Virus Repair & Removal

We have helped thousands of clients with viruses and other security threats over the last 5 years alone. Our virus and malware removal services are 100% guaranteed for every single job. Our combination of industry leading virus and malware removal technologies and seasoned, experienced technicians, provides our clients with the safest, most secure service for restoring infected computers to like-new condition.

Guaranteed Complete Removal

Our combination of the best available anti-virus and malware removal tools, and seasoned security experts provide our clients the safest most secure service for repairing infected or compromised systems. We’ll provide you with the best options for your unique situation.

We Won’t Lose Your Data

It’s all too common that computer users end up losing valuable data due to virus or malware infections. Many shops treat user data as something of little importance, often resulting in unnecessary data loss for the user. We have the tools and experience to ensure your data is restored and completely disinfected.

The Truth About “Cleanups”

We often help people who have had their infections “cleaned up” by local repair shops or corporate box stores only to suffer from a host of ongoing issues. These often include re-infections, loss of features, slow performance, ongoing random system errors, and internet search redirections, just to name a few. Many shops charge large fees to “remove” viruses, but fail to deliver on their promise. Don’t settle for anything less than perfection, let us fix it for you.

There Is No Single Solution

No anti-virus, internet security, firewall or other security software application is 100% effective. The best, most highly rated security software solutions are around 90% effective at detecting and stopping threats. There is a perpetual arms race between anti-virus firms and professional malware creators, so the situation for the end user is confusing and ever-changing. We can help train you how to recognize threats and practice safe computing habits to reduce your chance of ever being infected in the first place.

There May Be No Symptoms

As threats are often silently installed, users may not even know their security has been breached. We see many computers with severe infections that the owner had no idea were running on their machine. Virus infections are often mis-diagnosed as failing hardware or other problems.

They Invite Their Friends

Once you’ve got one infection, malicious applications often go out to the web to “phone home” and invite their friends to take us residence in your operating system and files. This means that even a minor security breach can quickly become more serious, as the floodgates are opened up to more serious infections.

How does a computer get infected in the first place?

There are many ways in which your computer can become infected. Most of the time, once an infection gets into your system, there is no way to trace back to determine exactly where the infection came from or how it was installed. Here are some common conduits for malware to get into your system.

From Infected Websites

Like computers, websites themselves can become infected, and infect users who visit the hacked or compromised site. Common plugins such as PDF viewers, media players,

From Outdated Software & Plugins

Old versions of Microsoft Office, Adobe Flash Player, internet browsers etc, often have known security holes that are never fixed. This is one of the most critical reasons to keep your software fully up to date.

From Malicious Advertisements

That ad on the trusted site you’re browsing, may look harmless, but the unseen world of internet advertising creates a shady, and lucrative, market for purposely infecting users via poisoned or deceptive ads. The purveyors of these ads receive compensation from malware authors for every system they infect.

From Google Bombing

It’s possible, and even common that popular applications and tools can be outranked by fake apps in a google search. For example searching for a free media player called “VLC” provides many search results, several of them are not only fake, but often malicious. Similarly, searching for “HP printer drivers” or “PDF to Word converter” are common searches that can lead users to be tricked into not only downloading, but installing malicious applications masquerading as useful apps.

From Pirated Software

That “quasi-legal” copy of Photoshop you downloaded may have been loaded up with a virus or trojan. We see lot of infections that stem from pirated software. This is not to say that all pirated software contains malicious threats, it’s just that you can’t always be sure. Pirate at your own risk, or not at all.

From Social Media

It’s common today that people’s Facebook, twitter and other social media accounts may become compromised. This can happen from a users system being infected and monitoring the users keystrokes and sending the logs off to the hackers who wrote the malware. Perhaps you’ve seen a post at some point from a friend posting some weird web link. Be sure not to click any links in social media that seem fishy, as doing so may take you to the same website that infected your friends machine.

