Anti-virus software can be very expensive and doesn't always find new breeds of computer virus. You can learn to locate and remove a virus yourself without using ant-virus software. By using the command prompt you can enter the infected drive, locate the virus, render it harmless and delete it from your system for good.
Instructions
Instructions
- Click the "Start" menu and type "CMD" into the "Run" box and click "OK."
- Select the drive that is infected with the virus. If you are not sure which drive is infected, start with the "C:" drive. Type in "C:" and press "Enter" to access this drive.
- Type the following into the command prompt box: - s - h *. * /s /d and press "Enter." This will bring up any suspicious files located on the drive. Open the suspicious file.
- Look for a file that contains a ".exe" file and a file titled "autorun.inf." If you find these two files, you have found the tainted file. Make sure to write down the name of the program where the file is located.
- Rename the "autorun.inf" so you can access the drive later without activating the virus. Type: rename autorun.inf as virusfile and close out of the "Command" prompt box.
- Double-click the "My Computer" icon and select the drive that has the infected file. Find the program that contains the infected file.
- Right-click on the program and choose "Open."
- Right-click on the file you renamed "virusfile" and choose "Delete."
- Right-click on the ".exe" file and choose "Delete." You have now removed the virus from your computer's hard drive.