Someone asked me about removing malware and spyware crap from a windows pc but I haven’t used windows much for a long time. Any recommendations? Doesn’t windows come with a built in scanner bitdefender or something?
Discussion
When I ran windows I only used the built in virus scanner. Most malware scanners out there are more akin to malware themselves, imo.
It's kinda funny how I've never run a virus scanner on Linux.
Linux fixes vulnerabilities faster then MS Windows can upload new virus scanner rules, which only throw bandaids on the vulnerabilities until MS decides to eventually get around to doing something about it.
Defender. It can even run in offline mode, sometimes this will help get some more virulent stuff out.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/microsoft-defender-offline
If it's really bad refresh is an option as well. It will nuke all apps while retaining user files. Proceed with caution, and have a backup 🤙
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reset-your-pc-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e
Windows Defender is different from Bitdefender. Windows Defender is what everyone gets with Windows. Bitdefender is what you want to actually do the job.
Ok good. I forgot already. Been so long.
Did you suggest throwing away the computer? 😆
format drive and reinstall, if the built in virus thing failed and they clicked some shit nuke that install for sure. Create a ISO from the windows site.
I used to love windows. XP and 7 were just awesome for their time. Now... Gawd it's awful. They could done something, a lot of things, if they hadn't given up so quickly. The UI is a mess. Almost everything I do is android now. And it's just better for 99% of the things I do.
To be completely fair, I'd recommend you install them something like Linux Mint Debian Edition (because Ubuntu might not be that great), or any other beginner-friendly Linux distribution depending on their needs. They need to realize that Windows is already malware, and Linux is the best solution they have. Otherwise, they can buy a Mac, and that's a bad ecosystem you don't want to be in (as an Linux guy and an iOS user, not a good combo for me).
throw it away
You'd have to remove the whole OS
But yes, they have their own malware scanner built in.
Ouch, I don't want to disillusion you, but this can be a very ungrateful job.
Time-consuming and often unsatisfactory results.
I usually reinstalled the system after a complete data backup and configured it as securely as possible. The latter is actually the most important part.
And you should always have an emergency system ready. Linux on a USB stick is best in my experience...
And yes, it comes with a built in scanner but this doesn't do it's job properly an many cases.
I would never work with an OS that has been compromised. So, reinstalling is one option, or even better, uninstalling and replacing it with something more reasonable.😅
Malwarebytes is a good free option. For paid, Norton is better than McAfee https://www.malwarebytes.com
flesh some linux mint on a USB device..... and get rid of this Microsoft bullshit.... 🫣