We all want a fast computer, so most of us Scan, Clean-up, and Defragment our hard drive regularly. This simple maintenance routine keeps our computer running decently fast. But what if, after doing all these things, your computer is still unusually slow?
Beware. You may have been invaded by Malware!
“But,” you protest, “how can that be? I have antivirus protection! Besides, I scanned for viruses and my antivirus says I’m clean!”
Well, of course your antivirus found nothing. It was looking for viruses, and malware is not a virus, though it can be as destructive. In fact, other than a slow computer, here are other signs that you have been infected by malware:
- Your homepage changes even if you didn’t change it yourself.
- Your attempts to restore your original homepage have been futile.
- Ads pop-up on your desktop even when you are offline.
- It takes longer for your computer to boot, or for your programs to start.
- You KNOW you shutdown your computer, but when you turn it on again, you find it was just hibernating.
- Your Internet connection is slower.
- Your computer hangs or crashes more often.
So now, what do you do?
Simple. Download a program specifically designed to find and remove malware. One excellent program combination which I am currently using is Spybot-Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware. Not only do they do a great job, they can also be downloaded for free!
Remember to update your anti-malware databases and scan your computer for malware regularly. Hopefully, this will put your computer back in decent condition so you can stop swearing at it so much.
