How To: Technology 101
Published on: October 6th, 2016
Do you suspect your laptop has a virus? Is it running slow or do random windows pop up as you browse the web? Your computer may have an infection, or two. The good news is this can be fixed with a few helpful tips and programs. During this four-step process, Computer Troubleshooters will guide you through the actions you can take for an HP laptop virus removal.
4 Steps to HP Laptop Virus Removal
Follow these steps to remove your HP laptop’s virus.
Step 1: Enter Safe Mode
To enter into Windows Safe Mode, first shut down your laptop. Turn it back on and as soon as you see anything on the screen, press the F8 key repeatedly. The Advanced Boot Options menu will appear, select Safe Mode with Networking, and then press Enter.
If you have Windows 8 or Windows 10, at the Windows login screen, select restart and hold down the Shift key. A window with options to troubleshoot your system will appear and you can choose the option to boot into Safe Mode.
If you log in and see a black screen, press CTRL, ALT, DEL to bring up the selection screen, and choose logout and then restart. Next, hold down the Shift key and select choose Safe Mode.
Step 2: Delete Temporary Files
Deleting any temporary files that you have on your laptop will speed up the virus scanning, free space and can even remove malware. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup > Select Delete Temporary Files
Step 3: Download and Run Malwarebytes
First, download, install, and update Malwarebytes onto your laptop. Once the program opens, keep the default scan option “Perform Quick Scan” selected and click the Scan button. Although it offers a full-scan option, Malwarebytes recommends that you perform the quick scan first. Depending on your device, the quick scan can take about 5-20 minutes and the full scan about 30-60 minutes.
If the quick scan does not find any infections, it will show you a text file containing the scan results. If you still think that your laptop has a virus, consider running a full scan. If Malwarebytes finds any infections, a dialog box informing you of the detection will appear. To see the files detected, select Scan Results. It automatically removes the infections that are known to be unsafe. If you want to remove other identified items, select those as well, and then click Remove Selected.
After removing the viruses, a list of the scan and removal results will appear. Review the results to confirm that the antivirus program successfully removed each item. Malwarebytes may prompt you to restart your laptop to complete the removal process.
Step 4: Tying Up Loose Ends
Your laptop should now be free of viruses, but your device may not be free of the effects the infection created. You may experience glitches to a particular search engine or homepages may come up that you did not choose. It is vital that you change all of your passwords and login data for anything that contains personal information like email and social media accounts.
If any viruses still exist or if you are having issues with your laptop, bring your device to Computer Troubleshooters. We are here to advise you with the best security services and can install security measures on all of your computers and devices, provide information about online safety, place hardware to protect your private information and more! To keep your devices protected from hackers and viruses, visit your local Computer Troubleshooters office today!
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