Most computers that are infected with a virus or worm exhibit common symptoms.
Crash! This could take many forms: “fatal error” messages (often referred to as the “Blue Screen of Death”); “illegal operation” messages; the computer shutting down unexpectedly; or being unable to start Windows.
Freeze! Your computer suddenly enters a state of suspended animation in which everything onscreen freezes (or perhaps you can move your mouse around the screen but you are unable to click on anything).
Soooo slow! Your computer is slower than normal. Windows takes longer to start up or shut down. Your programs take longer to load or use.Your mouse cursor has a delayed response when you move it. When surfing the Internet,Web sites take much longer to load.Your digital music or video files do not play normally. When using a word-processing program, the words you type do not appear immediately onscreen (there is noticeable lag). Or it takes an unusual amount of time to open a folder or a window.
If your computer isn’t experiencing these symptoms, don’t assume it is safe. It could be infected with a stealthy worm or Trojan horse that operates silently behind the scenes, gathering data from your system and transmitting it to criminals via the Internet.
Antivirus download and information can be found at http://www.umbc.edu/oit/sans/security/awareness/antivirus.html
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