Having a computer infected with a virus or spyware can be devastating to it. Getting virus and spyware removal services may be the only way to avoid replacing the computer.
If a computer just doesn't work, it's pretty easy to see that something is wrong with it. However, sometimes the symptoms of a computer infection are subtle and not so easy to detect. You need to be able to recognize the signs of infection before you lose important files or have important information stolen.
A computer virus works much like a virus that infects living beings. It just needs a way to get into a "healthy" computer, and it won't take long for the infection to spread throughout the computer.
When a computer becomes infected, one of the more common symptoms is that the computer becomes much slower. However, a slow computer can be caused by a number of things, such as not having enough memory or the system needing to be defragmented. If you attempt to fix both of these problems and the computer is still slow, there's a good chance that it is infected by some sort of malware.
If your computer has less memory available than it should, that also could be a sign of a virus infection. Unexplained changes to files; such as name changes, files missing or becoming corrupt, or new files being created; also are signs of a virus infection.
Spyware is different in that it is not trying to damage your computer, but it wants to steal some type of information and return that information to whoever unleashed the spyware. Some spyware will even change the configuration of your computer, but for the most part spyware is difficult to detect because it is designed to be covert.
A common symptom of a spyware on your computer is when the Home page on your Web browser suddenly changes. Also, when you do a search on a search engine, if the link takes you to a seemingly random website instead of the page you wanted to go to, that also is a sign of spyware.
If you start getting a lot of popup ads, especially if you're not even online or even using a Web browser, that also could be a clue that you have spyware on your computer. Spyware also has been known to add bookmarks to your Web browser.
If you suspect you have spyware on your computer, watch the light for your Internet connection. If it blinks a lot when you are not actively doing anything on your computer, it may be showing the activity of a spyware program on your computer.
Spyware also could affect your email. It could cause you to get emails bounced back to you, and it could send links to all your contacts in your email account.
Other general signs of malware on you computer include strange sounds like beeps or your fan going into overdrive. Also, your computer could suddenly start up programs, freeze up or shut down.
If you have any of these signs, or if your computer suddenly stops working correctly, scan your computer with antivirus software. If that doesn't work, you may want to consider getting help from a computer tech support company that offers virus and spyware removal services.
