McAfee Rootkit Remover detects and removes complex rootkits

Those who are conscious about PC security must be aware of Rootkit. At present rootkit is the most notorious kind of malicious program that designed to hide the existence of malicious processes or programs from normal methods of malware detection by security software. So, at present almost all reputed anti malware software come with rootkit module but the efficiency vary from software to software. McAfee Rootkit Remover is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove complex rootkits and associated malware.

Features

• Small executable (465 Kb), digitally signed by McAfee, Inc.
• No installation, the software is portable.
• The tool can be run by either double clicking it or through the command-line.
• The scanning starts automatically in command line interface that involves Initializing, Scanning & Cleaning.
• Scanning is usually instantaneous if no infection is found but in case of infection, scanning for associated malware takes some time.

No Infections Found

Infection Found (credit)

• It cleans automatically any infection found.
• When the process is completed, it prompts the user to press any key to exit the tool.
• The tool is designed to automatically save the report in the same folder as the tool is placed.
• Currently it can detect and remove ZeroAccess and TDSS family of rootkits. McAfee Labs plans to add support for more rootkit families in future versions of the tool.

My Verdict

McAfee Rootkit Remover is a freeware product from McAfee, Inc. So you cannot get support from McAfee regarding this software.

McAfee has created a step by step guide and FAQ of the product.

http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/how-to-use-rootkitremover.aspx

Following the reputation of McAfee I am ambitious about the ability of the software since I have no systems infected with rootkits (fortunately). On the other hand it is well understood among security concern persons no software can guarantee 100% removal of rootkits.

Few things to kept in mind while using the software.

1. You should create a restore point before using the software because it cleans any infection automatically and can thereby harm if it detects any system file falsely.
2. It is recommended to run the tool in Administrator mode.
3. It is not recommended to run the tool in safe mode since it can detect only active rootkits and in safe mode most are not.
4. In case of infection it is recommended to reboot the system to help the product kill the infectious threads injected into various processes leading to effective cleaning.
5. It is recommended to run a complete scan with a reputed security software in case any infection is found.

Download
Download the software from the following link
http://downloadcenter.mcafee.com/products/mcafee-avert/rootkitremover.exe
Usage of McAfee free products are subjected to specific terms.

Cheers !!