Something you never need to do.
You never need to buy a new computer just because of malware.
I regularly hear from people with machines infected with multiple pieces of malware. Their computer is crippled, and they just want it to work.
If that’s you, and you’re at the point where you’re considering getting a new computer because of it, STOP.
Before you get out your credit card, let me clear up some confusion and save you some cash.
No new computer needed
You never need a new computer just because of malware. Malware is only software, and software can be erased. If regular tools cannot clean it, you can back up your files, wipe the computer, reinstall everything, and start fresh and malware-free.
Hardware versus software
The fundamental concept getting lost here is the difference between computer hardware and computer software.
The components of your computer — the box, the power supply, the hard disks, the monitor — are hardware. They are physical things you can see, touch, and feel.
Windows, your applications, your data, your pictures, and anything else stored on your computer are all software. It’s all data — nothing more than a collection of ones and zeros — stored on magnetic, electronic, or optical media.
Malware is software. It’s nothing more than data: data crafted to cause your computer to misbehave, but data nonetheless.
And data can be erased.
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How a new computer solves malware infections
When you get a new computer, besides all that brand-spanking-new hardware, you also get completely new software. That new computer comes with a new installation of the operating system. New installations of the applications you use will either be preinstalled on the machine, or you’ll reinstall applications you’ve downloaded or purchased yourself.
The bottom line is that when you get a new computer, you’re getting completely new/refreshed software.
Unless you reinstall the malware, the malware is gone because you’ve started over from scratch.
You don’t need a new computer to do that.
Getting rid of malware without resorting to a new computer
Replacing your computer because of malware is like getting a new toaster because the bread was moldy. Yes, you’ll probably get fresh bread at the same time, and all will be well. But you could have just cleaned your toaster.
You can clean your computer.
“But that’s what I’ve been doing!” I can hear you saying.
Yes and no.
There are several approaches to malware removal. One approach is to run anti-malware tools and follow instructions to remove the malware while leaving your system otherwise (hopefully) unaffected. That’s a common first step… and second, and third, and fourth step, until your patience wears out. And that’s probably what you’ve been doing.
It’s where many people give up.
There’s another step you can take.
The nuclear option
Here’s the 100%-guaranteed five-step approach to removing all malware from your machine without buying a new computer.
- Back up your computer using a complete system image. Yes, you’ll be backing up the malware, but you’ll also be backing up everything else, including everything you care about and everything you didn’t know you needed.
- Reformat the computer. This will erase everything, including the malware. It’s gone. This is often part of the next step, but I want to call it out because of what it does.
- Reinstall Windows from scratch from the original installation media.1 You can use the same version or any version your hardware supports. Heck, you can use any operating system you might care to switch to, for that matter.
- Reinstall your applications from scratch, meaning fresh downloads or from installation media. These are the programs you use that don’t come preinstalled with Windows — office suites, different browsers or email programs, image management tools, etc.
- Restore your data from the backup or wherever else you stored it. Do this carefully to avoid reinstalling any malware. Generally, data backed up before the malware arrived should be safe.
The malware is gone. You have all new software on your computer.
It’s like buying a new computer, except you didn’t have to buy a new computer.
And it takes care of even the worst malware.2
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Prevention is best, and backups are second best
Naturally, prevention is the best approach to malware: don’t get it in the first place. My free Internet Safety: 7 Steps to Keeping Your Computer Safe on the Internet has a great overview of the steps you should take to keep your computer — your existing/old computer — safe.
But stuff happens even to the best of us. That’s another reason I’m such a strong proponent of regular system-image backups. If your machine becomes infested with malware, a backup will completely save the day.
- You can restore your computer to an image taken before the infestation.
- Or you can restore your machine to an image you took on the day you got the computer. That’s like starting over from scratch without needing to reinstall everything that was on the machine that day.
In either case, the malware is gone.
And, once again, you didn’t have to buy a new computer.
