When your PC is infected by malware then of course you’ll want to remove it immediately – but that won’t necessarily be the end of your problems. Malware will often change key browser or Windows settings to suit its needs, and restoring these can take a very long time.

Or you could just use Anvisoft’s free Browser Repair Tool, which claims it can fix everything you need with just a single click.

The program is certainly convenient to use, a compact (633KB) portable file which you can download and run immediately on the damaged system.

On launch, everything the program can do is displayed on a single main screen. So it can restore your Internet Explorer home and search pages, for instance; allow access to IE’s Internet Options dialog; set IE as your default browser; remove browser cookies, clear IE’s history, and reset your DNS to one of several public servers (OpenDNS, Google DNS, Norton DNS, and more).

Check boxes for the repair options you need, then click Fix to carry them all out

Sounds good. Keep looking, though, and you’ll find options which aren’t quite so clear. What does “Block Windows Startup Pop-up”, do, for instance? And how will the program fix whatever it thinks the problem is: strip away all your startup programs?

Then there’s “Repair Network Associated Items”. Which items is the program talking about, and what, exactly, will the fix do?

And elsewhere, “Restore WinSockLSP” will, presumably, strip away layered services providers (network addons) which aren’t a part of Windows. This can be very useful, but as a result you may find you have to reinstall some network or internet-related software. And there’s no Help file to warn you of the problem (or explain the answers to any of our other issues).

If you’re an experienced Windows user, and you make a backup of your settings before you start (a system restore point will be fine), then probably none of this will matter too much. You’ll be able to choose the options you need, and repair Windows and IE in just a few seconds.

Novice users may run into difficulties, though, as it looks like there are some genuinely powerful repairs here, which could cause problems in themselves if applied incorrectly. The Browser Repair Tool needs to be used with care, and hopefully Anvisoft will provide more documentation in future editions to tell us more about exactly what the various repairs will do.