Sometimes malware and potentially harmful software, such as rootkits, try to install themselves on your PC. This often happens when one connects to the Internet or upon accessing a CD, DVD, USB or other media device. Once your PC gets infected, it can not only become impossible to remove the virus using the existing anti-virus software, but can also make i nearly impossible to boot from the installed operating system. In such a case a Windows re-installation might seem as the only solution, which may result in data loss.
Windows Defender Offline tool has been designed to resolve this problem. It can remove hard to find malicious and potentially unwanted programs using malware definitions that recognize threats. What makes this application more useful than a conventional anti-virus/anti-malware application is its ability to boot from a CD, DVD or USB device to remove the toughest viruses and other kinds of malware. This can help you remove the malicious agent to reclaim your PC and also to purge infected files, which are normally locked during a logged in session.
Just launch the portable Windows Defender Offline setup and follow the simple wizard for the creation of the bootable medium.
Note: You must download the appropriate version i.e. 32-bit or 64-bit, according to your installed operating system. If you don’t know whether your installed Windows version is 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64), then check out my post: How To Check If Your Windows Operating System/PC is 32 bit or 64 bit.
Once the wizard starts, the new window will display information about the creation of the bootable media device. Click Next to continue.
In the next step, accept the terms and conditions and either select the media device (CD/DVD or USB) or select the last option to create an ISO file, which can later be burned to a media device.
You will be shown a warning message that all data on the selected media device will be erased. Click Next to continue.
This will install Windows Defender Offline tool on the selected device or create an ISO file (as selected).
Once done, boot your computer anytime from the bootable device to scan and remove infections from your PC.
This application may not only be useful for computers that are unable to login to the installed operating system, but also to remove infectious agents that may seem irremovable by the use of conventional anti-virus applications.
Windows Defender Offline tool works on
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
