you’ll see the particular patch for your system.

If Windows update says that you are up to date, you can check for a particular patch by clicking on “View update history” on the left-hand side.

Windows Update

This will take you to a long list of every update that has been installed. Look through the list, and you should see the update mentioned in the security bulletin… for me, it was KB958644 for x64-based systems, since I’m running 64-bit Vista.

View Update History

At the very least it’s a relief to know that you aren’t vulnerable… to the current worm, at least.
Conclusion

These steps are essential in protecting your computer from hackers, worms, and viruses, but they aren’t the only important keys to safety. You should still remain vigilant and use common sense: don’t download files from untrusted sources, use a firewall, and make sure your email provider scans for viruses before you open attachments.

Office 2007 Installation Fails: Fixes

Several users are experiencing problems installing the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) update, which was released earlier this week. Users are sometimes presented simply with the message “updates failed” or “The installation of this package has failed.”

Fixes

• Install the Microsoft Office System Update Download and install this file from Microsoft. It contains fixes for issues that can prevent the installation of Office 2007 updates. Next, re-attempt installation or move on the the following fixes.
• Try Windows Update If you manually downloaded the Office 2007 SP2 installation package initially, try downloading and installing the update through Windows Update instead.
• Re-download the installation file Microsoft’s servers have had issues delivering the Office 2007 SP2 installation package. When downloading Office 2007 SP2, ensure that the file size is 290MB. If it is smaller, you may have a corrupt, unusable file. Try re-downloading the file.
• Use the Windows XP or 2003 hotfix If you are running Windows XP or 2003, try using this hotfix from Microsoft that solves an issue with large installation files

Speed Up or Disable Windows Search Indexing in Vista

The new indexing service built into Windows Vista has been the subject of a lot of complaints, since it seems to kick in at strange times and thrash your hard drive. So what can we do to speed this up?

There’s two options: You can either trim down the amount of files that Windows Search is indexing, or you can disable it entirely if you never use the search.

Trim Down Indexing Locations

The best way to trim down the amount of processor time the indexing service uses is by trimming down the amount of files being indexed. For instance, if you don’t regularly search through your C: drive, there’s really no need to be indexing it.

Personally, I love the search function for Outlook and the Start Menu, but that’s the only places I care about indexing.

Type Indexing into the control panel search or the start menu search box, and you should see an item called Indexing Options.

All you have to do to remove a location from being indexed is uncheck the box. You might have to click the Show All Locations button to see some of the default locations.

If you wanted to remove the start menu indexing, you’ll need to click on Start Menu in the summary list at the bottom, and it’ll automatically navigate to the item in the tree.

The start menu indexing really doesn’t take much processing time though, so I wouldn’t bother removing that.

Completely Disable Indexing

If you’d prefer to completely disable the indexing service, you can disable it entirely by turning off the service.

Open up Services through control panel, or by typing services.msc into the start menu search box. Find “Windows Search” in the list of services and double-click on it to open it.

Change the Startup type of the service to Disabled, and then click the Stop button to stop the service.

At this point the Windows Search service is completely disabled.

Windows 7 Antivirus Compatible Software

Microsoft Windows 7 compatible antivirus software. Some people claim they are having problems with Kaspersky 8 , Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 according to a forum that relates to Windows 7 operating system. Below is a list of antivirus programs that work or are compatible with the new OS as of this writing:

Avast! (Most users have no problem)
Avira Antivir Personal Edition (No issues so far)
Eset Smart Security 3 and 4 (Working flawlessly with Windows 7)
Comodo
Eset Nod32 4 (some users reported having some issues)
Kaspersky 2009
Norton Internet Security 2009
Norton 360 version 2.0
Sophos v7.6
Bitdefender 2009

Windows7 Versions

Windows 7 Version	Starter	Home Basic	Home Premium	Professional	Enterprise	Ultimate
Sales Channels	OEM (Global)	Developing Countries Only	Retail and OEM (Global)		Volume License	Retail/OEM (Limited)
64-Bit Support	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Concurrent Applications	3	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Mobility Center	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aero Features	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Home Groups	Join Only	Join Only	Create/Join	Create/Join	Create/Join	Create/Join
Premium Games	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Center	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Touch	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Advanced Network Backup	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Domain Joining	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Encrypting File System	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Group Policy	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Location Aware Printing	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Offline Folders	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Presentation Mode	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote Desktop Host	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
AppLocker	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
BitLocker	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Branch Cache	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Direct Access	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Enterprise Search	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
MUI Language Packs	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Virtual Desktop Interface	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Virtual Hard Disk Booting	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Unspecified Features	No	No	No	No	No	Yes