by Tanu Bhandari

Created on: December 29, 2008   Last Updated: September 08, 2009

What is a virus?

A virus is a malicious program which corrupts files and damages computer systems. If a virus infects a user file, data is lost. On the contrary if it infects any of the system files, the computer crashes.

There are several different kinds of viruses like worms and trojans. Generally viruses are self replicating programs residing in computer memory. The virus code gets executed with any of the infected program and remains in the memory, ready to infect other files.

Virus detection

A virus infected computer behaves erratically. Strange messages may pop up on screen or you may observe a self installed toolbar. Certainly the computer tends to become slow. The system performance is affected because virus causes resource crunch for user applications. If an executable file is infected, the corresponding application may not even run. The boot sector virus prevents the computer from starting up. An infected text file may show special characters, not readable, resulting in data loss.

The unexpected behavior from the system depends upon the kind of virus and the files infected.

Virus prevention

Virus threat is inevitable, once your system is in the network. Virus literally spreads and multiplies. The best practice is to install an Anti virus software.

Virus comes via emails too. Don't ever open unsolicited mails especially with attachments, which can cause harm rather than any good.

Keep your browser updated and enable the inbuilt firewall. Be careful while downloading files from the internet. Avoid downloading the ever alluring free softwares; the chances of getting infected by virus are more. Scan files for virus before downloading. Nowadays this is one of the beneficial features, which comes along with most of the anti virus programs. By default, an antivirus program checks for virus, before downloading any file to your system.

As a preventive measure, backup all your critical data, lest virus corrupts user files. Secondly create a boot diskette for your system, incase virus infects boot sector and the computer is reluctant to start up. The boot diskette really comes as a blessing in such cases. At least you can turn on the computer followed by a virus scan via CD, pen drive or through a remote network.

Virus protection

Install reliable antivirus softwares like Norton Antivirus, Trend Micro Antivirus or Mcafee Antivirus. All three mentioned are the best Anti virus softwares available in the market today.

Antivirus software detects, blocks and removes viruses and other malicious programs like worms, Trojans, spyware from your PC. It helps to keep your computer clean and safely secure your data and files. Antivirus is a must for all systems and worth its cost. Schedule a virus scan once a week. Before executing antivirus program, update the software for new virus signatures. Each day new virus programs are written and set afloat in the internet world.

In this digital information age, computers will always remain under virus threat. We as end users should adhere to the best practices for safe and secure computing.

Learn more about this author, Tanu Bhandari.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.