If your PC has been infected with a virus, there’s no need to panic. It can be a serious issue but you may be able to stop it in its tracks without having to pay for IT support London to do it for you. Some Trojan viruses and malware are fairly easy to detect and remove, even if your antivirus software doesn’t pick them up initially.
The first step is to disconnect your computer from your home network, either by disabling your wireless or unplugging your Ethernet cable. Before you do so, update your antivirus program fully so that it can run the most effective scan. If you’re running Windows Vista, ensure that you’ve turned off network discovery and all sharing folders are closed off. This will prevent the virus from spreading to the other computers on your network.
If you need the internet, you can enable a firewall to prevent all traffic from going through. This will prevent the virus from updating itself or communicating your private information to the criminals who have infected your PC.
When your computer is disconnected, run an antivirus scan. If your program is fully updated, it should find and delete the virus. If it doesn’t, though, don’t worry; there are more solutions.
Now, thwarting the virus may be as simple as installing all Windows updates. Updates can be annoying; they’re often time consuming to install and require a restart of the computer, so I can see how you’d fall behind. In this instance, though, install everything Windows suggests in case one of them closes off the virus’s access.
You can also roll back your operating system using a restore point. This ideally will restore your computer to the same state it was for the date you’ve chosen. This is not always effective but it is certainly worth a shot.
If that doesn’t work, you may want to uninstall your antivirus program and try a few free trials. To entice you to buy, many antivirus software programs will offer one scan for free. Use these to your advantage and one of them is likely to find the virus. If you’re feeling helpful, you can save the file name and send it on to your first program so that they can update their databases and help other people isolate and delete this virus.
If none of this works, it’s probably time to consult a London IT support. If you frequently back up your PC, though, you have one last option. You can reinstall your operating system. Even if it’s free, this is a time consuming process, especially when it comes to reinstalling all of your programs and restoring your files. You may find it worth the money to have an IT professional look at your computer and remove the nasty virus.
To ensure that this doesn’t happen to you, remember to back up your files regularly and run a deep virus scan at least once a week. Don’t ever click on anything that looks suspicious, download something you don’t trust, or open spam email. That should help keep your computer healthy for as long as you need it.
Often, older computers run painfully slowly. Our last post had a few great tips for speeding up your PC, but if none of them work, it’s time to consider whether or not you’ve been hit with a virus. Many viruses don’t declare themselves or completely break your computer. Instead, they use your computer and the personal details they can find for criminal purposes. We’ve come up with three helpful tips to help you figure out if you need to contact IT support.
1.
Is there an increase in internet traffic across the network? If your computer is accessing the internet when you know you haven’t been using it, overnight for example, that is a definite indication of malicious activity on your PC. If you’re suspicious, make sure you install monitoring software so you can check to see what your computer or network has been doing while you’ve been away.
2.
Does your computer crash or freeze frequently? Worse, do all the computers on the network do it? Many people think that crashes are down to a hardware or software problem, which is most likely to be the case, but it’s also worth considering whether or not your computer has been infected when normal fixes don’t do the trick. If you can’t find any other reason for the crashes, consider having your PC checked by your favourite IT company or the IT support at your business.
3.
Is anything else suspicious? If your credit card is used by others yet you’re sure your data hasn’t been leaked in other ways, it may be spyware on your PC. Perhaps your phone bill shows calls that no one made, or your phone has sent far more text messages than you sent out. If you’ve had your phone on you the entire month, this is truly suspicious and it’s worth running an antivirus computer to try and find the virus.
If your antivirus software hasn’t detected the virus, it may be worth contacting your manufacturer. If your computer’s warranty is up, it may still be worth consulting an IT firm. A fix may be less expensive than a new computer, after all. Next time I’ll have a few tips for the adventurous user who wishes to detect the virus himself, but if you’re at loose ends, I hope this guide will help you start working out what’s gone wrong with your PC.