Your PC Tech

Almost every computer user dreads the words ‘you have a virus’, however it is likely to happen to us all over time.

Let’s learn a little bit about what computer viruses are and how we can avoid them.

So what is a computer virus?

A computer virus is man-made code with the sole purpose of causing problems with your operating system and data.  Some computer viruses are designed to harm your computer by damaging programs, deleting files, or reformatting your hard drive. Others simply replicate themselves making it impossible to perform normal activities. Even less harmful computer viruses can disrupt your computers performance, using computer memory and causing frequent computer crashes.

Now lets think of a biological virus, the kind that makes you feel unwell. It’s persistently nasty, keeps you from functioning normally and sometimes you need treatment to get rid of it. A computer virus is very similar. They are  designed to relentlessly replicate and infect computers.

How to prevent a computer virus?

• Install an effective anti-virus program on your computer and make sure it’s up to date.
• Ensure you have real-time virus protection.
• Check that you have firewall installed.
• Do not open attachments from people you don’t know.
• Be careful when installing free programs as some of them contain ‘bundled software’ or ‘potentially unwanted programs’ (PUP’s), although there is usually a way to opt out of bundled software it is not always the case.