Best Free Trojan Scanner and Remover

Introduction

Malware, trojans and threats Most PCs are now connected to the Internet and networks, making easier the spread of malicious software (malware), which includes trojans (also known as trojan horses), viruses, worms, spyware, adware, rootkits and other malicious or unwanted programs. Like spyware and adware, trojans can get onto your computer in a number of ways, including from a web browser, via e-mail, or in a bundle with other software downloaded from the Internet. You may also inadvertently transfer malware via a USB flash drive or other portable media. It is possible that you could be forced to reformat your USB flash drive or other portable device in order to eliminate the infection and avoid transferring it to other machines. (After all, you don't want to be the one who infected your network at work because you were bringing in some music to listen to.) Unlike viruses or worms, trojans do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. On the surface, trojans appear benign and harmless, but once the infected code is run, trojans kick in and perform malicious functions to harm the computer system without the user's knowledge. For example, waterfalls.scr is a waterfall screen saver as originally claimed by the author, but it can be associated with malware and become a trojan to unload hidden programs and allow unauthorized access to the user's PC. Some typical examples of threats by trojans are as follows: Erase, overwrite or corrupt data on a computer Help to spread other malware such as viruses (by a dropper trojan) Deactivate or interfere with anti-virus and firewall programs Allow remote access to your computer (by a remote access trojan) Upload and download files without your knowledge Gather e-mail addresses and use them for spam Log keystrokes to steal information such as passwords and credit card numbers Copy fake links to false websites, display porno sites, play sounds/videos, display images Slow down, restart or shut down your computer Re-install themselves after being disabled Disable the task manager Disable the control panel To minimise the threats, most PC users will need an effective anti-malware program to remove trojans along with other malware. Anti-malware and anti-trojan programs As more computer security developers are extending their product capabilities to address more than one type of malware, the boundary between different types of anti-malware programs is no longer clear-cut and has become blurred. For example, an anti-virus program such as AVG Anti-Virus covers not only viruses, but offers protection against spyware, adware and others. An anti-spyware program such as SuperAntiSpyware not only detects spyware, but removes trojans, rootkits and other threats. Likewise an anti-trojan program can offer to remove viruses, spyware and other types of malware. More appropriately, these security products are to be classified as anti-malware programs rather than to be grouped by the name of the products. In this respect, anti-malware products which are designed to detect and remove trojans more effectively than the others will be reviewed in this category. How many anti-malware programs do I need to install? The following extract attempts to answer the aforementioned question and forms part of Gizmo Richards' Support Alert Newsletter, Issue 156, April 2008. Interviewer: So do you still need an AV program plus an anti-spyware program and an anti-trojan scanner? Gizmo: For the majority of average users the answer is no. A single competent broad spectrum anti-malware product is enough. Of course, not everyone is an average user. Users who engage in high risk activities, like sourcing their software from P2P services, should load up their PC with all the protection they can get. Similarly, there are users for whom the best possible protection is paramount, regardless of cost or performance implications. Finally, users of freeware scanners who cannot afford [and/or are unwilling to pay for] a premium product may be well advised to use more than one signature-based scanner. Disclaimer Despite their ratings in this review, some anti-malware programs in certain cases are able to detect more malware than the others depending on their designs, online databases and the infections on computers.

Discussion

Emsisoft Anti-Malware   is a good choice to scan and remove malware, especially trojans, from your PC. It reliably removes the trojans containing backdoors, keyloggers, diallers and other destructive pests that make it dangerous to surf the web. Other than trojans, it also can be used to recognize and remove spyware, adware, tracking cookies, worms, viruses and rootkits from your PC. Designed for ease of use, this program combines Emsisoft Anti-Malware and the Bitdefender Anti-Virus engine in the latest version to cut down on unnecessary double detection routines for one and the same malware. Prior to version 7.0 Ikarus was employed, but this has now been replaced by Bitdefender because of the former's tendency to produce false positives. Any suspicious file/s can be uploaded to Emsisoft for analysis: www.emsisoft.com/en/support/submit/ and also, you may find their forums helpful: support.emsisoft.com/ Features such as quarantine, online updates and heuristic scan for unknown malware are included. From the Emsisoft website, "When downloading, you'll get the full version including all protection features for 30+3 days for free. Afterwards the unpaid software switches to a limited freeware scanner mode that allows you to scan and clean your PC whenever you want, but does not include the protection features against new infections". In other words, the free version does not provide other features such as file guard, behavior blocker and surf protection. Click Here To Download Emsisoft Anti-Malware

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware   (MBAM) is an on-demand scanner which can be used to find and remove trojans, along with other malware such as viruses, worms, rootkits, diallers and spyware. While it will never win any prizes for its user interface, the program is intuitive and simple to use. As there are daily updates, always ensure the software has been updated prior to scanning your PC. For those of a forgetful nature, you can set the program to warn about the database being outdated. MalwareNET, which is an online database, revealed that nearly 20% of the total objects detected by MBAM were related to trojans. Other features include: multiple-drive scanning;  quick scanning; ignore list; quarantine (to hold threats prior to deletion or restoration) along with various settings to enhance performance of the program. FileASSASSIN is also included to enable deletion of locked files. Another plus point is that MBAM rarely causes any conflicts with other anti-malware utilities. If you encounter problems that are not covered in the help section you can visit the Malwarebytes forum: forums.malwarebytes.org/ Click Here To Download malwarebytes-anti-malware

Trojan Remover Program Trojan Remover aids in the removal of Malware - Trojan Horses, Worms, Adware, Spyware - when standard anti-virus software either fails to detect them or fails to effectively eliminate them. Standard antivirus programs are good at detecting this Malware, but not always so good at effectively removing it. Trojan Remover is designed specifically to disable/remove Malware without the user having to manually edit system files or the Registry. The program also removes the additional system modifications some Malware carries out which are ignored by standard antivirus and trojan scanners. Click Here To Download trojan-remover-program

SUPERAntiSpyware  (SAS) is worth a try as well. In addition to its focus on detecting and removing spyware infections, this program deals with trojans and other types of threats such as diallers, keyloggers, worms, rootkits, etc. It supports a quick scan, complete system scan or custom scan with trust items and exclude folders. The program also provides an option to check for latest definition updates before scanning to protect you from the newest threats. SAS also has a Trojan Threat ListThere are 100 examples of different dll and exe files, all of which should not be allowed to run on your PC. Clicking on any of the items in the list will give you a more detailed description of that particular threat. Among other features, it includes Hi-Jack Protection which prevents other applications (excluding Task Manager) from terminating the program. Click Here To Download super-anti-spyware