Virus & Malware Removal

A Virus or Malware is a self-replicating program or piece of script or code that makes copies of itself and then either attaches itself to an existing file on the infected system or stores copies of itself on the system with innocuous sounding names like 'repair tool'.

Viruses spread themselves by being transmitted across a network or carried on a portable storage medium from one system to another. If a virus gets embedded somewhere on a network drive then any user who opens or clicks on the infected document or file can end up getting infected as well.

Symptoms of Infection:

• Very sluggish computer performance.
• Random system lockups or crashes.
• Browser redirection - you are taken to websites you were not searching for while browsing the Internet.
• Excessive number of popup windows appearing at random while surfing the Internet.
• You are informed that your system has 'hundreds' of active infections and you are redirected to a website that insists you pay for and download their specific software package to remove the infections.

Solution:

There are many good anti-virus / anti-spyware products on the market designed to detect and remove these types of infections. McAfee, Kapersky and Norton are some of the best on the market. Most of the free anti-virus programs like AVG and Avast are limited in their protection unless you puchase their full versions. If your system is already infected installing an anti-virus can be tricky. In most cases a virus or malware will try to prevent you from installing an anti-virus. That's where ComputerPoint can help.

Prevention:

• Do not install software you have downloaded from the Internet unless it has come from a known, reliable source.
• Use caution if using file sharing platforms such as LimeWire or torrent sites to download files.
• Do not open any email attachments from unknown sources.
• Use a good anti-virus/anti-spyware application and scan your system at least weekly. Be sure your anti-virus software is totally up to date with the latest virus definitions.
• Windows users: Be sure your operating system is updated and all Microsoft security patches are installed.

In most cases of infection, your system may have become unable to install anti-virus software or has become completely unusable. If your computer system is infected by any Virus, Spyware, Trojan Horse, Malware, Worm, Rootkit, Keylogger or Adware, have one of our Virus Removal specialists clean and optimize your system. Call us at (614)863-3350 or email us at Service@ComputerPoint.us