Things To Do When Our Computer's Affected by Virus(es)

No one’s perfect and computer viruses know that. They are real and if you own a computer they are a threat. At some point in time, your computer will become infected. The odds are great. The question is; how will you respond? What is the first thing that you should do? Do you call your computer repair guy? Do you look for a computer consultant to help you? Most of us don’t have an I.T. guy at our disposal.
There are things that one can do to prevent the spread of the virus and contain it to some degree that may save you from paying a costly computer repair bill. No one like’s a costly bill. Listed are some steps that you can take to prevent the spread. I’ve also included a list of the things not to do in case of an attack from an unwanted stranger.




Things to do if a virus is suspected:

1. Disconnect from the network: This is not guaranteed to stop the virus but it will keep it from spreading to other computers in your office or home. The easiest way to do this is to turn off the network discovery function as well as file and printer sharing. Different Windows OS have different ways to do this. Here is a link if you have Windows  XP(http://www.ehow.com/how_2169456_off-file-sharing-windows-xp.html)
2. Lock internet traffic with your firewall: You can stop all internet traffic with a third party firewall program. If you don’t have a firewall then right click the network icon in the Windows system tray and choose “disable”. Since you won’t have an internet connection you cannot update your anti-virus so make sure that you have installed the latest updates before locking down the system entirely.
3. Update the Operating System: Updating Windows won’t clear the infection out but it may patch critical security holes that will allow the virus to spread. This may leave the virus ineffective or dead.
4. Update your anti-virus program and run it: It’s obvious so don’t overlook it. You will need to run a full system scan to find the virus and, hopefully clean it out. This is the only way to confirm that your computer is infected and the easiest way to remove it.
5. Reinstall your OS: This is the last thing that anyone wants to do. Especially, if you have not been backing up. You may lose data but it’s better than purchasing a new computer. So, moral to this story, back everything up!!!

Here are some things not to do:

1. Don’t send E-mail attachments: Make sure that your computer is clean before you send anything to anyone.
2. Do not plug in a USB drive or copy any files: Don’t copy or back up files until you are sure that the virus is gone.
3. Do not log into any personal accounts: This is an online thief’s dream come true.
4. Do not shop online or enter credit card or banking information. Again, big no-no and for obvious reasons.

Hopefully this has been helpful. There is no sure fire way to protect yourself short of not using the internet and good luck with that. Maybe these tips have helped you from ending up with a large computer repair bill.