Viruses – Arrrgh!

The Internet is a fantastic resource; you can get the latest news and weather, research all kinds of information, find out when your next train leaves or even do a full week’s shopping - without leaving your front door. There’s no end to what you can do and the fun you can have…that is until your computer gets a virus!

Computers just like us humans can get unwell. We get coughs and colds that float around in the air travelling from person to person. Computers can pick up nasties that travel around on the Internet.

If a virus gets on your computer it can delete or damage your files, and to add insult to injury, it can pass itself on to your friends or work colleagues through emails you have sent them or on floppy disks that you have shared with them.

When something goes wrong on your computer is doesn’t mean that you definitely do have a virus, but you should look for one or more of the following things:

• your computer being unusually slow
• new or regularly used floppy disks are becoming unusable
• unusual error messages popping up on screen
• programmes crashing or slowing down when they're open
• documents or folders changing size, name or date
• unusually slow download speeds
• strange screen activity

Viruses can be transported through emails, so before you open your mail check whether you know the person who has sent it to you, and whether or not it has an attachment. An attachment can be anything from a Word document, a picture, or any other file. More often than not the attachment will be completely harmless – for example when a family member sends you a digital photograph.

However, attachments can also contain viruses. If you don’t know the person who has sent you the email and it has an attachment, then be wary. It is not unusual for people these days to get many “junk” emails with attachments on them that contain viruses.

A virus from someone you know?

The people who make viruses have lots of tricks to make you open an infected email.

An email might have a title that entices you to open it – like “read now” or “urgent”. It might also pretend to be a joke message or picture.

The BBC website suggests:

“If you recognise a friend or colleague's e-mail address in the message, but don't know what the attachment is, then give them a telephone call, or send a fresh e-mail message to ask if they've recently sent you anything. Some viruses spread by sending themselves to all the addresses of your friends and colleagues that are in your e-mail address book. The virus could have sent you an e-mail message from your friend's e-mail address without them knowing it. If you open that attachment you could be spreading the virus onto your computer, and to all your friends or workmates. This is how most viruses get around the internet and cause so much trouble.”

The companies that make computers and computer software take viruses very seriously indeed and help is at hand.

You can get software that watches out for viruses that might try to get on your computer from the Internet, emails or disks. The software blocks or deletes the virus before it gets a chance to do any harm. Good huh?

You can even download some anti-virus software from free, yes free! Its called AVG - make sure you always download the free version for personal use.

You can also fork out for a more deluxe anti-virus software package the does a similar job. The most famous are Norton's AntiVirus, McAfee VirusScan and Virex.

There are other alternatives that you can check out too on Zdnet and Internet Magazine.

Failing that, you could always call into your local computer shop – tell them how much you want to spend and they should be able to supply you with something that fits within your budget.

Remember to keep your anti-virus software up to date

New viruses are being released all the time, so its important that your anti-virus software knows about them. This is why we keep our “definitions” up to date. Most anti-virus software will come with a facility built in that reminds you to do this at regular intervals, and takes you through the process, which normally only takes a minute or two. Its recommended that you do this at least once a month.

Top-tips

Here are a few top tips to keep your computer healthy and you happy…

• Install an Anti-Virus program.
• Keep it up-to-date - this can usually be done free of charge.
• Get the latest patches and updates for your operating system. If you run Microsoft Windows go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads
• Never automatically open e-mail attachments.
• Download or purchase software and programs from trusted, reputable sources.
• Make backups of your important files.

And last but not least, don’t let viruses spoil your fun and enjoyment of the web. Happy Surfing!