How to Remove a Virus from Windows Without Paid Antivirus

Your PC is infected but you don't want to pay for antivirus? Windows has powerful free tools that handle most malware. Here's exactly what to do.

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Step 1: Boot into Safe Mode

Safe Mode prevents most malware from loading.

Hold Shift and click Restart → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart → press 4 (Safe Mode) or 5 (Safe Mode with Networking).

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Step 2: Run Windows Defender Full Scan

# Start a full scan from PowerShell (run as Administrator)
Start-MpScan -ScanType FullScan

Or: Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options → Full scan → Scan now.

Wait for it to complete — this can take 30–60 minutes.

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Step 3: Download and Run Malwarebytes Free

Malwarebytes catches things Defender sometimes misses.

1. Download from malwarebytes.com (free version)
2. Install and run a Threat Scan
3. Quarantine everything it finds
4. Restart your PC

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Step 4: Clean Temp Files

Malware often hides in temp folders.

# Run as Administrator
Remove-Item "$env:TEMP\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "C:\Windows\Temp\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

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Step 5: Check Startup Programs

Malware often adds itself to startup.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc → Startup tab → look for anything suspicious or unknown → right-click → Disable.

Then open Registry Editor (Win + R → regedit) and check:

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Delete any entries you don't recognize.

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Step 6: Reset Browser Settings

Many infections target browsers.

Chrome: ... → Settings → Reset settings → Restore settings to their original defaults.

Edge: edge://settings/resetProfileSettings

Firefox: about:support → Refresh Firefox.

Also check installed extensions — remove anything you didn't install.

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Step 7: Check Hosts File

Some malware modifies the hosts file to redirect websites.

notepad C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

It should only contain lines starting with # (comments) and possibly 127.0.0.1 localhost. Delete anything else.

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Signs Your PC is Clean

• No more pop-up ads or random browser redirects
• CPU and RAM usage normal in Task Manager
• No unknown processes in Task Manager
• Browser homepage and search engine are back to normal

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When to Reinstall Windows

If malware keeps coming back after removal, or you suspect a rootkit — reinstall Windows. Back up your personal files first (not programs — those may be infected).

Settings → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything.

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Summary

Safe Mode → Windows Defender full scan → Malwarebytes Free → clean temp files → check startup and registry. This sequence removes 95% of common malware for free. For persistent infections — a clean Windows reinstall is the safest solution.