06-12-2015, 05:27 PM
I am routinely cleaning up systems with malware and my go to utilities are rkill, TDSSkiller, Malware Bytes & CCleaner. Rkill terminates actively running malicious processes, allowing them to more easily be removed. TDSSkiller digs a little deeper, including scanning for boot sector rootkit activity that may not be easily discovered by most scanning software. Malware Bytes performs a thorough scan of your files & registry entries for malware. It will almost always find something, though they are often just PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs). More serious malware items are designated in red in the scan results.
CCleaner (short for Crap Cleaner) has a variety of functions, though it is predominantly considered a tool for cleaning up temp files. In fact, the Cleaner function does remove temporary internet files from most popular browsers, temp files, and a variety of other items listed along the side of the window. If you dig a little deeper, you will find a Registry option which will remove orphaned registry entries (I usually perform the suggested back up of registry entries before cleaning, though I have never needed to use it). Under the Tools section, however, you can find a wealth of goodness. First of all, there is an Uninstall subsection where you can uninstall software. I often sort this section by date because many times we see unwanted programs bundled together and installed on the same day, typically with some free utility the user downloaded & installed. The Startup section shows what is running from the moment the computer is turned on. In addition to removing references to some potentially malicious programs, this can also be used to disable legitimate software that simply doesn't need to be running at startup and chewing up resources. For example, if iTunes is installed but you don't use it, the iTunes Helper does need to run at startup. Additional tabs will show add-ons and extensions for each browser. There is also a tab for Scheduled Tasks. I find a lot more malicious references being hidden in here in recent years. When dealing with any of this, if you're not sure whether or not something is malicious or even just necessary, do a search for more details.
Also, I would run the clean the temp files using CCleaner before running Malware Bytes (or any anti-malware program). Some malicious utilities leave files in the temp folders and a cleanup not only removes them but shortens scan times by providing fewer files to scan.
CCleaner (short for Crap Cleaner) has a variety of functions, though it is predominantly considered a tool for cleaning up temp files. In fact, the Cleaner function does remove temporary internet files from most popular browsers, temp files, and a variety of other items listed along the side of the window. If you dig a little deeper, you will find a Registry option which will remove orphaned registry entries (I usually perform the suggested back up of registry entries before cleaning, though I have never needed to use it). Under the Tools section, however, you can find a wealth of goodness. First of all, there is an Uninstall subsection where you can uninstall software. I often sort this section by date because many times we see unwanted programs bundled together and installed on the same day, typically with some free utility the user downloaded & installed. The Startup section shows what is running from the moment the computer is turned on. In addition to removing references to some potentially malicious programs, this can also be used to disable legitimate software that simply doesn't need to be running at startup and chewing up resources. For example, if iTunes is installed but you don't use it, the iTunes Helper does need to run at startup. Additional tabs will show add-ons and extensions for each browser. There is also a tab for Scheduled Tasks. I find a lot more malicious references being hidden in here in recent years. When dealing with any of this, if you're not sure whether or not something is malicious or even just necessary, do a search for more details.
Also, I would run the clean the temp files using CCleaner before running Malware Bytes (or any anti-malware program). Some malicious utilities leave files in the temp folders and a cleanup not only removes them but shortens scan times by providing fewer files to scan.
