How to Identify a Virus Infected Computer

A virus infected computer is one of the most frustrating things one can encounter. It disrupts the completion of tasks. It irritatingly refuses to do what it is expected to do. It amplifies the tendencies of a Windows computer to pop up error messages and crash. Even worse, the problems are most likely to get aggravated as the virus replicates and more system damages are incurred.

Knowing the early signs of a computer virus infection is important not just to avoid the annoyances but also to prevent further damages. Described below are the some of the common manifestations of a computer virus infection.

Unusual prompts and error messages can mean a virus attack. A cumbersome and constantly reappearing prompt or dialog box is certainly not one of the features of a Windows computer. Computers that run the Windows OS occasionally pop up incomprehensible technical error messages but they certainly don’t flash messages that say “Here You Have” or “Free Palestine.”

Another sign of a virus attack is the noticeable slowing down of a computer’s responsiveness which can lead to frequent system crashes or freezing. A regular computer user can easily notice this kind of issue. A computer can be expected to have responsiveness problems over long hours of use and with multiple programs running. Frequent freezing and crashing that cannot be addressed by a system restart, though, is likely to be caused by a malware or some other computer problem. This is especially apparent when a computer stops responding even without running memory-intensive applications or processes.

Additionally, a virus infected computer is likely to demonstrate unusual behaviors. An infected system may report low memory availability despite an obvious unlikeliness. Icons may suddenly disappear or batches of files become hidden. Disks or disk partitions may also become inaccessible. Likewise, external plug-and-play devices that used to properly connect with a computer may not be recognized. Strange sounds may start playing in the background or a computer’s sound scheme gets modified. The user interface may also start acting strangely with the mouse right click function disappearing or the context menu missing out some of the regular options.

The replication of viruses, moreover, can show a number of signs. New files and folders may start appearing. Shortcuts with unintelligible names may also start populating the desktop. Backups are suddenly created when there’s clearly no intention to have them created. Files start having “shadows” or duplicates with names prepended or appended by some non-alphanumeric characters. A virus may also have the effect of creating system restore points through which it re-infects a computer in case the system restore function is used.

Corrupt files or the deletion of files and data is also one of the major problems a virus causes. As important program and system files go missing, applications refuse to launch or start to act differently. Some program functions may suddenly disappear. Programs may also start crashing and freezing chronically. Files or documents created by the infected or damaged programs may also become unreadable or incompatible in other computers.

Furthermore, a computer virus infection may cause Windows to refuse to start or immediately restart or shut down as the desktop is about to completely load. Running a computer in safe mode may be possible but there are no guarantees that the virus will not initiate while a computer stays in safe mode.

These signs and symptoms, however, are not exclusive to a computer virus infection. Some of them can be similar to problems encountered with improper program installations, unwittingly deleted system files, registry problems caused by some “registry cleaners,” and damaged or malfunctioning computer hardware. It is important to run an antivirus to make sure that the problem is really caused by a virus infection. Moreover, it is important to address signs and symptoms immediately to avoid more complicated problems.