Common Symptoms That Might Indicate a Computer Virus
The number of computer viruses making the rounds of the internet seems to be increasing at an alarming rate recently. I came to work one Monday morning and found 177 messages in my inbox, 1 of which was spam, 1 which was legitimate, and 175 viruses, leading me to believe that a lot of computer users don't even know their system is infected, much less know how to clean it. I thought it was about time to write a non-technical article listing common symptoms of virus infection, hopefully leading to a slightly less annoying internet experience for all.
1. My computer tries to dial up to the internet as soon as I turn it on.
This is a pretty good clue that you've got either some spyware, or a virus on your computer.
Whenever a program tries to access the internet, Windows helpfully pops up the default internet connection box, which allows you to connect automatically by just opening your browser. Go ahead...try it. Double click on your web browser icon without first opening your dialup connection, and see how the dialup connection box comes up automatically. (This won't work if you're on high speed internet access, because of differences in the way connections are set up.)
Most viruses try to send copies of themselves to everyone in the address book on a Windows computer. This means they automatically try to connect to the internet as soon as they become active, which is usually as soon as Windows is loaded into memory on the computer. Windows senses this attempt to access the internet, and tries to help by popping up the connection dialog.
This situation usually means you are inundating your friends with many virus-laden emails, possibly even overflowing their inbox and causing legitimate emails to bounce back to the sender. Cleaning the virus from your computer will correct this problem.
The only other common alternative to a virus that could cause this activity would be a spyware application running on your computer. This is software which is usually installed as part of a free software program, which collects information about you, your surfing habits, and anything else it can acquire, and sends it to a marketing company, or possibly a malicious hacker. This type of software can sometimes steal your passwords, financial and banking information, and other personal information, and send it to unknown people on the internet. Needless to say, you want to rid your computer of this type of software as quickly as possible.
2. I opened an attachment in an email from Microsoft that said I needed a security patch.
Well, that's a dead giveaway, because Microsoft doesn't distribute patches this way. If they were to email you the patch, there's no way they could even pretend to enforce their licence agreement, since they gave you something you didn't ask for. There is also no way to make a single patch that will work with Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP, which is what many of these type of virus emails claim. Windows 9x and 2000/XP are fundamentally different, and it isn't possible for a single patch to repair a similar problem on both versions. Microsoft's security patches are usually several times larger than the attachments that come in these type of emails, also. The 'service pack' type patches, which these emails usually claim to be, are on the order of 10 to 100 Megabytes in size, rather than the 100 to 200 Kilobyte average of a virus. This would take hours or days to download with even the fastest dialup modem, rather than the several seconds to a minute that the virus takes.
There's also usually a giveaway in the Microsoft logo. Any email from Microsoft would use the official Microsoft logo. The latest batch of viruses I received that claimed to be from Microsoft used a similar typeface, but it wasn't quite right. Go to the Microsoft website, and you'll see that there's a small chunk out of the first 'o' where the 's' touches it. Viruses claiming to be from Microsoft usually use text for the Microsoft logo, rather than an image, which means this chunk of missing 'o' is actually present.
If you get an email claiming to be a support patch from Microsoft, delete it immediately, and NEVER open it.
3. My friend keeps telling me I'm sending them email viruses, but I haven't sent them an email in weeks.
You may not have sent them an email, but the virus on your computer keeps doing it. Most viruses don't piggyback themselves on legitimate emails you send. Rather, they send emails themselves to addresses found in your computer's address book, causing it to appear that they come from you. They did come from your computer, but you had no knowledge of it sending them.
The other alternative to this, which some of the more creatively written viruses do, is that someone who has both you and your friend in their address book is infected, and their virus is sending emails to your friend with your email as the return address. Chances are, though, if this was the case, you'd also be getting emails appearing to come from your friend, which would also be infected with the same virus.
4. I bought anti-virus software with my computer 2 years ago. I'm safe.
Anti-virus software doesn't work indefinitely. Because new viruses come out daily, your anti-virus software must be updated to catch new viruses. This doesn't mean you have to go buy a new copy of your preferred anti-virus software package. Most, if not all, anti-virus software allows for online updates over the internet. This is usually free for the first year after the software is installed, and a very low yearly fee after this, on the order of ten to fifteen dollars. There are some anti-virus software packages which are even completely free to download, and updates are free for life, provided the software is only used for a home computer. Don't think you have to keep spending a lot of money to keep your anti-virus software up to date, but certainly don't think that one purchase of anti-virus software will protect your computer for life if you ignore it.
5. My computer is suddenly unstable, and crashes a lot. A friend told me I should upgrade Windows, and it would fix it.
Don't bother. If you didn't do anything to your computer, and it just suddenly became unstable, it's probably not just that Windows is screwy. While Windows can be notoriously unstable, especially older, DOS-based versions, it usually doesn't just suddenly go completely off the deep end with no provocation.
I was fixing a computer for a customer recently, who had their daughter try to fix it for them. They had a virus, which was causing instability, but they didn't know about it, so their daughter decided that upgrading from Windows 95 to Windows 98 would fix the stability problems. Sorry, but it won't get rid of a virus. Fortunately, the computer was not upgraded, and they called me to fix it. After updating their virus definitions and fully scanning the computer, two viruses were found and cleaned. It was much more stable, and quicker after that.
If you've recently installed a new program, installed security patches from Microsoft's website, or something similar, you may be having a software conflict. If this is the case, you may be better taking the computer to a professional, as these type of conflicts can be horrendously difficult to find.
6. I don't have anti-virus software. I don't see why I should spend the money on something that doesn't do anything for me.
Anti-virus software, most definitely, does something for you. It's kind of like car insurance, but much cheaper, and much more effective. You might be lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) if you need to use your car insurance once every three or four years. Anti-virus software, on the other hand, can potentially protect you from a virus attack daily. Viruses are not spread solely through email. They could come in a Microsoft Word document that someone sends you on a disk. They can even infect your computer silently while you're online, if your computer has an unpatched security hole. (There were 31 known security holes in Internet Explorer alone, for which Microsoft had not released a patch when this article was written.)
If you've been running a Windows computer on the internet for more than a few weeks without virus software, there's a good chance that it's infected with something. Yes, there can be exceptions to this rule, as I've known knowledgeable computer professionals who have run systems for years without anti-virus software. These are the sort of people who wouldn't need to read an article like this in the first place, though.