A computer virus is a program that replicates itself mostly, and causes an immense load of damage to a hard drive and the operating system of the computer. Data corruption, loss and other debilitating loss of productivity is possible due to computer viruses. There are a lot of ways in which viruses can spread and infect your system, and there are numerous ways in which they show upon the system.
The most susceptible ways in which this is shown are:-
* The computer is slower than normal, as there are a lot of background processes that slow it down.
* There are frequent lockouts and unwarranted demands of passwords that are usually not a part of the computer programming or the operating system.
* The system shuts down without any reason.
* The system restarts, and shuts down and restarts again. It does not respond when an abort command is given, i.e. it is completely beyond the user’s control.
* Most drives and storage media are locked out, and do not get unlocked, i.e. each drive is secured by its own password which is set by another program.
* Error messages with bad grammar, or no trademark official look are presented which when clicked open the browser and download more unwarranted software.
* The desktop’s look and feel is different than usual, and unusual icons that are in fact more malicious software litter the desktop. The desktop is an entire link which downloads more software.
* Many programs and your hard drive are deleted, one of the prime and obvious ways in which a virus is detected.
* Many computer programs do not work as they complain of missing DLL files that end up being malicious code themselves.
* A recently used file has two extensions like .jpg.exe or .gif.exe that might have been overlooked by the user and run.
* The menus that are there on the computer programs like Explorer, Word etc. are distorted and have weird messages that pop up and open a strange URL.
A better diagnosing is obtained from an antivirus software that exactly tells where and what the virus is stored and is. It can also diagnose the system recovery processes so that the virus can be removed. Thus the most effective way of diagnosing, isolating and curing a virus is by slow, panic-less steps and by effectively backing up data, as well as keeping the anti virus software up to date.
