Being in the new hi-tech century with the amount of internet usage continuing to increase, the threat of viruses is becoming ever more apparent and the most obvious way to stop them getting on to your computer is by the use of anti-virus software and spy ware programmes. You do not need to go and spend money on buying anti-virus software and some of the free ones are a lot better. The two main ones are AVG or Antivir. They are both very good programmes but I personally use AVG. Having anti-virus programmes is half the battle you also need a spy ware programme. Now there are a lot of programmes on the internet which offer anti spy ware protection but do not go thinking downloading any spy ware programme will completely protect you.
You will need to be careful as some spy ware programmes may charge you money or in fact they may even put more spy ware programmes on to your computer. The main programmes I recommend are ‘SpyBot Search & Destroy’ and ‘Ad-Aware’. Both of these programmes are free to download and are free to update which is essential to keep your computer protected.
Anyway the above information is on how to protect yourself from virus/Trojans, but what happens when you are infected? At least once a week you should do a virus scan and a spy ware scan and anything the programmes find you should either heal, delete or fix them but if the same problems keep on appearing each time you do a scan that means you have much bigger problem. The main reason for something like this happening is because the virus has infected your windows files and so the computer is using the infected files to run the PC and because the PC is using them the anti virus programme or spy ware programme is unable to get rid of them.
Now if this happens you should quickly restart your PC in safe mode. Do it quickly it will try to stop the spread of the infected file. This can be either be done by pressing F8 on start up but as with me that didn’t work with my PC so if you are using Windows XP go to ‘start>run>msconfig’ and on the first tab you should click ‘Diagnostic Start-up’ this is the same as safe mode. Turing your PC on in safe mode means that only the basic windows programming will be started and so hopefully the infected files will not be in use. So when you start the PC in safe mode run the anti virus and hopefully this will let you heal all the infected files. You should also run the spy ware programmes when in safe mode as this will ensure that as much spy ware as possible is removed. You should also do this even if your PC is not infected with a virus as it ensure as much spy ware and virus are removed as possible.
Now if you are still unable to get rid of the virus you do have limited options but you may be lucky enough to have a programme to remove that particular virus. Now you could do a Google search to see if there are any programmes but I would be careful as it could make things worse. However you could always check on Symantec Web Site to see if they have any programme. Remember if you use Windows XP you could a system restore but you will need to know when you got the infected file but again be careful as this will lose any documents you have done since you got the virus. Also doing a Google you may also find other people who have a similar problem or you can find out more about the virus which may inform you on how to get rid of it.
If all these fail you have two options you can either re-install windows without formatting or you can start new again and format your PC. The good thing is you should be able to back up all the files you need before the format which will cause you a lot less stress.
Well that is all I can think of so be gone, be enlightened and be protected.
Useful Hyperlinks:
AVG Free Edition
AntiVir
SpyBot search & destroy
Ad-Aware
You will need to be careful as some spy ware programmes may charge you money or in fact they may even put more spy ware programmes on to your computer. The main programmes I recommend are ‘SpyBot Search & Destroy’ and ‘Ad-Aware’. Both of these programmes are free to download and are free to update which is essential to keep your computer protected.
Anyway the above information is on how to protect yourself from virus/Trojans, but what happens when you are infected? At least once a week you should do a virus scan and a spy ware scan and anything the programmes find you should either heal, delete or fix them but if the same problems keep on appearing each time you do a scan that means you have much bigger problem. The main reason for something like this happening is because the virus has infected your windows files and so the computer is using the infected files to run the PC and because the PC is using them the anti virus programme or spy ware programme is unable to get rid of them.
Now if this happens you should quickly restart your PC in safe mode. Do it quickly it will try to stop the spread of the infected file. This can be either be done by pressing F8 on start up but as with me that didn’t work with my PC so if you are using Windows XP go to ‘start>run>msconfig’ and on the first tab you should click ‘Diagnostic Start-up’ this is the same as safe mode. Turing your PC on in safe mode means that only the basic windows programming will be started and so hopefully the infected files will not be in use. So when you start the PC in safe mode run the anti virus and hopefully this will let you heal all the infected files. You should also run the spy ware programmes when in safe mode as this will ensure that as much spy ware as possible is removed. You should also do this even if your PC is not infected with a virus as it ensure as much spy ware and virus are removed as possible.
Now if you are still unable to get rid of the virus you do have limited options but you may be lucky enough to have a programme to remove that particular virus. Now you could do a Google search to see if there are any programmes but I would be careful as it could make things worse. However you could always check on Symantec Web Site to see if they have any programme. Remember if you use Windows XP you could a system restore but you will need to know when you got the infected file but again be careful as this will lose any documents you have done since you got the virus. Also doing a Google you may also find other people who have a similar problem or you can find out more about the virus which may inform you on how to get rid of it.
If all these fail you have two options you can either re-install windows without formatting or you can start new again and format your PC. The good thing is you should be able to back up all the files you need before the format which will cause you a lot less stress.
Well that is all I can think of so be gone, be enlightened and be protected.
Useful Hyperlinks:
AVG Free Edition
AntiVir
SpyBot search & destroy
Ad-Aware
