Removing Malicious Processes in Windows
By Bryan on October 20, 2009 | Security basics
What is a process?
A process is a code that loads into the system’s memory when you run an application on your computer. In other words, it represents the whole application. When the process is terminated it stops the program from loading.
All the processes that run on your computer may be checked by using Windows Task Manager. Most of them are essential for your system to run properly, whereas the others show the software that is run by the user (e.g. firefox.exe). However, some processes might be launched without the user’s permission and might even be hidden.
Kill malicious processes before removing the malware.
Malicious processes such as trojans, spyware and adware appear on your system, because they are programs just like web browsers or office tools. Your system security software is able to detect these parasites but if they are running at the time when you’re trying to remove them, they will not be deleted. It is like trying to remove a file, which at the same moment is in use. The system will not allow such an action.
Please note, that malicious programs are harmful for your computer and do not perform any useful actions, therefore they should be removed as soon as possible. In order to do so you have to kill the malicious processes before you remove the program itself.
Things you should be aware of when terminating the processes.
Although killing computer processes does not seem very difficult, you should be aware of the risks it might cause. If you by mistake terminate one of the system’s vital processes, your computer might stop working. In this way some important data might be lost, so you should always make sure that you are about to terminate the malicious process, before you do so.
In order to save your time and effort we strongly advise you to perform an anti-spyware and anti-virus scan using a reputable security software, such as Spyware Doctor. By doing this you will avoid the risks of the manual malware removal process.
However, if you decide to kill the malicious processes yourself, you should back up significant files and create a System Restore point. This should be done so that processes that are important for Windows would not be removed, as the malicious ones might be named similar or even the same to the processes that are vital for your system.
How do I terminate malicious processes?
1. Start Windows Task Manager
Go to Windows Start menu, select Run, then type in taskmgr and press OK.
2. Locate and terminate malicious processes
Go to the Processes tab to observe the active processes. In order to find the needed process more easily arrange processes by their name. Find the malicious process, select it and click End process to terminate.
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