Using anti-virus software to keep your machine clear of nasties is critical. But what can be done if your machine is already infected? This largely depends on the type of virus that has infected your system. Many viruses can be a nuisance rather than causing catastrophic problems and can be removed with the right knowledge and tools. Others cause so much damage to your system that the only solution is to reformat your hard disk and reinstall all software (operating system, device drivers and applications). More information on computer viruses can be found here.

And it’s not just viruses. More and more we are seeing machines heavily infected by spyware. If your machine is starting to run slowly, strange entries are appearing in your Task Manager’s Processes listing, pop-ups are appearing when you are browsing the web, your browser home page has changed and you can’t get your old one back, or your system is trying to dial into the web when you are not connected then you probably have a spyware infection which, if not treated early, will get worse as time goes on. You can get more details on spyware, what it is, what it does and how to protect yourself from it, here.

If you already have a viral or spyware infection, or think that you might have, contact PC Medic now and have your system assessed.