How do computers get viruses?

[laetitia85]

Is it by downloading programs/movies etc. off the net?
or simply by going on websites like facebook, or this one??
Mine is infected with loads and my anti-virus system doesn't seem to be very helful.

 

[Tangerinedream]

How often do you update your anti-virus software?

 

[Xena]

some websites you can get viruses from yes, but doubtful from this one or facebook. Ones that my hubby goes to (to download games) often throw you onto porn sites and there's loads on those.

Other weays are by downloading corrupted files, or opening email attachments from unreliable sources. all risky stuff.

 

[Kylie1007]

It;s probably some spotty little 14 yr old doing it too! Shame they don't put their talent to better use.

 

[happy-chick]

To get a virus u dont necessarily have to go on any website as ur computer is randomly targetted all the time, u need to make sure your firewall is working and all up to date and also ur virus/spyware software but the main things is to have a good firewall as this will help to prevent most viruses/trojans coming through.

 

[Gem & Leland]

try AVG , its free anti virus

also try ad-aware , thats an anti spyware

both available from download.com ( only saying this as its a trusted site so hope mods ok with it ? )

download and install them both , they should help u

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

I use AVG and adaware too, whenever I run adaware I always run spybot too tho as between them your pretty much certain to catch anything (aslong as they are updated lol)

As HP said the most important thing is your firewall, NEVER turn it off - if something you are running doesnt work through your firewall you can set it as an exception so it lets it through (things like msn etc are added automatically)

Its also important to keep avg up tp date - I have mine set to check for updates everytime I turn on the pc, and tho it might be slightly annoying having to wait for it to do its thing, its worth it

As for how you get viruses, think of them as an actual virus - they have to be transported to your pc via a carrier ie a file of some kind, so just viewing a website is unlikely to give you a virus. They can download onto your pc in the background if you watch a video clip online, or download something else, or open an attachment, so always virus check anything you download BEFORE opening it.

 

[enn]

try AVG , its free anti virus

also try ad-aware , thats an anti spyware

both available from download.com ( only saying this as its a trusted site so hope mods ok with it ? )

download and install them both , they should help u

there has been known to have viruses on that site

 

[Misslarue]

Totally agree hun, get AVG
The best free program out there

 

[Gem & Leland]

try AVG , its free anti virus

also try ad-aware , thats an anti spyware

both available from download.com ( only saying this as its a trusted site so hope mods ok with it ? )

download and install them both , they should help u

there has been known to have viruses on that site

oooo have there ? ive used it for years to download any software i wanted !

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

I use download.com aswell and have never had any problems Its definitely one of the more reliable sites out there.

 

[Sherlock]

try AVG , its free anti virus

also try ad-aware , thats an anti spyware

both available from download.com ( only saying this as its a trusted site so hope mods ok with it ? )

download and install them both , they should help u

there has been known to have viruses on that site

I'd always go to the actual proper site to download these things, never from some inbetween site as they can sometimes be dodgy.

Ad Aware comes from Lavasoft and can be downloaded here (using one of their mirror sites if need be) http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Spybot if you use it needs to be searched for under its proper title of 'Spybot search and destroy' as just spybot can sometimes bring up a dodgy search and a different company who actually have a spyware detector, with a very similar name that is a bit dodgy and puts stuff on your computer as well

 

[Sherlock]

I'd really make sure you clean it all up asap. If you have a virus and its a nasty one it can pretty much kill your computer. Some of the spyware you pick up won't be so bad, but there are some dodgy things that can be done.

The old trick of remote access etc or being able to get your credit card/debit card info when you shop online is always a worry.

Out of interest what browser do you use? If its IE I'd be looking to change to Opera or Firefox (both free and good).

And as others have said, Ad Aware and Spybot S&D are good. But they are more for spyware and need to be run often. I'd also look to getting a decent anti virus and running that at least once a week. When I was on Windows I always used Norton and got the updates daily and ran a search once a week.

I used to turn off the Windows firewall and use a different one, but I am told by my OH that the Windows one is passable these days. Not sure but once you find out where it is, have a look at the data it records and see if there is anything interesting there which shows your computer has been at risk. And ooops if it doesn't show such stuff at all. I get all that info in a feed on mine if I want it so I can see in real time who is trying to hack into my computer down the line. Its always fun to watch them try and fail What amazes me is the amount of people who actually try to hack in. It really does go on and its scary when you see 20 attempts in an hour. I use a Linux OS which of course has a very different set up to Windows and can do more tricks which Windows users cannot

 

[happy-chick]

Zone Alarms also offer a good quality free firewall which i would recommend & have found alot better than some of the ones that you pay for, have a look into it

 

[Sherlock]

Zone Alarms also offer a good quality free firewall which i would recommend & have found alot better than some of the ones that you pay for, have a look into it

Ah that's the one I used to use. Good one it was too. Also easy to use and you can see its there and working as you have a little icon on your desktop bar for it all.