Five Free Malware Removal Tools - Comments Page 1

I used to use SAS until I found it conflicted with other programs I was running, so I uninstalled it. I saw your mention of a portable version so I downloaded it. It's an exe file, and when I clicked on it an installation was started. I stopped it, went to the SAS forums and found they recommend to drag-and-drop to a flashdrive and run from there, so I tried it. It tried to install again. I don't think the portable version is portable in any sense involving no installation.

Microsoft thinking it has enough of your cash is like Homer Simpson thinking he's had enough donuts.

Malwarebytes can also be downloaded from FileHippo. It's a much safer site than download.com in terms of avoiding misleading clickable links.

http://filehippo.com/download_malwarebytes_anti_malware/

** This guy is an IDIOT. ** ComboFix is not an anti malware and is a tool that should NOT be casually used. Even the author sUBs will tell you that. BTW: sUBs is an employee of Malwarebytes.

EDITOR'S NOTE: From the Combofix website: "Combofix was designed to scan a computer for known malware, spyware and remove them." And I did say that it "should be used only by techie types." If saying that makes me an idiot, so be it. :-)

The portable version of Superantispyware - I think the name is misleading. It's a version of Superantispyware that is renamed on purpose in attempts to run on infected systems but it's not truly portable. You do have to install it on the infected system. I at first thought it would run directly of a flash drive but it doesn't.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry, I should have mentioned that only the Technician's Edition is truly portable. See http://askbobrankin.com/ten_free_tech_support_tools.html for some other free options for portable anti-malware tools.

I want to say thank you for all the great info and reveiws through the years i have been reading your articles.
I get alot of infected computers to repair and a tool i found that works very well these days and it is free is ccleaner. I found that if you run cleaner on the first page multiple time until it dont find anything, then go to the Reg cleaner and run it multiple time and i never let it do a backup so all the junk leaves completly, it speeds up the computer tremendously most of the time.

Crapping on Microsoft for producing the best product and providing it for free. Nice.

It maybe true that /combofix is truly good at what it supposed to do but I just HATE programs that haphazardly install themselves without any prompts to the user? This combofix.exe appears to install itself in the root of the boot drive. Using an expert level app is no biggy but such an app should duly (and at least;) allow user to select which HDD/SSD drives to scan and where to install itself. It would also be proper to show a little more status while doing its scan. I can't tell if it is truly running or just locked up. I typed this whole reply while waiting for it to tell me something... anything! My experience with this program is a very negative one. Maybe the problems I had with it are due to the fact that I am using Win8Pro or whatever. Suffice it to say that I would not even recommend this utility to an advanced user. No program, no matter how free it is, should be this crude. I could not even get it to uninstall itself ("combofix /uninstall") and I am glad I had traced the installation using Revo Uninstaller. What is a "Qoobox" anyways??????

What no comment about ExterminateIt???
http://www.exterminate-it.com/

All of these are easy to use except Combo Fix. One should be very clear about what it does and especially HOW it does it before proceeding. It could end up making you lose lots of hair. :-)

It's powerful but it really is a tool of last resort. Once you master it though you'll feel like Supercomputerman. :-)

I use the tools from Iobit. So, Advanced System Care, their Malware Pro, etc. They have deep understanding of Windows and Windows performance and keep me running in great shape.

@mauriceLampl post:
"Dear users please note that Exterminate It! is free to scan and detect the malware in your system. Malware removal is a paid feature.
You could request Free Exterminate It! Antimalware Trial Code here:
http://www.exterminate-it.com/trial-registration
Pasted from

Hey Bob: Love your stuff. Has always been very helpful...till now. This SuperMario software messed up two of my PCs. On the desktop unit, everything in Firefox turned to text only; no pictures anywhere. IE continued to work normally. On the laptop, I lost my transparent Quick Launch feature; it's now solid white. Both are W7, 64-bit machines. Advanced System Care cleaned up the desktop problem, still working on the laptop's problem. Both problems occurred right after SuperAntiSpyware install so I don't know what else to blame it on. Uninstalled the software. Again, thanks for the 99.5% great advice.

SpywareBlaster doesn't remove spyware, but is supposed to prevent malware from being installed. I've used it for years, and don't think I've had any malware issues. It's free and is simple to use.

Hey Bob,

You missed some of the best! Almost every anti-virus, etc., had an emergency disk available on line - free. I have six!!! Go to your search engine & search "rescue disk". Download & write to a CD. Most of them are written in linux(?) & will boot from the CD drive if you set the BIOS up correctly, you know, F1, F12, etc. One of them will let you set the boot order so it does so from the CD drive.

The best site for malware is www.bleepingcomputer.com. They have a huge array of programs and utilities for almost any viral issue on your computer. Malwarebytes is also a good secondary program to download as it provides protection in parallel with your existing virus protection. I personally use Kaspersky and have been very satisfied for over a year.

Downloading it from www.ninite.com is also a safe and quicker way to get it done. Also, as Bob mentioned in a previous blog, it always gives you the most updated version. :-)

Certain links I receive from known sources (e.g., a tracking number from UPS/FedEx) produce a popup from Panda Security telling me that the website the link points to is contaminated. In most cases, I know that the website is OK, but I can't get rid of whatever is producing this popup. I have tried all of the malware software cited in your recent article, including a full Windows Defender Offline scan, plus several others. Nothing seems to be able to find and destroy this nuisance. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Hello ALL!

First I want to say to say to Same DeSai that calling Mr. Rankin names is totally Rude and Disrespectful!
(Reading is indeed F-u-n-d-a-m-e-n-t-a-l!)
I don't have to say more.

Moving right along . . . I will also recommend the following sofware as a additional layer of security protection in the cyber-warfare that we are all locked into each and every time we go Online:

1. Comodo Cleaning Essentials

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/comodo_cleaning_essentials.html

2. Avast Stand-Alone Anti-Rootkit utility

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/aswmbr/

Hope these help and another useful tool is to create a Linux Live CD or USB to THOROUGHLY get the job done!
Trust. I recently used a USB stick to rid my computer of a Very Powerful "entity" that kept crashing my computer!
Creating a disc or USB is quite easy . . . just google it and see for yourself!

Thank You,

TheRube

Add HitmanPro to the list. Its' in cloud partners are Emsisoft, Kaspersky, and Bit Defender. It is an on-demand scanner and can be configured to run on boot (kick-starter).