If you're experiencing any of the following symptoms, you quite likely have malware:
Common programs for configuring and repairing Windows, such as MSCONFIG and System Restore, don't work.
Messages from a program you never installed pop up and tell you that your computer is infected, your hard drive is dying, or you have some other serious problem.
Your browser's home page keeps changing to something you don't want, and/or your search results aren't what they should be.
Your computer slows down sometimes for no apparent reason.
But what if you've got one or more of these symptoms, yet nothing in your battery of malware-fighting programs finds something evil?
The solution is to use a Linux-based malware-fighting program that boots off a flash drive or CD-ROM. By working outside of Windows, and outside the hard drive's boot sector, these programs can better get around the malware's defenses.
I'm going to recommend two of them, both of which can boot off flash drives or CDs.
Source PcWorld
