HijackThis

Today's modern malware and spyware alter the settings of the system web browser and certain applications, in order to spread into the operating system. Most antivirus programs cannot fix these problems properly and not even specialized applications for the removal of malware aren't good enough to fix registry and application problems caused by malware. Fortunately, there is a program specially designed for this purpose. The name of the program I am talking about is HijackThis. This simple Windows application can scan the system for changes caused by malware and can fix all of them in a very short time.

The application is not difficult to install or to use. After running the program, the user has two choices, either to scan the system for malware and generate a log file or to scan the system without creating a log file. The first method is better because having a detailed log file, it's easier to see what settings and keys are repaired.

After the scanning process is over, the user can view all the problems detected and can choose to repair all of them or only the selected ones. The program also offers some info regarding each found item. Clicking on the Fix checked button will quickly fix all found problems. Alternatively, one can create a log file regarding every found problem. Besides fixing any problem, HijackThis automatically makes a backup of them, so in case something goes wrong, the user can always revert to the original settings.

Certain items can be added to an ignore list, so that the program doesn't display them the next time it scans the system. Besides dealing with problems generated by malware, HijackThis also includes some extra tools, like a process manager, an uninstall manager and so on.