Computer viruses are by far the biggest problem and complaint associated with any type of computer. No matter what brand, manufacturer or type of computer you have it is susceptible to a computer virus.
The worst part is, you can easily get infected with a computer virus and not have any idea that it is on your computer. There are hundreds of variants of computer viruses, such as trojan horses, worms, downloaders, and numerous other families of viruses.
Each virus does its own things, but all are malicious and aggressive.
Perhaps the scariest part about all of these viruses is that you can easily be infected without any signs. If your computer is unprotected, has no virus scanner, and you don’t use an online scanner is it nearly impossible to detect a virus on your system.
Trojan Horse by GoGap on Flickr
Viruses can damage files on your computer, cause serious headaches and slowdowns, and can even expose your personal information. With so many possible outcomes it is incredibly important to protect and monitor your computer all the time.
Viruses often spread through emails, peer to peer file sharing, downloads, or completely autonomously. Using some sort of protection program is the only possible way to cover the risk of losing valuable time, information, and possibly money.
These viruses are usually written to steal specific information or to perform a specific task on your computer. It is also common for those viruses to be buggy programs, making system crashes and failures very likely. Due to these problems, viruses can disable large computer networks in very short times.
Viruses seem a lot scarier than they really are, but they can do some serious damage. As long as you have protection, surf the internet safely, and are careful about what you do on the computer you can prevent much of the hassle caused by viruses.
If your computer does get infected commercial antivirus programs make it fairly easy to fix. Viruses are just one of the small side effects of the overall positive internet experience, and should not scare anyone from using the internet for personal or work use.
The most important part to cleaning your computer is having a good virus removal program. A good antivirus program with a virus scanner and remover is very important. Usually running the virus scan will determine if your computer is infected, as well as telling you where the infection is located.
The next thing you usually have to do is tell the program to clean your system. Removing the virus is better than simply quarantining it, and it is usually the right choice. Some virus scans take a long time, but to be completely thorough it is important to search the entire hard drive.
Once your antivirus program has removed all viruses it is important to restart your computer, and then re-scan your computer. If nothing it found then your computer is most likely clean, and no viruses remain on your hard drive. If you want to be extra sure, a good online virus scan is always a good idea. These can be much more effective due to the methods used in scanning, so they are definitely advisable.
Hopefully using these methods your computer will be completely cleaned. Once you are sure your computer is cleaned it would usually be a good idea to try to find out how you got infected. If there was nothing you did directly that could have caused an infection, getting some virus protection would be a good idea.
Keeping your computer from ever getting infected is the easiest way to keep it clean, and you never have to worry about the processes involved in cleaning the computer!
Trojan Horse Virus Removal
Trojan viruses are definitely one of the most dangerous infections your computer could ever be infected by. To fully understand why trojans are so dangerous your must first understand how the work.
It is also very important to understand what the trojans do, to make it possible to stop them. As with all viruses, preventing a trojan from ever infecting your system is easier than removing a trojan that has already taken hold of your computer.
The name “trojan virus” came from the legendary story of the Trojan Horse. Basically, a trojan virus is a program which appears to perform a specific, safe function, while in reality the program has a very specific and malicious task to perform.
They commonly run, install, and function automatically and if the user doesn’t scan for viruses it is likely that the trojan will go unnoticed. Unlike traditional viruses, trojan horses do not automatically replicate and spread.
They commonly exploit safety loopholes in programs and operating systems, making it possible for them to install with no user interaction. Internet browser flaws are extremely common, and they are the most common method used to install a trojan virus.
Keeping your internet browser updated is crucial to your privacy and safety. Just like any other virus, a trojan can easily steal personal information and data, which can lead to a major headache.
Preventing trojan viruses is fairly simple.
Trojan viruses may install automatically, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prevent them from doing so. Because trojans exploit flawed system coding it is important to update all software on your computer often.
Keeping your operating system, internet browser, and all your other programs updated makes it nearly impossible for a trojan to install itself on your computer. As long as you use a good antivirus program it will be easy to remove the trojans that do get into your computer.
Using a trojan scanner is an ever better method to detect any trojan viruses on your system. Trojan scanners are designed specifically to detect and remove trojan viruses only, making them much more effective. Using a combination of the two is ever more effective and is the best option available!
Even More Tips
Unless you have lived completely severed from computer technology you have probably heard of viruses. These are nasty little creations with destruction as their main objective. Why people spend time developing programs that will scramble your computer is difficult to imagine, however they do, which means you may come in contact with a Trojan horse or other virus at some point in your computing life.
There are literally thousands of viruses created on a daily basis; some are fairly innocuous, built to be a mere annoyance while others are specifically crafted to steal your information. These programs can steal passwords, log keystrokes and much more. Many will get as much info as possible and then totally crash your system, resulting in hundreds or thousands of dollars in repairs.
Trojan Horse
The Trojan horse virus derives its name from the well-known Greek story, like the horse from the story these viruses are presented as useful gifts, but have an ulterior purpose. These differ from a virus or worm in that they cannot replicate themselves. Your best defense against this threat, and many others is a regularly updated operating system and a strong firewall.
Despite your best efforts your computer may become infected, at this point you only want to know one thing, how to get rid of a Trojan horse virus! There are several things you can do to remove this virus once it has been located.
Anti-Virus Software
Perhaps the easiest method of removal is via an antivirus program. Many new computers come with at least a free trial of Norton or other popular antivirus, plus you can find several free downloads online. The biggest issue with antiviral programs is the fact that so many new threats are released every day, it is difficult for antivirus developers to keep up with the onslaught. Nevertheless, they are a good first line of defense and here are some tips for using them correctly:
- Update, update and update! Some antiviruses, like AVG, will update themselves daily as long as they are connected to the internet. Just to be sure, however, you should always check for updates before attempting to remove a Trojan horse virus.
- Safe Mode- Your computer has safe mode for a reason, use it during virus scans for the best chance of successfully finding and removing viruses.
- Specialty Tools- Do you know the name of the virus you are dealing with? For particularly serious threats, many companies will develop tools that only deal with a specific virus, worm or Trojan.
- Manual- If you know the name of the virus you are dealing with, as well as the many files it can affect you may have better luck manually removing the files associated. You may need to Google the name in order to get detailed instructions due to the vast number of viruses and variables associated with each one.
Formatting
There are times when nothing you or a professional does will completely rid your machine of a Trojan horse virus. They have become imbedded too deeply or hidden so well that the only recourse left is to completely format the hard drive. Never try this on your own! Unless you are extremely technologically advanced, in which case you probably are not reading this information! Formatting completely erases your hard drive, giving you a clean slate. As you can imagine this means a total loss of data.
Conclusion
What is the moral of this story? For starters, never open files you are unsure of, nearly all viruses whether worm, virus or Trojan requires human interaction to infect. If you receive, a file or a program asks to run and you do not recognize it, close it quickly and delete it! Prevention is better than cure.
