Has your antivirus program or Microsoft Defender detected Misleading:Win32/Lodi malware? Wondering what it means and whether it will harm your PC?
If you’re looking to find out what the “Misleading:Win32/Lodi” warning means, then you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what Misleading:Win32/Lodi means and how you can remove it from your computer.
Table of Contents
What is Misleading:Win32/Lodi?
Misleading:Win32/Lodi is not malware but a scareware software program that is designed to display false computer diagnostics in order to lure you into purchasing unnecessary applications.
If you have installed computer programs to tune-up your PC, clean your computer, install missing drivers, or a similar kind of program, then chances are that your antivirus is displaying the Misleading:Win32/Lodi warning due to these programs.
Some of these programs display misleading information such as “Your PC has 1,857 outdated drivers and must be updated now! Buy now to fix this problem”. Many antivirus programs and Microsoft Defender classify these programs as “Misleading:Win32/Lodi”.
In some cases, it can also be a false positive especially when the warning is related to a program that you’ve had for a long time or which is legit, such as VPN apps like CyberGhost, PureVPN, and SurfShark.
In short, Misleading:Win32/Lodi is not a virus and you shouldn’t be worried much about it.
How to remove Misleading:Win32/Lodi?
1. Remove the offending software program
The best way to get rid of Misleading:Win32/Lodi is to uninstall the program that is causing this warning to appear.
When Microsoft Defender or your antivirus program quarantines the software or file posing this threat, it will display the name of the program along with its full path. In most cases, you can choose the delete option to remove the threat from your computer, but I would suggest that you also manually look for it to ensure that it’s been removed.
2. Ignore the warning if it’s a false positive
It is common for antivirus programs to detect false positives by labeling legitimate software programs and files as malware.
If the Misleading:Win32/Lodi warning is related to a software program that you’ve been using for a long time and which you find to be highly reliable, then you can simply ignore this warning as it may be a false positive.
In addition, you should report this to the software developers so that they will investigate the issue.
3. Scan with Microsoft Defender
Perform a full scan of your computer to find out which software programs are classified as scareware and delete them if they are not legitimate.
To run a full scan, do the following:
- Open the Start menu and search for “windows security”.
- Click on the Windows Security app and go to Virus & Threat Protection.
- Below the “Current threats” section, click on Scan options and select Full Scan.
- Click on the Scan now program.
- Delete all the quarantined programs that have been categorized as Misleading:Win32/Lodi virus.
FAQ
What does misleading Win32 Lodi do?
Misleading:Win32/Lodi are scareware programs that mislead users into thinking that their computer has viruses or issues and tricks them in purchasing unnecessary programs, such as the ones that promise to tune up your PC or fix registry errors.
Even though it is not malware and will not harm your computer, you should delete all programs that have been classified as Misleading:Win32/Lodi.
