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Help : Tip of the Month : Tips Archive
Answers to many of your
computer related questions.
Current
Tip
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I think I may have a
virus!
There could be many reasons for your computer to act strangely.
If you think your computer may have a virus, the first thing
you should do is find out for sure by running a virus scan of
your machine. If you have antivirus software, have it search
your computer for the latest viruses. If you do not have such
software, many antivirus companies, including Symantec and McAfee,
offer free virus scans on their websites. Once you know for
sure which virus you're dealing with, you can find a removal
tool for that specific virus on some of these antivirus sites.
Follow the instructions on the site carefully.
Afterward, you may have to repair whatever the virus did. It
may also be a good idea to disconnect your computer from the
Web or from your network once you realize it has been infected
in order to keep the virus from sending itself to other machines
via your email.
What is a virus?
A virus is any computer program that can "self-replicate"
or make copies of itself and spread itself from one machine
to another without the help of the user.
Viruses are often programmed to carry out other actions separate
from replication. These actions, or payloads, vary from the
annoying (altering a computer's homepage) to the damaging (deleting
files). Because viruses are computer programs, they can do anything
a normal program can do, including deleting files, formatting
hard drives, and overwriting the BIOS. But though many viruses
do carry such payloads, a program does not need to have a payload
in order to be considered a virus. Some viruses do nothing at
all.
How do viruses spread?
Viruses can be spread via floppy disks or CDs, email attachments,
or in material downloaded from the Web, although the majority
of viruses that are currently a threat are spread by email.
These viruses are usually hidden inside of attachments emailed
to computer users, and the emails are usually labeled with intriguing
subject lines -- "I Love You" or "Anna Kournikova
Naked" -- designed to tempt users into opening them. When
the attachment is opened, the virus is activated, and the user's
computer becomes infected.
Often, viruses are programmed to spread themselves by emailing
a copy of the attachment in which they're hidden to all the
other email addresses in an infected computer's address book.
So once your computer is infected, all your friends and contacts
are at risk as well.
How do I avoid getting a virus?
The best way to avoid getting a computer virus is to never
open attachments. Since most viruses are spread via email attachments,
refusing to open such attachments will keep you from getting
many viruses.
If you must open an attachment, contact the person who sent
you the attachment to make sure they sent it. Because viruses
often spread themselves via an infected computer's address book,
emails from people you know aren't automatically safe.
Also, check the type of attachment before opening it. Attachments
that end with the .vbs extension (Visual Basic script) or the
.exe extension (program files) pose a real danger and are often
how viruses are spread.
Finally, make sure to install and update antivirus software.
Companies such as Norton, Symantec, and McAfee offer many kinds
of antivirus programs, some of which are downloadable from the
companies' websites. You can use this software to scan attachments
for viruses before you open them.
You can also run an antivirus program that utilizes "on-access"
scanning. This type of scanning takes place constantly, automatically
checking every file, program, or document every time it is opened
or used.
