Virus Infection Rates Climb

May 17, 2011 -- Every season seems to be virus season for computers. The infection rate continues to climb by all reports both in the news and at first hand. While Windows 7 is reported to be almost five times more secure than Windows XP, there is still an overall climb in infections. If your computer becomes infected do you know the first steps to take?

Many of the calls we get about computer problems these days are the result of an affliction by some form of virus, trojan, or malware. Although there are technical differences between these, for most of us, "virus" is close enough. The damage done ranges from minimal to fatal (Windows no longer functions and the computer will not boot). Some damage is recoverable while in the worst situations, all user data files must be recovered and Windows must be completely reinstalled. Much of this work is out of the realm of the typical home or small business user.

The biggest rise in computer viruses appears to come from the so called "fake" or "rogue" anti-malware programs. Typically, these are picked up as "drive-by" infections while browsing or by clicking on a link in Facebook or an email that takes you to an infected site. It starts as a pop-up screen that may show supposed scanning of your hard drive while reporting many and various infections and critical errors. The screen awaits your click on the button that suggests "Clean Now" or similar. Once you click, you are done. Infected. Some hold you for ransom -- offer your credit card and maybe your problems will go away -- while others appear to do real damage regardless of your choice to continue or not. Below are recent examples both from Windows 7 and XP systems.

If you act immediately (preferably before you click), in many cases the "fix" is to immediately do a System Restore to an earlier point in the day (or previous day). Once your system has restarted, you should then run your Anti-Virus scan, as well as an Anti-Malware scan using a program such as Malwarebytes. In the event you have clicked on the rogue program and are now really infected, you may have to reboot to get to Safe Mode to run your System Restore. See our earlier article Virus Infection and Removal: Quick and Easy for more specific steps to take.

Should the above steps not resolve your problems, try running the System Restore to an earlier point in time. Not all issues will be resolved with a System Restore. A regular backup routine will at least protect important data. The sooner you take action after noticing a problem, the more likely you will be successful in fixing the problem with minimal disruption.

--MLJ