Virus Protection

A computer virus is a program or a piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge. Some viruses can actually replicate themselves. Computer viruses can actually be destructive, while some can just be a nuisance.

There are a number of different ways to prevent a virus from infecting a computer. A person has to understand that there are different ways a computer can become infected. One of the most common ways is through email attachments, but a computer can also be infected by shared files on a network, or by visiting a website that contains a virus.

The easiest way to not become infected is by purchasing an AntiVirus program. There are a number of different choices to choose from, some of the more popular ones are Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus, McAfee’s VirusScan, and Trend Micro’s PC-Cillin. All of these products offer the same protection. They all have the ability to scan a computer for viruses and they can even scan emails to see if a virus has attached itself to an email. Yet, a person has to be responsible for updating these programs because new viruses are released everyday and the makers of these products offer upgrades that allow the programs to detect new viruses, as long as you keep a subscription to their services you will have access to new virus information and you will be able to detect these new viruses too.

Since most viruses are spread through email attachments, you should never open any attachments, especially from someone you know, unless the email states that it is okay to open the file.  A person is more likely to become infected by someone they know than by some random email that came from an unknown sender.

If you have already been infected by a virus, chances are that you can safely remove it without losing all of the data stored on your computer. There are a number of websites that you can visit to check your computer for viruses including: www.symantec.com and www.antivirus.com. They both offer online virus scans that can help you identify the virus or viruses.  They also offer free tools that you can download to remove specific viruses.

Different viruses affect a computer in different ways. There is no tell tale sign that your computer is infected with a virus.  For the most part if you notice that your computer is behaving strangely or that it has degraded as far as performance goes then it could possibly be infected with a virus. I would recommend periodically checking for viruses with any sort of virus scanning program.