From Social Hacking

During 2012 we saw a large increase of clients who’d been scammed into letting a so called “Microsoft tech support” agent remotely access their computers. These victims would receive a phone call claiming to be from Microsoft. The agents would quickly “discover” malware and offer to to fix it, for a price. Sometimes these scammers will even lockdown a users system with an unknown password, and demand a credit card in order to unlock it again. Never trust any random phone calls from a tech support agent asking to access your system, it is always a scam.

From Email Attachments

You’ve heard again and again “don’t open that attachment” if you don’t know who or where it’s from. The truth is, even trusted senders can themselves become infected, and inadvertently infect co-workers, family and friends in their contact list. Always use caution, be especially cautious of zip files and exe files, as these are often used as carriers for malicious code.

Know Thy Enemy

Viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and adware are collectively known as "Malware" short for "malicious software" but this can be broken down into a whole bunch of different classifications.

Viruses

A virus is capable of transmitting itself from computer to computer, often without user action, much like a real virus such as the flu, where people may become sick by contact with another infected person. Viruses are the most common form of malware we see.

Rootkits

The nastiest and most stubborn type of threat to get rid of, Rootkits are designed to evade detection by hiding within the “root level” of the infected storage device. Rootkits are often undetected by popular anti-virus software, meaning they can be running on your system even though your up-to-date security software may say “your computer is fully protected.”

Worms

A worm can literally “swim” through networks or file paths on a hard drive, seeking out and infecting machines. Basically a worm is designed to seek out a specific target and deliver a payload. Often used in corporate or state sponsored attacks such as the Stuxnet and Flame worms, which crippled Iranian computer systems in 2012. According to the NY-Times, these worms were designed and tested in Israel before infecting systems within Iran.

Trojans

The classic trojan horse attack in digital form. Trojans appear to be something of value or interest, only to secretly contain malicious threats. There are often multiple malicious payloads within a trojan horse attack, making trojans a common conduit for infections of all types including key-loggers and other viruses.

Spyware & Adware

The names say it all, as spyware and adware are specifically designed to surreptitiously install and run on your system, without your knowledge. The typical goal of these threats is harvesting personal data for advertising purposes. By monitoring you browsing and usage, spyware is able to deliver target ads directly to your system. Spyware and Adware are generally more of a privacy problem than serious threat, but are still important to rid from your system.

Key-Loggers

Deigned to run behind the scenes, completely hidden from the user, key-loggers are most commonly used to extract login information from a users email accounts, online banking, and social network accounts. These apps are sometimes loaded by persons with hands on access to your computer, such as a suspicious spouse or concerned parent. They can also come pre-loaded within pirated software.

The Truth About Security Software

The dirty little secret that repair shops, software makers and other tech support firms don't tell you is that NO ANTI-VIRUS application is 100% effective, period. The very best solutions provide, at best, 90% to 95% protection from todays cornucopia of malicious threats. New techniques and methods to infect computers are discovered and exploited everyday. Security firms are constantly identifying new malware threats and often will deconstruct the software through reverse engineering it and writing an "antidote" code which is then delivered to their customers.

So who’s got the best security software?

Independent research has shown that many of today’s most popular security applications don’t offer near the protection you might expect. Popular anti-virus and security applications often are only 70% effective at protecting their clients from today’s spread of security threats.

Many anti-virus and security programs are a leading cause of slow system performance, constant cryptically worded warnings, confusing user requests, incompatibilities with popular software and more. Most security and anti-virus programs install multiple background services and agents, and often run constantly, reducing performance while the application scans your files.

For your reference, here is a simplified breakdown of the current state of affairs in the world of software anti-virus options. As the playing field is ever-changing in the world of security, rankings and recommendations do change from month to month and year to year. This list is based on our personal experience over the years, in addition to current independent testing from leading research firms.

Good Anti-Virus Products

• Kaspersky
• Bit Defender
• F-Secure

Mediocre Products

• Norton
• Avira
• Komodo
• Sophos
• E-Set

Poor Anti-Virus Products

• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Mcaffe
• AVG
• Avast
• Vipre