Virus Cleaning

• Has your computer started to run more slowly recently?
• Does it take a long time to start up?
• When you open certain windows or programs, such as Explorer or Task Manager, do they suddenly close again?

These are all symptoms that your computer is infected with a virus.

Most viruses try to stay hidden

Viruses used to be spread to be malicious (eg, delete files) or for notoriety. Today, however, this isn't the case - the virus writers want to hijack your computer and use it for their purposes.

Examples of "Hijacking"

• Keyloggers - these monitor what you type. They are programmed to look out for specific types of information, such as email addresses and credit card numbers. They collect these and report it back to the virus's creator.
• Peer to peer - the virus uses your computer to spread infected files to other computers.
• Botnets - the virus sits and waits for the virus creator to send it instructions. The virus writers assemble thousands of infected computers into their "botnet", then use their combined numbers to send spam email or attack other systems. There are criminal markets where botnets are "rented out".

Anti-virus programs may not always help

Most anti-virus programs work by downloading a "definition file", usually once a day. This file describes characteristics of all known viruses, so the program can look for matches.

Unfortunately, with most computers being permanently connected to the Internet they can be infected hours or days before the definition file can be updated with the new threat. This gives the virus writer a "window of opportunity" to infect your computer.

Viruses can be pernicious

This newer breed of virus often digs seep into the system, sometimes in several places, and can be very tricky to remove. Often the only real way is to connect the computer to a clean system, so it can scan and remove any infections. Because these viruses may not even be in the antivirus program's definitions, an experienced virus cleaner will manually check all the programs your computer uses to boot utself up - only by recognising programs that seem "out of place" can these threats be recognised and removed.

How Andrews Technology can help

We have a deep understanding of all Windows versions since Windows 3, and with a broad experience of different systems can easily recognise "out of place" programs on the system.

If necessary, we can remove the computer / laptop's hard drive and use a clean system to sweep it for hidden viruses. This can be done on-site if required - there is no need to take the hard drive with us.

If a system is completely overrun, we can help with rebuilding the system, preserving your data.

Sometimes, people's concern over viruses leads them to install several Anti-virus programs at the same time - which can actually make the system worse.

We can also give advice on how to minimise the virus threat in future.