Ways To Identify A Computer Virus Infection

Ways To Identify A Computer Virus Infection

High temperature, general weakness, loss of appetite, vomiting, frequent visits to the restroom (Although, some people just like to go and take selfies). These are all good indications that you may have been infected with a Virus.

I’m sure you knew that already.

But what if your computer was infected with a virus? how would you know?

This article will show you what the main symptoms of a malware infected computer are. You’ll also learn to correctly evaluate the risk and know where to look for a solution.

1) Slow Response

It is a very popular fact that malware and virus slows down the operating system due to so many illegal activities the program is trying to do. If you notice your computer is slow and you are not using any resource-heavy program, check other cause first. The computer might be slow due to unavailability of space in the RAM, a fragmented system or an hardware issue.

If you have already thoroughly verified these possible causes and all seems fine, you can start considering a potential malware infection.

2) Frequent OS Crashes

The famous BSOD (Blue screen of death) is the clear warning that your computer is not working properly and is infected by virus or malware. Sometimes the BSOD appears when the PC is not configured well i.e outdated drivers , bad registry e.t.c

3)Too Many Popups

One of the most annoying signs of malware is represented by the unwanted pop-up windows. Unexpected pop-ups which appear on the system are a typical sign of a spyware infection.

Pop-ups are usually very annoying, and most times they usually come bundled with other concealed malware threats, and which could be far more destructive to our PC.

4)Antivirus GONE, Firewall disabled!

One of the characteristics of virus and malware is their ability to turn off your security systems( Anti-virus , firewall e.t.c) making your PC more vulnerable to exploits. If one thing shuts down it might just be a specific software failure; but if all your security components are disabled, you are almost certainly infected.

5) Shortcut files

If you see shortcut files on your desktop  there are chances your computer is having a shortcut virus. So if you see such shortcut files in you Computer or  then these are the sure signs that your computer or pen drive contains the stubborn Shortcut virus.

6) Unusual Network activities

There are situations where you are not connected to the internet and don’t have any background running app that is accessing the internet, but high network activity can still be observed.

First of all, we need to check the following:

•  Is there any Windows update at that moment?
•  Is there any program or application that’s downloading or uploading any data?
•  Is there any update for a certain app running at that moment?
•  Is there a large download that you started and forgot about, which may still be running in the background?

If the answer to all these questions is No, then maybe you should check where all that traffic is going.