| 01. | Download the windowexeallkiller utility. Before you start messing with this program, do a "Create Restore Point." That way you can get back to where you started if you make an error. DOWNLOAD HERE |
| 02. | Move zipped file to any directory you like; "programs" is one possibility. |
| 03. | Unzip the folder. When you unzip the folder, a second, unzipped folder should appear in the same directory. |
| 04. | In the unzipped folder, right click on windowexeallkiller and make sure you choose "run as administrator." |
| 05. | You will see a bewildering array of file names. Remember that most of these are USEFUL and that you want to LEAVE THEM CHECKED. |
| 06. | It is likely the case that if you are using the windowexeallkiller utility you have tried very conventional removal tools like uninstall and they haven't worked.
You may have tried going to your C directory and using "search" tried to identify the malware that you can't get rid of. Although many malware files can be deleted manually, a few, such as toolbarupdater, have a defensive trick.
When you highlight them they activate and show up in your taskmanager as active programs. That means they are protected from conventional deletion.
So, at any rate, you can use your C directory search to find the various names used by the malware (toolbarupdater is from AVG).
The general point is that you have to be familiar enough with the enemy malware to identify it in this list, so you have to do a bit of homework on your own machine and also possibly on the Internet/google.
As we have said, by the time you decide to use the windowexeallkiller utility, you have likely exhausted conventional uninstall alternatives such as the Windows Uninstall utility in the control panel.
Even CCleaner does not get some of the junk that windowexeallkiller will find. |
| 07. | So, you've opened the file in "run as administrator" and you know what filenames are associated with your malware. In the open windowexeallkiller, you will see highlighted items. Many are friendly, but your foe is likely lurking here.
You have to go through them one by one. To be conservative, check anything that you don't understand or have not identified: many of these highlighted items are useful, such as motherboard software and windows utilities.
To understand what you are seeing, run the file names on a google search and see what you learn. You can delete many items (BY LEAVING THEM UNCHECKED) that you identify as useless in this way if you prefer. Nonetheless, the *safest* thing to do is target directly the specific malware you know is causing a problem, and leave everything else checked.
So, for example, with AVG the known issue is toolbarupdater and anything with AVG in the file name. So the conservative choice is to LEAVE UNCHECKED *ONLY* THOSE ITEMS with AVG or toolbarupdater in the file name.
That said, there is a lot of garbageware that comes with factory installed computers, which you cannot fail to miss because they will be annoying you with pop ups. So you may wish to remove more than one at once. |
| 08. | There are a whole bunch of files that have been checked by default (to preserve them). You might delete some of these some day but don't do it your first time around. |
| 09. | There are a bunch of files at the bottom of the windowexeallkiller display that are not highlighted, and not checked. Verify that your enemy file is not there, and just leave them alone. |
| 10. | You most likely have spotted your malware in the long list of files identified by windowexeallkiller. Make sure the malware is UNCHECKED. That everything else is checked, except the files at the bottom. Use the philosophy, "Innocent until proven guilty." |
| 11. | So now you're ready to kill the malware. There's a long bar at the top of windowexeallkiller's display of files. Click it, verify you want to run it in the popup that asks you if you really want to do this. |
| 12. | That's it, there are no bells and whistles to tell you that you're done. A brief note appears in the notepad file in your directory. If you want a good detailed view of what's going on do a "before" screen shot of your Task Bar programs--that is, before you run windowexeallkiller the first time--and compare with the output in notepad. |
| 13. | Now it's time to reboot. |
| 14. | Go back to your C directory and again search for the evil file(s). If it is there, don't despair. It may be that it shows up but has been deactivated. You can click on it and delete it (whereas before it would turn itself on and prevent deletion). If this has not worked, make sure: |
| A. That you ran the utility from an UNZIPPED folder. |
| B. That you RAN AS ADMINISTRATOR |
| ...so repeat procedure if you were nervous and forgot those things. |
| 15. | Empty your trash. Get that thing out of the entire system. Reboot again. At this point the evil file should be gone. |
| 16. | Create a system restore point and continue with your life. |
| 17. | Once you know what you are doing, windowexeallkiller can be a convenient uninstall tool, especially if there are many software removals that you wish to make. However, most people will likely prefer to use windowexeallkiller "when all else fails."
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| 18. | As a pointer, there are some malware files that appear to be able to generate from previously installed windows versions that are stored in your new windows. These old version show up as "windows.old" and "windows.old.000" and are created when you install a new windows operating system where there is an existing windows operating system. There are many easily used instructions for deleting these on the web, but deleting these old versions does not guarantee removal of active malware from your current system. |
| - From A user. |