Viruses and spyware usually show up on your computer one of
two ways.
Either they invade your system with a frontal assault like
the Huns attacking the Romans, or they sneak in a back door
like a cat burglar.
Either way, once a virus or piece of spyware gets on your
system, getting it off can rate harder than curing a severe
case of trench foot!
Viruses, malicious programs designed to disrupt normal
computing, and spyware, programs intended to literally "spy"
on your activities, can enter your computer a number of
ways.
Most commonly they enter your system through an email
attachment, by sharing files with an infected computer by
disk, as a "ride along" with a 3rd party program you
install, or through a "back door" port in your computer.
Regardless of how they get on your system, once in place,
they cause no end of headaches and frustration.
The following represent typical signs you may suffer from
infection by a virus or piece of spyware.
Your computer starts acting oddly by doing things it never
did previously.
Your modem starts trying to dial out to the Internet without
you initiating a surfing session.
You notice that files start disappearing, the system stalls,
runs slowly, or even crashes frequently.
Your computer takes progressively longer to boot up every
time you start it or you notice that your available hard
drive space has disappeared. Strange popup windows appear,
even when you're not surfing the web, or you delete a
program and it "magically" reappears next time you boot the
system.
If you suspect you a virus or a piece of spyware has invaded
your computer, follow these steps to first identify and then
delete the offending code:
Step 1 - Back up your important files, but remember to scan
these files for viruses before reinstalling to avoid
accidentally re-infecting your system.
Step 2 - Update your anti-virus definitions and perform a
scan of your hard drive.
If you don't carry virus protection, or you suspect your
anti-virus software got corrupted somehow, then log on to
www.pandasoftware.com and use the free Panda Active Scan
service to check your hard drive for viruses.
Follow the instructions for quarantining and removing the
offending files.
Step 3 - Scan your hard drive with an adware, scumware, or
spyware detection and removal tool like Adaware
www.lavasoft.de/support/download/ or Spybot
http://spybot.safer-networking.de/.
Step 4 - In many cases, when the virus or spyware program
gets installed with a free utility or game you download from
the Web, you must usually uninstall the utility or game to
finally get rid of the problem once and for all.
Step 5 - Avoid re-infection by keeping your anti-virus and
firewall up-to-date at all times.
As a last resort, if you run into a program you simply can't
get rid of, but can figure out the offending file's name, do
a search for the file name on Google.com. Often you will
find you're not the first victim and may get valuable advice
for cleaning up your system.
However, be very careful of the information you find and
think twice before modifying any system files. |
