The tool will check your computer in the background and stay silent if everything is fine.Īll you need to do is ensure the update is installed from Windows Update. Set Windows to automatically install updates, or have Windows alert you to updates and install it along with the other new security updates when they appear every month. You shouldn’t need to worry about this tool. Microsoft introduced this tool to purge these widespread worms and other popular types of malware from Windows XP system without antivirus software installed.

Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool page says “This tool checks your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps to remove the infection if it is found.” Note the three types of malware still described here in 2014 - these were widespread worms that infected many Windows XP systems back in 20, ten years ago. Microsoft introduced this tool back in the days of Windows XP, when Windows was very insecure - the first release of Windows XP didn’t even have a firewall enabled by default. 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?

Update kb890830