One possible solution to the blocking problem is to temporarily kill the malware. If it doesn’t detect and remove it, or if you can’t run Windows Defender Offline, or if you just want to keep scouring your machine with additional tools, there are other tactics. Hopefully, it will detect and remove the malware that’s causing your problem. Let the tool perform a thorough scan of your machine. Your computer will reboot and run Microsoft Defender Offline. Scan options showing Microsoft Defender Offline scan.

Click on Scan options, select “Microsoft Defender Offline scan”, and finally click Scan now. Click on Virus & threat protection when it appears. In previous versions of Windows, this involved downloading and running Windows Defender Offline, 1 but it’s built into Windows Security in Windows 10.Ĭlick the Start button and search for “offline scan”. I recommend that you begin by running an offline malware scan.

You’d love to download and run up-to-date anti-malware tools, but you can’t. When it sees you doing anything that could lead to its removal, it steps in to cause the operation to fail or to redirect you to sites of its choosing. It’s even monitoring what programs you run. It’s watching for downloads that look like anti-malware tools, and web (or other) access that might be going to anti-malware sites. What you’re seeing is the malware on your machine actively watching for you to try to remove it and thwarting your attempts. When all else fails, the nuclear option of a reformat and reinstall is the most pragmatic, last-ditch effort. If still unsuccessful, restore to the most recent image backup taken prior to the infection. If that fails, try other anti-malware tools.

If needed, move on to RKill, which kills much of the malware that may be stopping you, and allow you to run the anti-malware tools you have. Malware can interfere with your attempts to remove it.

Original malwarebytes free download