Scan and resolve threats using Norton Rescue Disk

Norton Rescue Disk is a recovery tool that helps remove malware from infected computers. It scans your computer in the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) and helps detect files infected with malware. You can use this tool to restore your computer to normal working mode when it is infected so deeply that it will not start.

If you suspect your computer is infected with malware and all other Norton scans are unable to resolve the issue, you can use Norton Rescue Disk. This method significantly increases your chances of detecting and removing malware because the malware cannot counteract.

Norton Rescue Disk can also be used to scan and remediate threats should you face difficulty in installing or running Norton products due to a virus infection in your computer.

You can create Norton Rescue Disk on a bootable USB recovery media or a bootable DVD recovery media. Follow the instructions in this article to learn how to create and use Norton Rescue Disk. We highly recommend that you create the Norton Rescue Disk tool and safe keep the media device.

1. Do one of the following:

   • Insert the DVD containing Norton Rescue Disk into the DVD drive of your computer.

   • Insert the USB drive containing Norton Rescue Disk into the USB port.

2. Restart your computer.

3. As your computer starts up, press the appropriate key to enter the Boot menu.

   Look for text on the computer's BIOS boot splash screen (usually the computer manufacturer's logo and/or hardware initialization details that are shown for a few seconds before Windows starts), which tells you how to access the Boot menu.
   Because of the wide variety of computer and BIOS manufacturers, there are numerous ways to access the Boot menu. The keys that are commonly used are Esc, F12, or F11. Some computer models or manufacturers also use other keys such as F10, F9, F8, or F5. Once you determine the proper key to access the Boot menu, restart the computer again and immediately start tapping that key.
   If you cannot access the Boot menu, refer to your computer's documentation on the relevant manufacturer's website, or try to contact the manufacturer's support.

4. When the Boot menu appears, select the USB/DVD drive containing Norton Rescue Disk. It may be listed as Removable Devices, USB Flash Drive, USB Storage Device, or CD-ROM Drive, CDROM, CD/DVD/CD-RW... (sometimes it is listed on a sub-menu with other storage drives).

5. Follow the on-screen instructions to boot from USB/DVD drive and start Norton Rescue Disk.

When Norton Rescue Disk starts on your computer, you can begin to scan for malware:

1. In the Norton Rescue Disk window, click Antivirus Scan.

2. If your computer is connected to the Internet, click Update VPS to ensure that Norton Rescue Disk uses the latest virus definitions.

3. Under Where to scan, select one of the following:

   • All hard disks: scans the entire computer.

   • Selected folders/disks: scans only specific folders or disks on the computer.

     If you choose this option, you must select the folders or disks to scan.

4. Check Scan all archives to include all compressed files in the scan.

5. Click Next and wait for scan to complete.

   When the scan is finished, review the scan results screen. Norton Rescue Disk identifies and lists all the security threats.

6. If threats are found, select one of the following:

   • Fix automatically: Norton Rescue Disk attempts to remove the malicious code from all infected files, while keeping the rest of each file intact. If it fails to repair any files, the files get automatically deleted from your computer.

   • Fix manually: Norton Rescue Disk lets you manually select and act on the infected items.

7. When the selected action is completed, click Finish.

8. In the Norton Rescue Disk window, on the File menu, click Restart.

When your computer restarts, you can remove the USB drive/DVD containing Norton Rescue Disk.