Is your PC misbehaving or has lagging performance recently? chances are your PC is infected with malware or other computer Virus. But there is no guarantee that all slow and misbehaving PC is infected by malware.
The malware could have entered from the network, or someone might have placed it on your PC. You might have accidentally clicked on some infected link or have downloaded an attachment infected by malware. Such practices are a part of Social engineering or other phishing schemes that trick you to download such malicious codes.
You might also come across certain ‘scareware’ programs that may seem to be antivirus software, but you tend to get infected if you download them. To avoid this, always download an antivirus program from a legitimate source and avoid any download from third-party sites.
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Signs your PC is infected
If your system is performing slowly, freezing quite often and a lot of applications crash lately, there is a good chance that you’ve been hit by a virus or any malware. However, this might not always be true and there might be other reasons as well for the system’s slow performance.
You might also experience sudden pop-ups on a browser no browser is open, terrifying security warnings, and even demands for ransom if you’ve been compromised by a Ransomware program.
Nowadays, malware programs may not cause any recognizable PC issues and are more likely to sneak into the background and detect and capture personal information such as credit card numbers.
Summing up, there is no sure shot evidence to confirm malware attacks. To check for them, you have to examine and scan your PC yourself.
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Examine your PC for Malware
One way to look for malware programs is through a Windows Task Manager program. To access the program you have to right-click on the Windows taskbar and select “Task Manager.” You can also press the ‘Alt+Ctrl+Del’ key together.
Here you will see a few processes, many of them might have scary and confusing names. You will find several background processes of Windows and other installed applications
To recognize malware, you have to look for badly behaving programs that are utilizing a large number of computer resources- CPU, memory, or disk. If you want to be further sure whether a specific program is hostile, you can right-click on it and click on “Search Online”.
Note: The Search Online option is not available on Windows 7 so you can search the process by typing its name into Google.
Now that you’re absolutely sure that you have malware on your PC, you can take these steps immediately to get rid of them.
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Scan Your Computer
Microsoft Windows comes with a pre-installed Windows Security application, known as Windows Defender. By default, Windows Defender keeps performing scans in the background but it also gives you an option to perform a manual scan of the system for viruses.
To open the Windows Defender Application,
- Click on the Start Menu, Next type ‘Windows Defender’, you will see the “Windows Defender” application.
- Click on the shortcut to open it.
Alternatively, you can access the application using Control Panel.
- Head to Control Panel.
- Choose Control Panel > System & Security > Action Centre > Windows Defender.
- To run an anti-malware scan, tap “Windows Defender”.
- Choose Quick Scan and Click on “Scan Now” to analyze and scan your system for malware.
Windows Security will perform a scan for you give you the details of any Malware threats. The defender will automatically remove any malware found on your PC.
Note: For accessing Defender on Windows 10, Click on the Start button, enter “Security,” and choose the “Windows Security” option. You can also go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security.
Conclusion
Even though Microsoft Windows comes with free antivirus Microsoft Windows Defender, it can’t be completely trusted to keep your PC protected from all types of threats.
It is suggested to install one of the top-rated best free antiviruses for the well-being of your system.
You can also try Malwarebytes- the most trusted on-demand antivirus scanner that is highly recommended for a one-time deep scan. Norton Power Eraser can also prove to be a good option if your initial antivirus could not defend your PC. You can download Microsoft Security Essentials and scan your PC with it it. This software also protects your PC like the built-in Windows Defender Application.
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