A Compromised Computer Cannot Be Cleaned. It Must Be Rebuilt

If a computer is INFECTED, it is COMPROMISED and CANNOT be trusted, even if infections are removed. It's impossible to know the damage that has been done. I don't care what the marketers, antivirus, anti-spyware companies, or local computer shops tell you.

• Once it is determined that a system is infected, IF it's not backed up to a current or recent state, cleaning it up so it's usable enough to do that should be the ONLY goal.
• Then, the system NEEDS to be unplugged from the internet, rebuilt, and restored from backups.
• Don't believe BS that the system can be cleaned and left in production.

Even antivirus software can only be trusted to PREVENT infections.

Once infected, it's COMPROMISED and CANNOT be trusted.

A System Cleanup should only have to tidy things up.

To be clear, I mention spyware removal software in some blog posts on this website. This software should only be used to make the system usable long enough to grab files off it when a current backup is not available before a clean install of Windows.