Malware removal is normally an entirely automatic process. Your PC encounters something unpleasant, your antivirus package deletes it, and you carry on as before: easy.
Sometimes, though, life isn’t quite as straightforward. In particular, if you’ve spotted a suspect process that your security suite doesn’t recognize yet, then you’ll probably want to remove it manually. And that can be a real challenge.
You might try to delete the executable, for instance, but find Windows won’t allow it as the file is locked. Or even if you can remove a malware file, or any related Registry keys, another component of the virus may replace them. Which is just a little frustrating, but fortunately help is at hand in the shape of Emsisoft’s portable BlitzBlank.
This interesting tool allows you to specify files, folders, drivers, Registry keys and values, and decide what you’d like to do with them (delete, move, copy, and more). But the key difference is that, when you click Execute Now, the program reboots your system (after a warning, of course). It then processes your commands before Windows loads, and (hopefully) before the malware is running, which greatly improves your chance of success.
BlitzBlank has some interesting twists, too, such as the ability to replace a target file with a dummy (something of the same size and name but without containing any executable code). This could prevent other malware components from realizing you’ve disabled a part of their code, and replacing the missing file.
Of course you do need to use the program with extreme caution. If you delete some critical system file, driver or Registry key, or even if you remove just part of some deeply embedded malware, then you may find your PC won’t boot again (not even in Safe Mode). Don’t even think of trying BlitzBlank unless you’re properly equipped to cope with that kind of situation, preferably with a complete system backup to hand.
If you know what you’re doing, though, BlitzBlank is a useful tool that makes it relatively easy to dispatch stubborn files and Registry keys. It’s also reasonably small (1.09 MB) and portable, making it a worthwhile addition to most people’s security toolkit.
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