There are literally thousands of different computer viruses out there. While some are very obvious – such as Ransomware – many others are a lot more sneaky and insidious and try to avoid detection.

Here are some of the more common symptoms that could indicate your computer is infected with a virus.

Annoying Pop Ups

These are pretty obvious, as the idea is to get your attention. Irritating messages and little pop ups that keep nagging at you to click on them or purchase products to clean up your computer. Viruses such as Ransomware will warn you repeatedly that your computer is infected, and that you must click on their pop up to purchase a service to have the virus removed.

A Very Slow Computer

Slow computers aren’t necessarily an indication you have a virus, as many things could be the reason. But if the slow down is rather sudden, this could mean a virus has very recently wormed its way into your system. If you experience an abrupt slow down in speed, perform a scan with your anti virus software, or have a computer tech check it over. Whether the lack of speed ends up being due to a virus or other reasons, a computer specialist will get it sorted either way.

Weird Behaviour

Computer viruses can make your computer do all sorts of strange things, sometimes even hijacking your entire desktop and web browser. Another indicator is when your computer seems to be thinking for itself and taking various actions without you doing anything. Any unusual computer behaviour should be investigated by a computer service.

Repeated Error Messages

Your computer starts bombarding you with error messages about missing system or application files.

Your Computer Keeps Crashing

You keep experiencing that blue screen of death, where your computer suddenly crashes, pops up the blue screen with data all over it, then shuts itself down. This can happen now and then on a normal computer, but if it happens repeatedly in a short timeframe, there could be a virus messing with it.

Unusual Hard Drive Activity

Does the hard drive light keep flickering with constant activity even though you haven’t done anything on your computer for a while? If it does, it could be a virus indicator, where a form of malware or other virus is conducting activity on your computer on your behalf. Not really want you want. Perform a virus scan or contact a virus removal service is you suspect an infection.

Your Browser Homepage Has Been Hijacked

Many viruses love to hijack the default page your browser normally opens up to. You will often find new toolbars have also been added to the browser. Another thing is when you try to access a certain website, but keep finding yourself being redirected someplace else, usually in a bid to get you to purchase some product or service you don’t want.

Other Indicators of Virus Infection

• Running out of hard drive space
• High network activity
• Applications won’t start
• Disappearing files
• Anti virus software vanishes
• Applications change their language
• Hardware problems
• Weird programs that launch automatically

Virus Removal Service

If you are experiencing any of the above, your computer could be infected and may need to be taken in for a virus removal service like we offer at A Tech In Need on the Gold Coast. Get in touch with us for virus removal and computer repairs.