Malware symptoms

If you suspect your computer has a virus, it's important to find out if you actually have one or determine if it's some other problem. There are tell-tale signs that can indicate whether or not you have a virus. Look and listen to see if you regularly have the following types of issues; then, you can resolve your virus if you have one and get your computer back to good health. If you don't have these types of problems, consider other troubleshooting options. To know what types of Malware there are, click here.

1

Look for obvious changes. Look to see if there are any changes to your desktop, your favorites or in the way your computer acts in general. If your desktop icons have moved around or if anything has been added to your desktop, this is a sign you have a virus. Look in the "Add/Remove Programs" section in Control Panel and see if there are any programs that you don't remember installing. Often a virus will install other programs that will cause problems. If you have a new toolbar in your web browser, this is another sign that you may have a virus.

2

Disconnect from the Internet. If your computer acts differently when you are connected to the Internet, that is another sign you have a virus. One of the chief purposes of many viruses is to steal your computer resources. When you're not online, someone on the other end isn't able to get to your resources.

3

Check your speed. One of the key ways to know if you have a virus is if your computer is running slower. Sometimes the computer will run just a little bit slower, but after having a virus for some time the computer will become extremely slow in everything it does. Disconnecting from the Internet may speed your computer up, but with malicious viruses it may not matter whether or not you are connected to the Internet--the virus will use your resources just to cause you problems.

4

Beware of errors. If you are getting strange errors or just more errors that do things like close your programs or cause you to restart your computer, there's a good chance you have a virus. Sometimes errors are normal, but they shouldn't happen constantly. Keep a log of when you get errors, what you were doing when it happened and how bad the error was.

5

Listen for noise. If your computer is making a lot of crunching noises accessing the hard drive when you aren't doing anything, then it's likely being controlled by a virus or someone who set up the virus. Most of the time when you're not using your computer it shouldn't be doing anything.

6

Inspect your security software. Check to see if your virus software, firewall or Windows updates have been changed or disabled. If you have security but it's not up-to-date or not quite good enough, a virus will disable the software to give itself and other viruses more access. For free Anti Viruses, click here.

Security Basics

Your computer is running at its best, but is it safe? You are never 100% protected online; you can get attacked within seconds, so it's best for you and your system to have protection, and do not fall for online scams spams and viruses. Before we continue on safety features, it's best for you to know what kind of malicious softwares are out there.

Malware, short for malicious software, is software used to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. It can appear in the form of code,scripts, active content, and other software. 'Malware' is a general term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software.

Software such as anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls are relied upon by users at home, small and large organizations around the globe to safeguard against malware attacks which helps in identifying and preventing the further spread of malware in the network.

Malware includes computer viruses, ransomware, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, keyloggers, dialers,spyware, adware, malicious BHOs, rogue security software and other malicious programs; the majority of active malware threats are usually worms or trojans rather than viruses.In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, as in the legal codes of several U.S. states.Malware is different from defective software, which is a legitimate software but contains harmful bugsthat were not corrected before release. However, some malware is disguised as genuine software, and may come from an official company website in the form of a useful or attractive program which has the harmful malware embedded in it along with additional tracking software that gathers marketing statistics.

For a malicious program to accomplish its goals, it must be able to run without being detected, shut down, or deleted. When a malicious program is disguised as something normal or desirable, users may willfully install it without realizing it. This is the technique of the Trojan horse or trojan. In broad terms, a Trojan horse is any program that invites the user to run it, concealing harmful or malicious code. The code may take effect immediately and can lead to many undesirable effects, such as deleting the user's files or installing additional harmful software.

Trojan horses

One of the most common ways that spyware is distributed is as a Trojan horse, bundled with a piece of desirable software that the user downloads from the Internet. When the user installs the software, the spyware is installed along with it. Spyware authors who attempt to act in a legal fashion may include an end-user license agreement that states the behavior of the spyware in loose terms, which users may not read or understand.

Once a malicious program is installed on a system, it is essential that it stays concealed, to avoid detection. Software packages known asrootkits allow this concealment, by modifying the host's operating system so that the malware is hidden from the user. Rootkits can prevent a malicious process from being visible in the system's list of processes, or keep its files from being read.

Rootkits

Some malicious programs contain routines to defend against removal, not merely to hide themselves. An early example of this behavior is recorded in the Jargon File tale of a pair of programs infesting a Xerox CP-V time sharing system:

Each ghost-job would detect the fact that the other had been killed, and would start a new copy of the recently stopped program within a few milliseconds. The only way to kill both ghosts was to kill them simultaneously (very difficult) or to deliberately crash the system.

Backdoors
A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication procedures. Once a system has been compromised, one or more backdoors may be installed in order to allow easier access in the future. Backdoors may also be installed prior to malicious software, to allow attackers entry.

The idea has often been suggested that computer manufacturers preinstall backdoors on their systems to provide technical support for customers, but this has never been reliably verified. Crackers typically use backdoors to secure remote access to a computer, while attempting to remain hidden from casual inspection. To install backdoors crackers may use Trojan horses, worms, or other methods.


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Cool Gadgets and programs

Since your computer is running at its best, you can add some gadgets and simple applications to make your life even easier.

• If you need an good uninstaller application that scans through everything in your computer in moderate/advanced mode, try "Revo Uninstaller", it's totally free and good to use; really useful to remove spams and scams from your computer.

• Do you want to know how much an application uses your computer resources, you can go to performance monitor, too long? there is a light weigh CPU measure  tool-gadget that tells you information about how much RAM, CPU cores percentage, Processor  rate, is being used. Click Here to continue; Intel  User? Go their website for full information.

• Do you like to write HTML/Javascript codes? but you want more advanced application than Notepad or text edit? Well there is an application called Notepad ++ that is specifically is for writing and executing HTML codes.

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