I Have a Computer Virus. What do I do?

 

Most of us have been there, but whether we have or not doesn’t reduce the panic of noticing a really annoying virus has decided to take-up residence in your computer. Whether it’s flashing strange colors, pop-ups are covering your screen, or the particularly annoying one where certain words are turned into links, they always seem to come at the most inopportune time possible. So what do you do to protect yourself from computer viruses?

The Useful Windows Tools

Considering the market for downloadable anti-virus software is a multi-billion dollar industry, it may come as a surprise to learn that all recent Windows computers come with a system that, while not perfect, is often a good place to start when it comes to defending against and removing viruses from your computer.

Windows Defender acts as a decent firewall, preventing quite a few attacks most people may find themselves faced with, as well as providing some ability to scan and remove viruses. While it won’t work as well as some of the more well known options, it is a good place to start. It can be found on the Control Panel.

Quality Virus Scanners and Removers

If you do an internet search for ‘virus scanner’, and simply go by what you see on the results page, it’s quite likely that you’ll come away with not only the virus that led you to look for a scanner, but a new one that may well prevent other scanners from even working.

Instead, research different tools. There are options available for both free and that you can pay for that are high quality. Panda Cloud and Avast are two great options, though you may find tools in others to be more to your liking. One rather constant in the computer repair business is that if you want to get a group of us to argue, ask us what the best anti-virus tool is. The truth of the matter: they’re all rather well, to the point where it comes down to personal preference.

Google

If your problems allow you to open up a web browser, try doing an internet search of the problems you’re seeing. Not every problem can be solved with a quick scan and clean; some require considerably more effort. But one thing with computers, though, is that chances are if you’re experiencing an issue, someone else has and has turned to the internet to try to find a solution.

Windows System Restore

If you can’t seem to find a solution to what you’re seeing, another option on the table is called System Restore. Every so often your computer takes a look at how your computer is doing, what’s installed, downloaded, saved, and what isn’t and makes a record of that.

System Restore allows you to pick one of those times and restore your computer to that point. It’s often best to figure out when you first noticed your computer having issues and choosing at least one point before that time, or two to be safe.

If you do a restore, it should be noted that it doesn’t mean you’re completely out of the woods. You should do a full round of scans to check and see if they detect anything, as one characteristic viruses are using more and more often is evolving to a point in your system where scans may not pick them up, or the scanning program itself can be corrupted to ignore the problem.

Know When to Seek Help

Finally, if you’ve tried everything you can think of and still are at a loss, you should keep in mind that there are options to get help. Computer viruses are designed to be a challenging foe, but in the Raleigh, Wake Forest, and Durham area, there are computer repair services available.

To learn how we can help you serve that nasty virus a heavy eviction notice, contact us today.