Remove Viruses with Windows Live OneCare Online Scanner

If your computer is infected with malware and you do not have an antivirus product installed, then you can use the Windows Live OneCare online safety scanner to get rid of the viruses and spyware. The Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service which allows you to scan and remove viruses and spyware from your computer. It can also help you get rid of junk on your hard disk and improve your computer’s performance by cleaning the registry. Here is how :

  1. Visit http://onecare.live.com/ in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Click on the Full Service Scan button.

    Live OneCare Safety Scanner

  2. After agreeing to the license agreement, click on the Install Now button to install the scanner in your browser. The Windows XP edition of the scanner is different from the Windows Vista and 7 edition of the scanner. You may have to allow the installation of the ActiveX component in the Information Bar of the Internet Explorer.

    Live OneCare Safety Scanner - Installing

  3. After the installation of the Windows Live OneCare plugin is finished, you can click on the Launch Scanner button to start it. Then select the types of scans and areas to be scanned. If you are confused, just choose the Complete Scan as shown. Click on the Next button to start the scan. After downloading the components (it takes few minutes), the scanning of your hard disk would start.

    Live OneCare Safety Scanner - Scanning

  4. After the scanning is finished, you would be shown the summary of results. Click on a category to see the detailed results. By default all the virus and spyware infections found are selected to be removed. Just click the Next button to go ahead and remove them.

    Live OneCare Safety Scanner - Cleaning Virus

  5. Windows Live OneCare safety scanner will repair the selected problems it found and will show a summary box of which problems were repaired. Then you can close the Internet Explorer browser window.

If your computer is heavily infected, then you should boot your computer in the safe mode by pressing the F8 key at the computer startup and selecting the Safe Mode from the menu. Then follow the set of instructions shown in this article. It is also highly advised that you install a complete on-access antivirus product like Microsoft Security Essentials to keep your computer safe in the future. For more information, you can visit the Windows Live OneCare online safety scanner web site at http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm.