£40

Virus and malware removal in Staines

Most infections now announce themselves through the browser rather than through dramatic warnings: a search engine nobody chose, adverts on pages that never carried them, and a machine that has quietly become slow.

Most clean-ups are finished the same day. If a scam call was involved, the account side is dealt with alongside the machine — a cleaned computer attached to a compromised email account has only solved half the problem.

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What tends to bring a machine in

The symptoms below rarely arrive alone — where one is present, a couple of the others usually are too:

The browser opens on a search page nobody chose, and it returns after being changed
Adverts and pop-ups on sites that have never carried them
Toolbars and extensions that reinstall themselves
Full-screen warnings insisting you telephone a support number
The machine has become slow, with the fans working hard at idle
Someone rang about a problem with your computer and was allowed to connect to it

After a scam call

If someone was given remote access — a call about a refund, a virus, or a bill you never had — the priority is not the software they installed but what they saw while they were connected. The remote tools go, the browser sessions and saved passwords are treated as exposed, banking and email access is changed from a different device, and the machine is checked for anything set to reconnect later. This is a common job locally and there is no need to feel foolish about it.

Cleaned, not flattened by default

Reinstalling Windows removes anything, and it also removes the printer drivers, the saved passwords, the software licences and everything sitting on the desktop. It is the right answer for a deep infection and the wrong one for a browser hijacker. The state of the machine decides which it gets, and the choice — with the reasoning — is put to you before anything is wiped.

Leaving it in a state that stays clean

The clean-up is the easy part; not being back in three months is the useful part. Windows Defender is set up properly and left as the protection rather than stacked under two competing paid suites, browser extensions are pruned to what you actually use, updates are turned back on if something disabled them, and — where it is wanted — a password manager and two-factor authentication are set up on the accounts that matter.

What it costs

Virus and malware removal is £40, covering the clean-up, the browser reset and putting sensible protection back in place. If the machine turns out to need a full Windows reinstall instead, that is £55. Diagnostics are free when you bring it in, and an on-site visit is free within Staines and £15 beyond.

See the full price list