A Computer Virus – How to Safeguard Your Computer Against Them
The computer has become an indispensable tool and plays a very crucial role in our every day life. Everyone, during the process of using a computer, faces a computer malfunction at some point. Therefore it is crucial, to get the problem rectified as soon as possible.
Apart from a hardware problem, software is the part that is most prone to malfunction through a virus attack and it is not essential that you need to be in an internet cafe to be affected. It happens even at home, as is evident from the statistics. In this instance, an anti-virus program is essential when you face an unexpected attack in the middle of an important task.
There are numerous anti-virus programs in the market and not all of them are the same. It depends upon the type of virus that your computer is affected with or the malicious program that causes the system to breakdown. To find the type of virus that the system is affected with you need to scan the system that will also indicate the level of infection.
Anti-virus programs can be categorized into two types, the first type are the programs that can be downloaded from the internet such as McAfee, Kaspersky or Norton anti-virus, and the second are PC repair tools that have diagnostic and repair mechanisms. There is also the Google Redirect Virus which is a parasite that redirects users to malicious websites.
The types of virus that malign the functioning of the system can be broadly classified into two types; the Trojans and the worms. Trojans attack the system through media player plug-ins and tend to steal the user name and password while downloading which can lead to complicated problems as far as the security of the computer is concerned. On the other hand, worms have easier access than Trojans and can get into the system even from the USB memory stick. Worms tend to affect the overall functioning of the system. So I would recommend that you install an anti-virus program with the assistance of an experienced IT technician.
However, there are certain disadvantages of using anti-virus programs. Some of them may impair the performance of the PC and slow down the speed of the computer. Generally, anti-virus programs occupy a substantial part of the memory and even after cleaning up the registry, a certain amount of the uninstalled software will be left and these may interrupt with the normal functioning of the computer like shutting down, freezing etc.
Nevertheless, anti-virus programs are essential to get rid of the unwanted virus in a computer so it is recommended to use one and choose the right type that suits your system.