I ran into a situation recently with a client who clicked on a link they shouldn’t have, causing their pc to get infected with what is commonly known as nagware/scareware.  This is when your pc pops up messages saying its infected (With official looking screens that make you believe that its part of your operating system) and if you “buy” their product that your machine will be cleaned for you.

    

     One of the many tools you can use to check/clean your pc is called the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool.  Every month when Microsoft releases its updates for Windows, they also include this tool, so as long as you have been doing your Windows Updates on a regular basis you should have the latest version of this software installed.

     The MS Software Removal Tool is overlooked many times, even by tech’s because MS does not have it install in your start menu and unless you know how to get to it, it isn’t easy to find (Not sure why this is done, MS should make this software easier for users to find, but that’s just my opinion).

     So if you need to run the Software Removal tool, how do you get to it?  Here are some simple steps for the MS SRT.

1) From your Start Button – Click on Start –> Run –> and type MRT in box and click ok  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) You will see the Malicious Software Removal Tool Window open. Here is a Key (BIG KEY), make sure that on the top it says the current month (The new version comes out on the 2nd Tuesday of the Month with the standard Updates normally).

If you are in November and the Window says June (Example) then we have 2 things going.

-> Your Malicious Software Removal Tool is seriously out of date and will probably not be updated to cover all the new versions of Malicious Software.

-> You probably haven’t been doing your Windows Updates or your updates are not installing properly. In either case you need to address that.

If your MS Malicious Software Removal Tool is out of date, you can directly download the updated version from the Microsoft Website (32bit Windows LINK:  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ad724ae0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356&displaylang=en (http://www NULL.microsoft NULL.com/downloads/details NULL.aspx?FamilyID=ad724ae0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356&displaylang=en)) (64bit Windows LINK: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=585D2BDE-367F-495E-94E7-6349F4EFFC74&displaylang=en (http://www NULL.microsoft NULL.com/downloads/details NULL.aspx?FamilyId=585D2BDE-367F-495E-94E7-6349F4EFFC74&displaylang=en)) or by running your Windows Updates and making sure all updates are selected.

3) If your Malicious Software Removal Tool is up to date, then just click on Next, where you will get 3 choices.  If your pc is not showing any signs of infection and you are just running this as part of a regular maintenance program, you can select Quick Scan.  If your PC is showing signs of trouble (Infection, slowness, unable to access specific websites), then you will want to run a Full Scan.

4) Once you select the type of scan you want and click on Next you will see the scanning window.

5) Once completed, you will either be told your pc is clean or a list of the infections that were found and cleaned will appear.  Just hit finish. If anything was found, then I would recommend rebooting and then running the Malicious Software Removal Tool again after the reboot as many times, infections can reappear on reboot.

     Since the MS Malicious Software Removal Tool has a limited number of malware that its designed to clean (It focuses on the most common types) and because it does NOT have a live monitor feature, this software should only be considered an additional tool in the fight against the bad guys (Malware, Spyware, Scareware, Viruses).  This software is not a replacement for an anti-virus product.  If you need an anti-virus product Microsoft offers Microsoft Security Essentials  (LINK: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ (http://www NULL.microsoft NULL.com/security_essentials/)), in addition to the many offerings both paid and free from other vendors (LINK: http://techgeekandmore.com/2009/11/05/software-what-every-windows-pc-user-should-have-installed-to-secure-their-pc-part-1-anti-virus/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/2009/11/05/software-what-every-windows-pc-user-should-have-installed-to-secure-their-pc-part-1-anti-virus/))