Do you Suspect a Virus?

Are you having problems that weren't happening just a short time ago? Viruses rarely announce their arrival and most commonly their destructive passage begins slowly, and builds up to create multiple problems in your computer.

Here are some of the most common symptoms of a virus and / or spyware infection:

• Your computer is running really slowly when it used to be much faster
• Odd error messages are appearing in different programs and in Windows
• The CPU usage of your computer is unusually high
• Your internet connection is busy when you aren't doing anything
• Programs are failing at odd points
• The computer crashes
• The computer starts up and / or shuts down by itself

There are many other symptoms depending on what virus you have, but these are some that we have noticed people complaining about recently.

If you suspect that you might have a virus, what should you do?

• Check that your antivirus software is currently up to date. You haven't allowed your subscription to expire, all your automatic updates are in place and those antivirus programs which require engine upgrades from time to time, like Vet, are upgraded manually to the latest engine version.
• Close all your running programs (and that includes all the programs that only feature as little icons down on the right hand of your task bar - right click on them and choose exit or close) and then open your antivirus program and do a full system scan.
• If your antivirus program detects that you have a virus, follow the procedure to get rid of it.
• If your antivirus cannot get rid of the virus, note the name of the virus and then enter it into Google and get more information about how to get rid of it.
• You will probably have to run your anti spyware programs as well to clean up any spyware and adware.
• If you are still having trouble, take your computer to a technician to clear it out.

There are several different anti-virus software programs available, but they are not all equal in capacity to deal with viruses, nor are they all easy to use. Here is a run down on the 4 most common brands for home computers that we encounter and finally our recommendations for the best antivirus program we currently have access to.

Firstly we do not recommend any free antivirus programs that you can pick up on the internet. They are often loaded with spyware and their efficiency is usually less than desirable.

McAfee antivirus in our experience has been known to occasionally prevent scandisk and defragmenter from operating on PCs and often slows the performance of the computer. It has also been known to allow some viruses to infect the machine even when up-to-date. It does not provide spyware or other types of protection without the purchase of additional software programs.

Symantec Nortons in our experience has been shown to slow down the machine on which it is operating and to take unwanted control of many windows functions. It can conflict with other programs running on your computer and it provides no network support. It often prevents downloading from the internet without asking for user permission. It is expensive to renew and there is no spyware and other protection without purchasing additional programs.

Computer Associates Vet program can be inconvenient for inexperienced users as you must remember to check manually at the Vet website for new engine upgrades. They are not automatically downloaded to your computer like the minor updates. This can lead to a lack of virus protection when a new attack occurs. Even with the engine upgrades in place, new viruses have been known to get through. There is no network protection and no spyware or other protection without the purchase of additional software. For antivirus protection, Vet is our second choice recommendation.

Trend Micro PC-cillin is our top recommendation. This program is truly simple to update, is networkable and provides virus protection, firewall security, spam filtering, spyware detection and removal, anti-phishing, wi-fi intrusion detection, and parental controls for safe kids' browsing. The default settings are for dialup connections and broadband just needs changing to home or office network settings.

All the named brands cost the same for a new subscription, but only Trend provides all the protection you need for no further cost. The finest recommendation we can give it, is that we have changed over to this antivirus in our business.