Is Your Computer Acting Weird

Writen by Eva Gibson

Is your computer just plain acting weird? Have you been having trouble surfing the internet and doing general work on your computer? Do popups appear every few minutes to irritate you with their sales pitches and silly "surveys?" Does your computer crash, freeze, shut down, or otherwise abandon you when you're trying to use it?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be the possessor of a computer infected with malware.

How could this happen, you wonder? Well, a computer can contract a malware infection in a number of ways. Some are user-related, meaning the online actions of the computer user led to the accidental download of malware from a website or infected link. Another way to get a malware infection is having an infection sent to you by a hacker as a link or attachment in an email.

Malware is a blanket term that refers to malicious software designed specifically to infect and disrupt a computer system. Malware can take the form of a virus, worm, Trojan, piece of spyware, or piece of adware, and can cause plenty of trouble is it's not discovered, quarantined, and removed from the computer it's infecting.

The most common ways of contracting a malware infection are:

Downloading music

Sharing photos

Using peer-to-peer networking programs like Kazaa

Installing free programs from a questionable website

Clicking popup ads

Opening infected email attachments sent to you

Exchanging files in chat rooms

Downloading games and screensavers

Browsing infected websites

Browsing adult-related websites

You can avoid most malware by using common sense when surfing the internet, especially when it comes to clicking on random, links, ads, icons, and those flashing, blinking buttons imploring you to "CLICK HERE FOR YOUR PRIZE," or some other similar enticement. Other ways to avoid malware infection include:

1. Install antivirus software that scans for and removes viruses, spyware, and adware on your computer
2. Install a popup blocker
3. Install and run a firewall to keep hackers and attackers at bay
4. Install a threat scanner to periodically scan for malware
5. Update your software and computer programs regularly
6. Don't open emails or follow links sent to you from unfamiliar sources
7. Don't download files or programs from unknown sources

If your computer is acting weird and you think you may have a malware infection, following the above steps will help you clean your computer and keep malware at bay in the future. Remember, some malware is merely annoying, but some can seriously compromise your computer system, leading to system shut downs, remote hacking, identity theft, third party information transfer, and keylogging. Don't be the next of many online malware victims – take the steps now to protect yourself and your computer from being compromised.

http://home.stopsign.com