Virus Removal

Did you know a virus is created every minute? Hackers are always trying to find new ways to scam and exploit innocent victims. They come in various fashions such as email, websites, file downloads, and social media.

Here are some signs that you may have a virus

Computer performance degrades

If you notice your computers performance degrading over time, you probably have a virus. When a virus takes over your computer, it hogs CPU resources which in turn slows down your computer.

Startup takes forever

If you haven’t made any significant changes to your computer and it’s taking forever to start up, it’s probably because your malware is starting up too.

New toolbars & tray icons

This is usually either a virus or spyware. These addons usually are installed to spy on a users computing habits.

Your computer is infected, buy this antivirus!

This is very common for tricking people into buying something they do not need. The hacker runs a malicious script in your browser and makes a popup appear either on the browser or on your computer, telling you that you have a virus. You click the popup, buy the fake antivirus, which gives the hacker your money and in turn it only installs another virus.

Your browser crashes and/or you get a new homepage

This is browser hijacking and usually does not let you find a way to remove the virus.

You can’t access your task manager

This is typically a virus. A virus disables the task manager to prevent you from killing the infected process.

You can’t access your folder options

Usually viruses make themselves hidden somewhere on your hard drive. If you cannot unhide folders and see hidden files then the virus may have made certain files hidden and locked it so you can’t unhide them.

You can’t access your registry editor

Your registry editor is the brain of your computer. After a virus infects your system, it’s likely to disable you from getting to the registry editor.

Your CPU usage is at 100% constantly

You can run control + alt + delete and see if your CPU usage is running high. If it’s constant 100% then you likely have a virus.

Signs you have a Facebook Virus

If you’re noticing feeds on your wall that you didn’t post, or that an application is posting without your knowledge then your Facebook has been opened. Also, if you’re friends are telling you that you sent them a message when you don’t remember doing so, then you’ve probably been hijacked. Click here for instructions on how to immunize your Facebook.

How do I prevent viruses?

Get a good antivirus protection. Keep in mind that just because a salesperson at a big box store sells you a hundred dollar program, it doesn’t mean it’s good. Most of the free antivirus suites are just as good if not better than the expensive paid programs. We recommend the FREE Avast. AVG is decent but it’s a resource hog and doesn’t provide as frequent updates.

Install a quality firewall. ZoneAlarm is a great free firewall and does a great job.

Install anti-spyware protection. Spybot Search & Destroy is great, and the FREE Avast works great as well.

Beware of email attachments. If you didn’t expect a file, don’t open it. Just because it comes from one of your friends, doesn’t mean it’s legit and their email didn’t get hijacked.