Maybe you just want an excuse
There are many reasons to get a new computer, but recovering from a malware infection is not one of them.
If you just want a new computer, then get one. Don’t wait for a disaster to make an excuse. Switching to a new computer is much more pleasant if you’re not trying to avoid transferring over the malware that got you into a bad situation.
You’re also much more likely to make a reasoned choice if you’re not under the gun to get a new computer fast.
So, sure, get a new machine. Just don’t kid yourself into thinking that you have to do it because of malware.
Do this
If your computer is infested with malware, then use one of the techniques I’ve just discussed to remove the malware. No new machine is required.
If you want a new computer, get one, but do it when the stakes and the pressure aren’t as high.
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Footnotes & References
1: Or, alternately, use system recovery disks provided by the manufacturer. Alternatively, restore a system-image backup you took prior to the infection, or one you took immediately after getting the computer originally.
2: I know that some will bring up malware that infects/damages the computer’s UEFI/BIOS. While they exist, they are extremely rare. It’s extremely unlikely that you have this problem. And if you do, the UEFI/BIOS is just another form of software and can typically be replaced/reset without buying a new computer.
As usual, excellent advice. I go a little further: Every two or three years I reinstall the operating system (Windows 10) and the applications. My data doesn’t need recovering because I keep software and data on different disks (except for those programs, like Outlook, that force data on to the C drive).
With Windows 10, reinstallation is rarely necessary, even if you’ve been hit with malware or some critical files were damaged. In the case of malware, you should have a good recent backup to roll back to and in the case of damaged critical files, sfc /scannow or a repair reinstall usually work, although a good recent backup is still best.
Agreed Mark, especially the point about having a good recent backup. I reinstall occasionally to effectively remove the overhead of applications I no longer need. It always surprises me how fast my computer is after the reinstall.
Leo – Might be worthwhile to emphasize the difference between “back up” in your “Nuclear Option”.
“1. BACK UP your computing using a complete system image. Yes, you’ll be backing up the malware…”
. . .
“5. Restore your data from the BACKUP or wherever else you happened to keep it. Do this carefully to avoid re-installing any malware. Generally, data backed up before the malware arrived should be safe.”
I presume the backup referred to in step 5 is from a backup that was created weeks or months ago, and NOT the backup created in Step 1. Some might assume you mean the backup created in step 1 even though you mention “before the malware arrived”.
BTW… a neighbor of mine had malware on her PC. The PC was “scrubbed”, OS reinstalled, software re-installed from www, and data restored from a 3-week-old backup. She was hit with malware within days. I checked her old backup and discovered she had an infected data file from 4 months earlier that was set to infect her PC at a future date.
No, I do mean the backup you just took. (If you had an image backup from before the malware’s arrival, I would assume you would have restored that and this step moot).
The key is that you would only restore your data. Malware generally infects programs and system files, so don’t restore them. And yes, even restoring your data needs to be done carefully, but as you restore your anti-malware program should have an opportunity to flag something bad. There’s also a very good chance you’ll realize that “I got infected when I opened this file” means don’t restore that file.
Leo is right as always. The thing I want to emphasize is that your computer being infected with virus is not “the” reason for buying a new computer. Ok, Leo explained that. But the basic reason is that even if you have a new computer, you still want to re-install your old data onto the new one. Do you have it? If you had not had a system of backup, then just go ahead and buy a new computer, and deal with the fallout. You may or may not have your data back. If you had backup, then you can follow Leo’s procedure, and nothing is lost except a bit of your time, so you don’t need a new computer.
There’s never a reason to get a new computer because of malware, no matter how bad it is. If you have a backup from before the infection, simply restore from that backup. If you don’t have a backup, perform a system image back up of the infected system to preserve your data. Reinstall Windows and your programs from their installation media. Copy the personal data from your backup.
If you are reading this article, you should never have to reinstall Windows because of malware, because if you’re paying attention 😉 , you will be doing regular system image backups and you’ll have a working system to restore to your machine.