Many people refer to malicious software as the malware. This deadly software can ruin most of the functionalities of your computer. Malware can get to your computer through many mediums such as a floppy drive, CD drive, pen drive, internet etc. Internet is the main source of malware in most cases. There is a very well planned trap set up by the bad guys, to get your computer infected. A very lucrative sounding popup would appear to you, claiming to do a free virus scan on your computer. Once you invite it for the same, you have actually invited the trouble. You would soon be offered to install an anti virus program that would clean up virus from your computer. Many people also get fooled to pay for the fake anti virus. This is an ugly situation, wherein you could end up paying for getting your computer ruined.

The term scareware also refers to the same malicious software. Microsoft has come up with a study that reveals about 4.4 million computers infected by scareware. Some of the scareware you should keep away from are: Personal antivirus, XP antivirus, DriveCleaner, RapidAntiVirus, Antivirus?09, and WiPC antivirus.

So how do you get rid of malware? It could be a painful task to get rid of malware from your computer. If you have been unfortunate to install malware on your PC, you may want to read on. There are several options to choose from, and we have discussed all such options below.

Never forget to take a backup of your precious data, before you start your regime to fight the malware. Losing your valuable data in the battle may not be a good idea. You may use your flash USB drive, Floppy drive (if sufficient), or a CD drive to take back up. Once you have completed taking the back up, you can get on to tackle the malware.

Installing an anti malware on your infected computer may rarely work for you. Unless the malware is too weak, your anti malware will never be able to clean up the smart malware program. It is advisable to install an anti malware software, well before you fall into trouble. Installing it on an infected computer may rarely solve the issue.

One good option is to install the malware in the safe mode. In safe mode, you can expect the computer to stop the malware software from performing any operations, as the computer tends to stop all programs from performing any independent operations. This could be an ideal situation for your anti malware to clean up things. However, the idea may not work too well if the OS is also infected. The safe mode may not work as usual.

Now, we discuss the arguably best means of removing malware. Disconnect your infected hard disk from your computer and reconnect it to another computer as data (not primary). The computer you connect to must already have a good anti malware installed. This will allow the anti malware to effectively remove the malware. You may want to repeat the process with many computers installed with different anti malware software. This is a time taking job, but worth the effort.

In case it suits you, you could simply format your current copy of OS, and install a fresh one. The process is simpler and does not need you to bother about any remedies.