Use an anti-malware app - Installing an anti-malware app and keeping it up to date can help defend your PC against viruses and other malware (malicious software). 


Microsoft Defender is free anti-malware software included with Windows, and it's kept updated automatically through Windows Update. There are also anti-malware products made by other companies that you can choose from.

Don't open email messages from unfamiliar senders, or email attachments that you don't recognize - Many viruses are attached to email messages and will spread as soon as you open the attachment. It's best not to open any attachment unless it's something you're expecting. For more information see: Protect yourself from phishing.


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Keep Windows updated - Periodically, Microsoft releases special security updates that can help protect your PC. These updates can help prevent viruses and other malware attacks by closing possible security holes.


Windows Update helps to make sure that your PC receives these updates automatically, but you may still have to restart your machine occasionally for the updates to install completely.

Make sure User Account Control (UAC) is turned on - When changes are going to be made to your PC that require administrator-level permission, UAC notifies you and gives you the chance to approve the change. UAC can help keep viruses from making unwanted changes. To open UAC, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.) Enter uac in the search box, and then tap or click Change User Account Control settings.

Make sure that Tamper Protection is turned on - In Windows 10 and 11 we have a feature called Tamper Protection that prevents unauthorized apps from changing your security settings. Many viruses and malware try to disable anti-malware software or other security settings when they're installed in order to evade detection. See Prevent changes to security settings with Tamper Protection for information on how to confirm that it's turned on.

And yet, looking around for confirmation of this long-held belief quickly turns up an alternate universe, full of experts who insist that everyone should be paying for antivirus software. This advice comes not just from the companies that sell antivirus suites, but from reputable sites that perform antivirus software reviews (PCWorld included).

Each month, we stop over 1.5 billion cyberattacks all around the globe thanks to an unrivaled threat detection network, which is why professionals and amateurs alike love our free and paid antivirus protection.

A type of malware that infects your computer often through malicious downloads or deceptive links. Viruses are designed to spread themselves across files and programs as well as across networks to other devices. Indications that you may have a virus on your computer include slowdowns,

A computer virus is a program that makes copies of itself and infects diskettes or files. Computer viruses can spread to other computers and files whenever infected diskettes or files are exchanged. Often infected files come as email attachments, even from people you know. The email senders have no idea that they are passing on a file with a virus in it.

Some computer viruses can erase or change the information stored on your computer, other viruses may do little or no harm to your system. Writing and releasing any virus is prohibited by university policy, and anyone who does so will be held legally accountable for damages.

These infected programs can be files containing executable code (most commonly .COM and .EXE files), or boot sectors. A virus can only infect your PC if you execute an infected program or by booting from a diskette containing an infected boot sector.

Not all damage to your programs and files are caused by viruses: worn out floppies, failing hard drives, user error, and poorly written programs can all cause you to lose data. If your computer is behaving strangely, or if you think your computer has a virus, use an anti-virus program to find out.

If a virus is active in memory, it may prevent anti-virus programs from working correctly. To be sure no virus is active, turn off your computer and reboot from a known-clean system diskette before you begin the disinfection process.

Anti-virus software should be installed when the personal computer is initially configured. The software should be updated weekly with new virus definitions, and your vendor may provide an automated update feature. Organizations may benefit from using several brands of anti-virus software.

A computer virus[1] is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code into those programs.[2][3] If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a computer virus, a metaphor derived from biological viruses.[4]

Computer viruses generally require a host program.[5] The virus writes its own code into the host program. When the program runs, the written virus program is executed first, causing infection and damage. By contrast, a computer worm does not need a host program, as it is an independent program or code chunk. Therefore, it is not restricted by the host program, but can run independently and actively carry out attacks.[6][7]

Virus writers use social engineering deceptions and exploit detailed knowledge of security vulnerabilities to initially infect systems and to spread the virus. Viruses use complex anti-detection/stealth strategies to evade antivirus software.[8] Motives for creating viruses can include seeking profit (e.g., with ransomware), desire to send a political message, personal amusement, to demonstrate that a vulnerability exists in software, for sabotage and denial of service, or simply because they wish to explore cybersecurity issues, artificial life and evolutionary algorithms.[9]

As of 2013, computer viruses caused billions of dollars' worth of economic damage each year.[10] In response, an industry of antivirus software has cropped up, selling or freely distributing virus protection to users of various operating systems.[11]

The first academic work on the theory of self-replicating computer programs was done in 1949 by John von Neumann who gave lectures at the University of Illinois about the "Theory and Organization of Complicated Automata". The work of von Neumann was later published as the "Theory of self-reproducing automata". In his essay von Neumann described how a computer program could be designed to reproduce itself.[12] Von Neumann's design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the world's first computer virus, and he is considered to be the theoretical "father" of computer virology.[13] In 1972, Veith Risak directly building on von Neumann's work on self-replication, published his article "Selbstreproduzierende Automaten mit minimaler Informationsbertragung" (Self-reproducing automata with minimal information exchange).[14] The article describes a fully functional virus written in assembler programming language for a SIEMENS 4004/35 computer system. In 1980, Jrgen Kraus wrote his Diplom thesis "Selbstreproduktion bei Programmen" (Self-reproduction of programs) at the University of Dortmund.[15] In his work Kraus postulated that computer programs can behave in a way similar to biological viruses.

The Creeper virus was first detected on ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, in the early 1970s.[16] Creeper was an experimental self-replicating program written by Bob Thomas at BBN Technologies in 1971.[17] Creeper used the ARPANET to infect DEC PDP-10 computers running the TENEX operating system.[18] Creeper gained access via the ARPANET and copied itself to the remote system where the message, "I'M THE CREEPER. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" was displayed.[19] The Reaper program was created to delete Creeper.[20]

A computer virus generally contains three parts: the infection mechanism, which finds and infects new files, the payload, which is the malicious code to execute, and the trigger, which determines when to activate the payload.[33]

Computer viruses infect a variety of different subsystems on their host computers and software.[41] One manner of classifying viruses is to analyze whether they reside in binary executables (such as .EXE or .COM files), data files (such as Microsoft Word documents or PDF files), or in the boot sector of the host's hard drive (or some combination of all of these).[42][43]

A memory-resident virus (or simply "resident virus") installs itself as part of the operating system when executed, after which it remains in RAM from the time the computer is booted up to when it is shut down. Resident viruses overwrite interrupt handling code or other functions, and when the operating system attempts to access the target file or disk sector, the virus code intercepts the request and redirects the control flow to the replication module, infecting the target. In contrast, a non-memory-resident virus (or "non-resident virus"), when executed, scans the disk for targets, infects them, and then exits (i.e. it does not remain in memory after it is done executing).[44]

Many common applications, such as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Word, allow macro programs to be embedded in documents or emails, so that the programs may be run automatically when the document is opened. A macro virus (or "document virus") is a virus that is written in a macro language and embedded into these documents so that when users open the file, the virus code is executed, and can infect the user's computer. This is one of the reasons that it is dangerous to open unexpected or suspicious attachments in e-mails.[45][46] While not opening attachments in e-mails from unknown persons or organizations can help to reduce the likelihood of contracting a virus, in some cases, the virus is designed so that the e-mail appears to be from a reputable organization (e.g., a major bank or credit card company). 0852c4b9a8

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