There can be no doubt that computer viruses make up a significant percentage of most system wide security breaches. Due to be reactive way in which most antivirus software developers function, no antivirus suite is ever fully up-to-date. Instead, updates are issued to the virus database once new viruses have been identified and a cure has been developed. For this reason it is important that people understand the steps they must take to clear a virus infection from an infected PC.

The very first thing that should be done when you suspect your PC of having been infected by a virus is to ensure that every available security update is installed via the Windows Update website. The reason for this is because Microsoft often release updates to the malicious software removal tool, as well is updates to fix security holes within the operating system itself.

Once you have installed all operating system updates you should then ensure that your antivirus software is fully updated. You need to be aware that it is not just the virus definition database that will need updating, you will also need to ensure that all program updates are installed an active.

Now you have updated the system software you need to take measures to clear down the infection. The very first thing that needs to be done is a full and exhaustive virus scan of the entire PC. Do not rely on the dynamic virus detection of your antivirus solution in this situation; instead you will need to instruct your antivirus software to perform a full system scan. This can take some time, and is properly best to run this scan overnight. Once this scan is complete it is highly likely that you will have one or more virus warnings, simply follow the prompts pursued by your antivirus software to deal with the infection.

In a very few cases, especially with extremely new viruses, the antivirus solution you have chosen to use may not pick up the infection. In this case you will need to find another way to rid yourself of this troublesome virus. What many people tend to do is try an alternative antivirus software solution, and in many cases different antivirus software will pick up the virus. If all else fails, the only way to be sure that you are completely rid of a virus infection is to reinstall your operating system and application suite.