Computer Virus Symptoms 

This is a very delicate subject to discuss and expand. Why? Because computer viruses are not like spyware or adware. These malicious programs have immediate effects, like changing the homepage, slowing down the computer, or throwing popup messages all over the place. Learn to recognize the symptoms because computer viruses are usually subtle and act silently. This is why you rarely notice an infection.

There are viruses that install themselves in your system in a matter of milliseconds and remain quiet until a given date and time when they strike, delivering their payload. Sometimes, the only way to see signs of virus activity is to look for suspect processes in the Control Panel. Even then, it is very difficult to say whether that is a virus or not. However, let’s assume you won’t be hit by these very few and very complex computer viruses and focus on the broad range of popular viruses.

First signs of infection

The second a virus enters your computer it starts to dig its way into the system, infecting other files and replicating. Your computer will begin to show a series of symptoms indicating an infection for example some programs become unstable or even crash. You might also see warnings. Please note that your antivirus can be the first to display an odd behavior. Many computer viruses are designed to attack the defenses of the computer and disable parts or the entire antivirus. In addition, your network bandwidth might be used without you doing anything. This is because the virus is replicating and sending itself out on the network. If your computer reboots or behaves strange, if your programs are not working like before, if you see strange warnings and error messages, chances are you are already infected…badly!

At this point, you can attempt to make backups. However, be careful and do a thorough scan before using them anywhere. You can attempt to install a good antivirus tool to try to repair most of the damage. However, critical files will be lost forever and there is no guarantee the antivirus will even get the chance to be installed.

Later signs of infection

Hardware errors will start to appear. For example, your CD-ROM will open and close without you ever touching it. Programs might go crazy and launch or close by themselves. Blues screens of death (BSOD) might become usual and so might sudden freezes. Icons can disappear, email attachments can disappear, popup messages and fatal errors will appear every few minutes. These computer virus symptoms are signs of a severe infection and, usually, the only way out is by formatting the entire system and reinstalling the operating system.

There is usually little hope to recover anything, not to mention restoring your PC to normal. It is like a disease. Once it gets to a point, nothing can save the patient.

What to do

If you experience any of these symptoms then it is safe to assume a virus has invaded. The best way to find out for sure and try to remove and prevent computer viruses is by using a good antivirus program. You can find dozens of these on the World Wide Web. However, compare before you buy! If the infection is very severe, there might be nothing left to do but format your computer and install a fresh copy of the operating system. Whatever the case, virus infections pose serious security risks. This is why you should be careful and pay attention to any of the computer virus symptoms outlined above and take action!