Hopefully, you’ll be malware-free the second time around and good to go, but if not, you’ll need to repeat the process described above. Once your antivirus software has successfully removed the malware, shut down your computer, reboot it and then run a full scan again. As explained above, when it’s finished, your AV software will ask you how you want to deal with any malware found (e.g., delete permanently or quarantine). Depending on the size of your hard drive and the number of files on your system, this process could take some time, but make sure that the scan runs until it is completed. If you can’t boot into Windows, you’ll have to boot into Safe Mode and run a full-system scan from there. What happens if I can’t boot up my system to run the scan?

Consequently, you can’t be fully protected from known malware unless your software is current. A match means that a virus has been detected, but if your software isn’t current, it won’t be able to use the latest database and thus might not detect new viruses. Scanners compare the unique signature of each file on your computer to the virus signatures in the virus database. Since scans rely on a database of known virus signatures to detect viruses, your AV should always work with an up-to-date signature database. Before you run your scan, however, make sure that your AV software is current. Either option is an effective method for removing the virus.

If malware is detected, your AV software will ask you whether to quarantine or permanently delete the virus. Full system scans scan all the files on your system. Here’s what you’ll need to do:įirst, run a full system antivirus scan on your computer. Will my antivirus software remove existing viruses? The answer is ‘yes’, but there’s one caveat to remove them, you’ll need to take some action yourself. Suddenly, a question pops into your head what happens if I already have a virus. So you’ve finally decided on the antivirus (AV) software you want to install and are feeling pretty good knowing that your data will be safe from malware.

Uninstall reason core security