Have you ever come across malware infections serious enough to make booting into the operating system difficult? Multiple pop-ups and other fake system messages that make your system crawl or imagine a situation where the malware makes it impossible to run any application let alone an anti-virus utility. A perfect setting to burn yourself a rescue CD or a DVD and blast those offensive malware from your system.
An anti-malware rescue disk (CD, DVD or USB stick) is quite an excellent way to clean a seriously infected computer, which might not be possible using regular anti-malware applications. What makes them special?
- You can clean the system without booting into the infected operating system as most malware programs gain control when the operating system is being loaded.
- Almost all of them are based on a portable Linux based operating system.
- User friendly graphical interface or optional command-line interface (Console Scanner) for advanced users.
- Provides a safe connection to Internet and your Network.
- The virus database/definitions can be automatically updated over the Internet/network or from a removable disk.
- Backup data to a removable data storage device or another computer.
- Runs a File manager, Internet browser and even an e-mail client to let you be productive when the scans run in the background.
- Nearly all of them are FREE!
You can find a number of rescue disk images and USB applications from the page here at Anti-Malware Rescue CD and DVD. I do particularly recommend the rescue disks provided by Kaspersky and Dr.Web as they have all the features mentioned above and they are excellent in cleaning a variety of malware.
Once you have downloaded the image file, it needs to be written to a CD or DVD. Should you need any help, you can find a comprehensive guide for writing the image file at How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD or DVD?.
The actual process of booting the PC from the CD/DVD or USB stick involves changing the boot sequence in the BIOS. In order to boot from USB, BIOS of your computer must support USB-HDD boot devices. A key must be pressed to access the BIOS settings during the PC start-up, usually the “Del” key, F1, F2 or other Function key. The key to be pressed is usually shown on the screen itself while booting up. If it doesn’t please consult your motherboard manual.
- Press the designated key to enter the BIOS settings.
- Navigate to the Boot tab
- Select the device to be used as first boot device.
- CD-DVD ROM drive if you are using a CD/DVD disk.
- Removable devices or USB devices if you are using a USB stick.
- Save the changes to the BIOS and exit.
Just make sure that the CD/DVD disk in the drive or that the USB stick is inserted while the system restarts and the operating system from the removable disk/stick is loaded.
Have you ever used a anti-virus rescue disk? Share your experience in the comments below.