5 ways to detect if your computer is affected by Malware

The most interesting thing about a Malware is that it is created to stay unnoticed. There have been a lot of times when most users get confused with a Malware and a Virus. Any suspicious activity in general is related with an Virus attack. However, situations could be worse, if you have a Malware instead. You may follow the basics steps to save your computer from viruses, but if you are unsure here are a few ways to know if your computer is infected by a Malware:

1. Do you notice unwanted programs appearing on your system startup making you wait for a very long time even after you have seen your desktop screens and icons? May be its a Malware.
2. Has your computer started responding slower than usual? Does it often hangs while opening up the usual programs that you work with? In this case, check if you have too many unknown programs and services running on the background consuming a lot of CPU usage. You can view this by opening the task manager by pressing “Ctrl + Alt + Del” or typing taskmgr.exe from the run command.
3. Are you unable to open up standard windows programs like system restore and execute the ‘regedit’ command from the run command? If you receive a message that says Unable to find or open the programs even if you see that it exists in the system, then high chances, that it is a Malware. Because Malware are designed to protect itself by disabling programs that shall identify or destroy it.
4. Does your browser is loaded with unwanted tool bars that you have never seen before? Then try removing or disabling them from the browser settings. If you find the tool bars reappearing even after many repeated attempts of removal, then its more likely to be a Malware.
5. Is your default home page and search engine is replaced by different pages? Try changing them and if it reappears, then its pretty much the Malware is at work.

So, if you find these symptoms and conclude that you have a Malware in your computer, your Antivirus may not be the best option to scan and fix. You may try downloading Malware scanners from the Safe Mode with Networking. Else, give us a call at (614)-656-3066.