Windows Defender Offline For Disinfecting PCs That Can’t Go Online [Beta]

Microsoft has released Windows Defender Offline, an offline antivirus tool, for PCs that are badly infected by malicious and other potentially unwanted software, including rootkits, to even get full access to the Internet.

The offline antivirus tool basically allows a user to boot their infected Windows computer system from a CD, DVD or USB flash drive. It uses the most recent definition update available to scan the PC for malicious and other potentially unwanted software. It then helps the user to disinfect the PC from the hard to detect threats.

This tool is particularly useful to remove certain kinds of malware that prevents the user from visiting any security or antivirus website. Many malicious programs uses methods to prevent users from accessing those websites to prevent detection and cleaning. Sometimes, they corrupt Windows files to prevent any kind of network access.

Wile announcing the release of Windows Defender Offline beta, Microsoft said, “Windows Defender Offline Beta can help remove such hard to find malicious and potentially unwanted programs using definitions that recognize threats.”

How to use Windows Defender Offline beta?

Follow the steps below to download and use Windows Defender Offline:

  1. First, Download Windows Defender Offline Beta to create the CD, DVD, or USB flash drive on a PC that isn’t infected with malware.
  2. You will need a blank CD, DVD, or USB flash drive with at least 250 MB of free space, run the downloaded tool, it will help you create the removable media.
  3. Now, boot your infected PC using the Windows Defender Offline Beta media.
  4. Scan your PC for malicious and other potentially unwanted software.
  5. Remove any malware that is found by this tool from your infected PC.
  6. Here’s a FAQ created by Microsoft for your help in using the tool. Complete system requirements is available here.

Earlier, we’ve covered Kaspersky Rescue Disk which helps you disinfect severely infected machines. These bootable tools are extremely useful for disinfecting the toughest to clean malicious or unwanted programs from the PC. But, keeping these tools updated is a very tedious task.

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