Why You Should Use an Antivirus Boot DiscĪntivirus boot discs deal with this by approaching the malware from outside Windows. The antivirus is attempting to fight the malware on its home turf - the malware can put up a fight. The problem here is that the malware and antivirus are both running on the computer at the same time. A rootkit could load at boot time before other Windows components and prevent Windows from seeing it, hide its processes from the task manager, and even trick antivirus applications into believing that the rootkit isn’t running. Rootkits, a type of malware that hides itself, can be even trickier. For really nasty malware, your antivirus software may not be able to fully remove it from within Windows. Antivirus software will try to stop the malware and remove it, while the malware will attempt to defend itself and shut down the antivirus. If your computer is infected with malware, the antivirus software will have to do battle with the malware. Standard antivirus software runs within Windows.
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RELATED: How to Remove Viruses and Malware on Your Windows PC From the Avast menu, select Protection > Virus Scans.The Problem With Cleaning Up Malware From Within Windows Once installed, open the Avast UI by selecting the Avast icon on the taskbar.
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All major antivirus providers support this feature, including the free-to-use Avast Antivirus, although alternatives to Avast are available and are perfectly suitable.
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While Microsoft Defender is a suitable built-in antivirus for Windows 10 users, you can also use third-party antivirus tools to perform an offline virus scan of your PC. Running an Offline Virus Scan Using Third-Party Antivirus Software
Make sure to remove your USB drive or DVD at this point and restore the correct boot order in your BIOS or UEFI settings to ensure that Windows will correctly boot up afterwards.
Once the process is finished, your PC will reboot and the malware should be removed.
Using the Older Windows Defender Offline Tool to Scan for Malware (Older Versions of Windows)