Is Your Computer Sick?

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.

About The Author

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...

Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising! Click Here> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

---

An Easy Way to Deal with Email Viruses and Worms

If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you... Read More

Screenplay and Script Writing Software

When it comes to screenplay software each screenwriter needs to... Read More

Software Automation Helps Increase your Bottom Line

When you own a small business, time is money. And... Read More

My Experience - Making a Vision into Reality

Disclaimer: All the thoughts expressed are my views only! Your... Read More

Cross-Platform Custom Software Development & Integration ? IT Strategy for Large Corporation

Microsoft Business Solutions products: Great Plains, MS CRM, Navision, Axapta,... Read More

Software Tools To Help Your Business Sell More

Sales are all about leverage, because there is only so... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains in Metal Distribution: Implementation & Customization ? Consultant Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves to the wide spectrum... Read More

Linux for Home Users

Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More

Microsoft CRM Modification ? Overview for IT Specialist

Microsoft CRM is now on the scene and it is... Read More

Free Software - Powerful Alternatives to Budget-Busting Software

When you buy a computer, it most likely comes with... Read More

Save Your Resources - Combine Your IM Clients

There are so many different programs that clutter up your... Read More

How to Make Attractive and Effective PowerPoint Presentations

Microsoft PowerPoint has dramatically changed the way in which academic... Read More

Protect Your Computer...and Your Business!

We all take the computer for granted. I mean, all... Read More

Quick Summary of Basic and Common Linux Commands

There are many commands that are used in linux on... Read More

Begun, The Browser Wars Have

As Mozilla Firefox nears 10% market share, with well over... Read More

A Simple Computer Software Definition

What is Software?Software is a set of instruction written to... Read More

Software Engineering: An Introduction

Software Engineering is the Systematic Approach for analysis design implementation... Read More

Bill of Lading ? Custom Reporting for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Consultant

Bill of Lading is required report for Logistics and Freight... Read More

Microsoft eCommerce Web-development: Great Plains eConnect .Net ? Highlights for Programmer

In our small article we'll consider Microsoft Business Solutions Great... Read More

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

This short paper will expand on two key reasons to... Read More

Adware and Spyware

What is 'adware'?Adware is basically software or scripts that are... Read More

PHP On-The-Fly!

IntroductionPHP can be used for a lot of different things,... Read More

Data Quality Best Practices for Salesforce.com

Executive SummaryAn effective plan for entering, cleaning and updating the... Read More

Separate Anti-Keylogging Protection: Who Needs it Most?

If there still are few unprotected computers left, I haven't... Read More

Enterprise Resource Planning Overview

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Overview covers What is ERP, Brief... Read More

Selecting Corporate ERP: Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ? Estimation Parameters

As we could imagine, if you are reading this article... Read More

Easy Guide to RAID Recovery

What is RAID RECOVERY?RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Government & Non-Profit Organization ? Workflow Implementation

Usually workflow & messaging is realized in CRM and then... Read More

Hubris - Definition: Microsofts Passport

Before September of 1995, Microsoft ignored the Internet because their... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Interest Calculation Example ? Stored Procedure for Crystal Report

This is intermediate level SQL scripting article for DB Administrator,... Read More

Collaboration Software: Index of Collaboration Software Technologies

Collaboration SoftwareCollaboration Software, also known as group collaboration software or... Read More

Software Upgrades Arent Always the Best Move

When my daughter was getting into AOL instant messaging (AIM)... Read More

SQL Administrator Skills Required to Support Microsoft Great Plains

Microsoft Great Plains is becoming more and more popular and... Read More