Before I start today I will tell you that I run all the security software you normally would on a computer. I also only run software that I recommend to you when you ask or when I write. That way I know what you can do for free and how well it works. I have always been satisfied with this arrangement.
Now, back to the story. I was on my desktop computer and up pops an alert from my antivirus application. I will not mention the name of it since it is an app that I have been testing for several weeks. BANG, I had malware!!!
I told it to take care of it by removing the offending malware files as I have done only a couple of times over the years. Then predictably the warning went away.
After anywhere from 10 seconds to five minutes I get another warning and another and another, etc. After a dozen or two of them I just let them go to watch what would happen. I figured my computer was probably already ruined so why worry about it further.
After a hundred or so alerts I ran Malwarebytes to take care of the problem. That application (which still does a good job in most areas) found them but it could not remove them either. At this point, I am starting to perspire.
I then shutdown my “now proven worthless” antivirus app and uninstalled it. I then install a more proven, reputable antivirus app. After it finished its set up it also found the malware but could do nothing with it either. I now shutdown this antivirus application and ran Windows Defender. Always keep in mind that you should run only one antivirus app on your computer at a time. Also, Windows Defender switches itself off automatically when you install a third party anti-virus app.
Windows Defender is the antivirus application that comes built into Windows 10 and has been available since Windows XP. For the past years, most geeks say to run a third-party antivirus app in its place since Windows Defender (WD to save space) is not as good as the others. I trusted the pros as I had never proven it to be good or bad for me.
The second I started up WD it found the malware and asked if it should remove it. I responded, “Heck yeah, kill it my new little friend!” Well not exactly but you know what I mean.
About five minutes later all of the malware was apparently gone and my computer was running smoothly once again. I rebooted it, ran the “dependable” antivirus software again and it said that everything was safe. I ran Malwarebytes again and it too reported everything as being safe and secure.
Now I have uninstalled all of the antivirus apps and let Windows Defender take over the heavy lifting. As far as I am concerned that is all I need now along with Malwarebytes.