Viruses
are considered the number one enemy for any computer user, especially Windows
users, as they harm either the device or the user himself in several ways, or
even exploit it in illegal ways. We can say that the development of electronic
security has contributed greatly to reducing the risks of viruses and malicious
software, but despite that, viruses still find their way to users’ devices
through renewable and unconventional ways, and this is very expected, as the
development of technological security is matched by the development of viruses
themselves. So what if your computer has been infected with a virus and you are
in doubt, how do you check it?...
Well,
if we exclude ransomware from the topic because it is crystal clear, we will
have a set of signs that your computer is infected with viruses and malware,
and this is what we will talk about in this article.
1 slow computer
One
of the most obvious and sure signs is the slowness of the computer and the
deterioration of its performance for the worse, you may ask now, but this does
not necessarily mean the presence of viruses. True, there are many cases where
the slow computer is not due to viruses, it is only due to its weak
specifications, drivers, outdated operating system, etc. But these reasons are
already known to you as a user and are not vague, for example, you know that
your device is high-spec and that it was not slow before, but one day and
suddenly its performance deteriorated and became slow for no apparent reason,
here you most likely have viruses on your device.
2 Operating system crash or freeze
Where
you are working normally and suddenly you find that the operating system has
crashed and then automatically restarted itself or froze and no longer
responds, and this is accompanied by the frequent appearance of the blue
screen. As a Windows user, you definitely know the blue screen and have met it
at some point while using the computer, and if it appears repeatedly, there is
a possibility that this is caused by your device being infected with viruses,
of course, it should be remembered that this may have other reasons and is not
limited to viruses.
3 Pop-up ads appear everywhere
This
sign is considered one of the most common and sure signs of the presence of
viruses on your device, which is known as adware, where various advertisements
start appearing on your device in an annoying and intense way everywhere, some of
which are advertisements for real products where this is one of the methods of
commission marketing or earning some money by displaying Ads, but oftentimes
they are pornographic ads, or fraudulent ads to steal your data, money, or to
infect your device with viruses and other malware, such as ads that tell you
that your device is infected with something and you have to download this
program or call the number so.
4 Sudden collapses of programs and applications
This
is very common even on Android phones, where you are using a program normally
and then you find it has collapsed and shown you an error message, or it
suddenly and unexpectedly closed without anything appearing afterward, and this
is a result of the damage and sabotage that the virus does on your device
without your knowledge. Also on the other hand, if Windows (the operating
system in general) starts opening programs, tools, and folders automatically,
this is also an indication that there are viruses and malware on your device (ex:
CMD opens automatically and tries to run certain commands).
5 The web browser works abnormally
One
of the other clear signs is the behavior of the web browser you are using in a
strange and unusual way, for example, it opens by itself without your
intervention, or it suddenly closes while you are browsing the web.
Automatically opening unwanted sites, redirecting you to certain sites that you
did not ask to open, and other automatic antics. Of course, it is worth
remembering that it does not mean 100% that these signs indicate the presence
of viruses, perhaps they are normal problems that occur in browsers, and we
have talked a lot about this in various topics such as: Chrome Cleanup tool to
solve Google Chrome problems, solving the problem of the Google Chrome browser
has stopped working.
6 Error messages appear frequently
When
different error messages start appearing on your device, know that something is
wrong, the types of these messages may vary, including error messages that tell
you that there was a problem when doing something, that you lost access to a
certain thing, or that something has stopped about work, and other messages
that the operating system displays to let you know that something is wrong.
7 Problems with antivirus
This
is one of the signs that may appear because of what viruses do to hide their
presence and bypass any detection by antiviruses. As some of them are able to
disable your protection layers and cause problems and malfunctions with them,
and if you start noticing this on your antivirus or any protection layer you
use, be sure that this is the work of viruses on your computer.
8 New programs appear on your device that you do not know
If
you start noticing that new programs are installed on your device that you do
not know their source or that you did not install yourself, then know that they
are caused by viruses that frequently install additional tools and programs on
your device without your consent. It is worth remembering that sometimes this
may happen to you and viruses do not have access to it, as some real programs
during their installation suggest you install additional programs or tools as a
kind of “suggestion that is intended to benefit the user” which is in fact only
a type of marketing, and for this, you see Having new software on your device.
But if this is repeated several times without installing any new software, then
your device is infected with viruses.
9 The appearance of strange publications on your accounts on social networking sites
If
you see strange messages and publications that you did not publish and that you
do not usually publish on your accounts within social networking sites, then
know that your device, on which these accounts are open, is infected with
viruses and malicious software that publishes these publications and sends
those messages automatically only to attract new victims from social networking
sites. Of course, you know what kind of posts and messages you've seen before,
and they come in attention-grabbing forms (scandalous, win with us,
porn...etc).
10 Unexpectedly Increased Internet Consumption
This
may not be a firm and sure sign like the precedents, because internet
consumption changes depending on your usage, and on the uses of your device to
make updates, and so on, but it can help you check for viruses. Start by
opening the Task Manager and monitoring the Internet consumption, or open the
settings and search for the Data Usage option to track the Internet consumption
on your computer. Everything is in the normal range.
In
conclusion, if you find that your device is infected with viruses, here you
have to work to remove them completely and clean your device. We have presented
many articles on this topic, including all programs and tools for removing
viruses and malware from the computer, but in the event that your device is not
infected with anything, this is good, but you have to protect your device, as
you know "prevention is better than cure".