Windows malware deletion program

I am sure you are aware that Microsoft offers a free deletion tool for nasty programs available under Windows XP, 2000 and 2003 server (but not for NT 4.0, 98 or 98).

This tool allowed you to detect and remove known nasty programs such as Blaster, Sasser and Mydoom. Once these have been detected and removed, the tool will display a list of programs that are running on the server that should be deleted and these will be saved into a log called mrt.log, located in the %Your_Windows_Folder%\debug folder.

You should be aware that this tool is not an antivirus replacement, as for example it does not have a real time scanning function available in it. This is useful to verify that your system is safe and if it is not, then it can remove the infection.

Microsoft releases an update for this tool every second Tuesday of the month, available via Widows Update, which can be accessed directly from this page.

Note: The Windows Update version of this tool is automatically executed once a month by your computer. If an infection is detected, the tool will display a status report when your computer boots up.

To see a complete list of the programs that this tool will detect and delete, you can consult this page (document KB890830).

Note: This tool will send anonymous information to Microsoft in the event of an error or where detection is found, but this “functionality” can be disabled.

Installation
If you are running Windows XP with the automatic update function enabled, then good news, this tool is already present on your hard drive. For the others (Windows 2000, 2003 or XP), you can download it here.

Called MRT.exe, this tool is located in the System32 folder in Windows. To run it you simply need to go into this folder and double click on the file. You can also type the following command into the Start / Run field:

%systemroot%system32/mrt.exe

Or simply mrt