Removing Storm Worm from a Windows XP Computer
Last updated
October 29, 2009 2:01:28 PM PDT
Follow these instructions to remove the Storm Worm bot/ virus from your computer without the need for reformatting.
Note: UCSD does not take any responsibility for harm to your computer that may result from this patch.
Instructions — short version:
- Download the zip file patch developed by ACT.
- Extract the zip file and save it to your computer.
- Remove prep.bat, remove.bat, sc.exe, and wget.exe from the folder.
- Run prep.bat.
- Restart your computer in safe mode.
- Log in with the username used to download the patch.
- Run remove.bat.
- If the Open File - Security Warning window comes up, click Run. Otherwise, wait for the computer to finish and then restart your computer normally.
- Secure your computer by setting up automatic updates for your antivirus software and Windows XP, and activating your firewall.
Instructions — detailed version:
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- Download the zip file patch developed by ACT to your computer.
- Extract the zip file. (Note: If you don't have a 3rd-party zip utility application, right-click on the file and select Extract, and then extract it to a folder.)
- Open the extracted folder and drag the prep.bat, remove.bat, sc.exe, and wget.exe icons from the folder to your desktop.
- Click prep.exe to start the application.
- If a prompt comes up, click Run. Otherwise, wait for the computer to finish on its own.
- Restart your computer in safe mode.
- To log in, click the username you used when you downloaded the patch.
- A pop-up window will indicate your computer is running in safe mode. Click Yes to continue.
- Click on the remove.bat icon you extracted earlier to start the application.
- If the Open File – Security Warning window comes up, click Run. Otherwise, wait for the computer to finish and then restart your computer normally.
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