by Raleigh Stout

Created on: April 24, 2008

The signs of computer virus or spyware infection can be subtle, but they are easy enough to spot.

One classic sign is the display of popup windows with promotional messages or outright advertising. If you did not put it there, then it is a clear sign of virus or spyware infection.

Another sign is alerts from your Internet connection firewall that a program needs to access the Internet, especially when you are already there and doing no other tasks on the computer but surfing the web.

The presence of new icons on the desktop can also be a sign, as well as if there appears to be a new computer user account that you did not create. Some viruses and spyware will actually create an administrator account with a unique name.

If new programs are installing on the computer that you did not specifically ask for, and new program names show up in the Start menu items or especially in the startup menu, then odds are increasing that a virus or spyware is on your computer.

If your computer processing time appears to be high, but only a few programs appear to be open and running, then this could mean that a virus or spyware is operating in the background. An unusually slow computer response time will help to confirm this as well.

If you decide to turn of a process on your computer that you cannot identify, and have trouble killing it, then this is another sign of virus or spyware infection. There are usually two or more virus or spyware processes that monitor each other and they act to protect each other from being turned off.

If you run the computer in safe mode and it appears to respond much more rapidly to your commands than when it is in normal mode, then this is yet another indication of a virus or spyware slowing it down.

If you notice a drop in computer speed immediately after installing and running a new program on your computer, then it may mean that the program contains a Trojan virus and it was designed for you to choose to run it.

A very slow Internet connection or very slow computer response to your commands will also be a sure sign of virus or spyware infection. If you are waiting two or three seconds longer than you are used to waiting for a routine command to process, then there is your sign!

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