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The goal for this Wiki is to extablish a list of known good tools for cleaning up those pesky malware / virues that haunt windows clients. What tools do you like and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

I'll post my own favorite as an answer.

UPDATE: Not really sure why this was marked as off topic as desktops in the enterprise do get malware, and sometimes we have to clean them up.

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Looks like SU already has this superuser.com/questions/5478/user-safe-malware-removal-tools – Nixphoe Aug 8 '11 at 18:03
@Nixphoe: That's over 2 years old. I suppose it could be updated, but ... – wfaulk Aug 8 '11 at 18:16
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We don't do lists of products - this doesn't belong here or on SU. – Shane Madden Aug 8 '11 at 18:19
Not really sure why this was marked as off topic as desktops in the enterprise do get malware? – Alan Aug 8 '11 at 19:15
@Alan: One doesn't "clean up" compromised machines. You reinstall them from known-good media. Anything less is risking that a persistent malicious program will remain. – Evan Anderson Aug 10 '11 at 20:24
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closed as off topic by Jason Berg, Shane Madden, Ben Pilbrow, SvenW, Zoredache Aug 8 '11 at 18:22

Questions on Server Fault are expected to generally relate to servers, networking, or desktop infrastructure, within the scope defined in the faq.

2 Answers

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Ultimate Boot CD for Windows has about 12 different tools for virus & malware removal. The best part of using this boot CD is that it is out-of-band and therefore no viruses on the system can interfere with scanning and removal. You can also install it to a bootable USB stick and keep the definitions updated.

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I'll give you the answered for effort - despite the fact it only lasted 5 mins. – Alan Aug 8 '11 at 18:31
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I tend to find a Windows installation CD to be the best tool for removing malware. Backup the system. Format the system. Reinstall the system. Restore the backup. Fixes them EVERY time.

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Nuke from orbit. That's the only professional method, IMHO. – SvenW Aug 8 '11 at 18:09
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