Cleaning your computer and doing preventive maintenance, such as scanning for viruses, helps keep it running smoothly. Preventative maintenance saves you time, as well, since it saves you the hassle of dealing with systems failures and data loss.
Viruses,Trojan Horses, and Worms
Viruses
Just like a biological virus can make you physically sick, a computer virus can make your computer sick. A virus is a small piece of software that finds it way onto your computer without your knowledge, and causes trouble on your computer system. You may not even know your computer has been infected with a virus until your computer slows down, a program stops working, your computer crashes, or error messages begin appearing.
Just like a biological virus can make you physically sick, a computer virus can make your computer sick. A virus is a small piece of software that finds it way onto your computer without your knowledge, and causes trouble on your computer system. You may not even know your computer has been infected with a virus until your computer slows down, a program stops working, your computer crashes, or error messages begin appearing.
Many viruses are transferred by email. The virus will travel as an email attachment, and when the attached file is downloaded, the virus will begin to do its job. Often, email viruses will continue to spread by attacking your address book, emailing your contacts, and spreading the virus more.
Trojan Horses
Another destructive piece of software that is similar to a virus is called a Trojan horse. A Trojan horse is simply a program that claims to do one thing, but really does something else to your computer. For example, you may find a site on the Internet and download what you think is a solitaire game, only to run the program and have it delete files.
Another destructive piece of software that is similar to a virus is called a Trojan horse. A Trojan horse is simply a program that claims to do one thing, but really does something else to your computer. For example, you may find a site on the Internet and download what you think is a solitaire game, only to run the program and have it delete files.
Worms
A third item you need to safeguard your computer against are worms. Unlike viruses, worms do not attach to other files or programs, but spread themselves over computer networks by taking advantage of the network setup. Worms can delete files or send emails like viruses, but usually they affect the computer's memory, which slows down your computer.
A third item you need to safeguard your computer against are worms. Unlike viruses, worms do not attach to other files or programs, but spread themselves over computer networks by taking advantage of the network setup. Worms can delete files or send emails like viruses, but usually they affect the computer's memory, which slows down your computer.
