RELATED: Why Windows Has More Viruses than Mac and Linux If it finds a infection and fixes it, the tool will display a report telling you which malicious software was detected and will be removed after you restart your computer.

If everything is fine, Windows will run the tool silently in the background without bothering you. This tool checks for specific, widespread types of malware and removes them if it finds them. If you install updates manually, you’ve probably been installing it as part of the manual update process - it’s considered an important update, not just a recommended one.Īfter Windows downloads the newest version of the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal tool, it will automatically run it in the background. If you have your computer set to automatically install Windows Updates, it will be installed automatically. Microsoft releases a new version of this tool on the second Tuesday of every month - in other words, on “Patch Tuesday.” It appears as just another patch in Windows Update.

What is the Malicious Software Removal Tool?

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