Fully Understanding Computer Viruses

A computer that is not performing well can be frustrating for any computer user. This is especially true since the user invests money into the computer. As such, it is important for the user to find out why their computer is not working correctly and to fix the problem. One common problem is a computer virus. It is important to understand exactly what a computer virus is and how to recognize one on your computer.

Computer viruses are basically computer programs that duplicate themselves rapidly. Unnoticed by the computer user, these malicious programs duplicate themselves on one computer and then move on to the next. Typically this occurs in one of two ways. The first is through a network connection. The second is through a media device that the user will attach to the computer. This can be anything from a floppy disk, for those who still use them, to a flash drive. Compact disks can also carry viruses.

After understanding what a virus is, it is helpful to know how to tell if a computer is infected. The first symptom of a computer virus is slower performance on the part of the computer. This is most obvious when the computer cannot complete a job such as opening a file in a short enough amount of time. If a computer takes only three seconds to do a job on Monday and a whole minute to do a job on Tuesday, it clearly has a virus.

The second symptom is demonstrated when a computer crashes or freezes. Typically this means the user will have to press the computer's reset button or shut it all the way off and then let it reboot. Obviously, this can be very frustrating.

Also frustrating is what occurs in the third symptom of computer viral infection. In infected computers, it may become impossible to access internal or external drives. If this happens in a computer, one can be almost certain that it has a virus.

The fourth symptom is demonstrated through printing difficulties. Printers that are attached to infected computers tend to be either inaccessible or unusable. When they do print, they do not perform as well as they otherwise would.

The fifth symptom is the one that most points to a virus with the greatest certainty: disabled anti-virus software. Obviously, the computer virus programmer did not want the host computer to have anti-virus software. As such, one of the functions of the virus is usually to disable the computer's anti-virus software. This is noticeable by checking the software after starting your computer or by running a virus scan and the software being disabled during the scan.

It is important to remember that problems in the registry as well as malware, spyware, and adware can also lead to the above symptoms. Do not assume it is a virus. However, you should also make sure to rule out a computer virus if you expect to fix your computer.