Anytime you get a virus or a spyware infection on your computer, they can be pesky to remove. Most people have to scan several times to remove it 100%. There are also many cases where you still cannot get rid of something completely without taking things a step further, and that is scanning from safe mode. This method is nearly 100% in removing all types of viruses and spyware. We’re going to tell you how to do it below.

Providing you still have internet, download the installer for Malwarebytes and Ad-Aware (but do not install them yet). Put them in a folder on your C drive that you can remember.

Turn off your computer and turn it back on. Start tapping F8 almost right away until you get a screen where you can select what type of boot you want to do. One of them will be safe mode. Select it with your keyboard and hit enter. (Sometimes the menu won’t come up, that just means you missed it. Restart your computer, and start hitting F8 earlier or maybe tapping a little more rapidly)

Once you are in safe mode, the computer will ask you to select “OK”, confirming that’s what you want to do. Now all you have to do is navigate to the directory where you stored the anti-spyware programs and install the program. Remember, when you scan your computer always make sure to do a “full scan” if given the option. It takes a lot longer but it scans everything.  There’s no use in scanning if you’re not going to totally clear things out. I suggest using just one program to start with, scan and remove any infections. Then reboot back into safe mode again and repeat. Then install the second program and scan a third time to make sure it’s all gone.

The next step is a little trickier. What you want to do is follow the same procedure listed above, but when you are booting into safe mode, on the list where you chose “safe mode” there is one called “safe mode with networking”. Select that option. You will notice it looks a lot like regular safe mode, but what you won’t notice right away is you now have internet access. The next step is the one that really cleans out your system. Make sure you now open the spyware program and update it’s definition files. Most programs have a really clear update area or button. Once the update is complete, you just need to scan and remove any infections one more time. Once that is done, you can hit the start button and simply restart your computer.

We still suggest that after the reboot into normal windows, you scan just one more time to be sure. You may be saying to yourself, “geez that’s a lot of steps”, and your right, it is, but its not like you have to sit next to your PC and watch it scan. Feel free to go do other things non computer related while it scans. It is important that you totally nuke any and all infections, because often even a single file left behind could download more spyware to your PC. Then you’ll have to do it all over again.

This process is exactly what we use in our computer repair shop, and it pretty much works every single time.