Cleanup Antivirus

A harmful virus can delete important files, alter user settings, corrupt your system registry and cause your computer to become otherwise inoperable.
Cleanup Antivirus can attach itself to your computer without your knowledge of being there. You probably won't even recall how it got in there in the first place. It spreads in your computer with the help of Trojans.

Instructions

1: Click the "Start" button, right-click on "My Computer" and select "Properties." Click the "System Restore" tab and check the "Turn off System Restore on all drives" box. Most anti-virus programs do not scan the System Restore volume, allowing viruses and other malware to later re-infect your system. Turning off the System Restore feature prevents this from occurring.

2: Download and install an anti-virus program. Anti-virus programs scan your computer's files for bits of code that match a virus definitions database. Anti-virus programs delete, quarantine or clean files containing malicious code according to the anti-virus program's default settings or your user preferences. See Resources for a list of available programs.

3: Update the anti-virus software. You should regularly update the database of virus definitions that the anti-virus program uses to determine if a file contains a virus. If your database of virus definitions is out of date, you are leaving your computer at risk for infection.

3: Run a "Complete" or "Deep" file scan to detect and remove the virus. Many anti-virus programs allow you to run a "Smart scan," which scans only recently changed or particularly virus-prone files on your computer. If the virus is dormant on your computer or resides in a directory not checked by the "Smart scan," the anti-virus program will not detect the virus. If possible, instruct the anti-virus program to scan all drives on the computer, including any removable media and flash drives. If prompted to delete or clean an infected file, opt to clean the file first. If the anti-virus program cannot clean the file, delete the file to permanently remove it from your computer.

5: Reboot your computer when the anti-virus scan is complete. Allow the operating system to load. Click the "Start" button, right-click on "My Computer" and select "Properties." Click on the "System Restore" tab and uncheck the "Turn off System Restore on all drives" box to re-enable the System Restore feature.