Virus Infection Symptoms:

At least 5 new viruses are created everyday. You should never rule out a virus if your system is acting strange. Many viruses can actually simulate out a problem to look like system hardware or software problems. Therefore, there is no simple way to know if you have one or more viruses on your system.

Common symptoms are:

• Application crashes.
• Changing dates.
• Changing file sizes.
• Changing time.
• Corrupted hard disk data.
• Disappearing files.
• Hard disks that won't boot.
• Screen problems.
• Sound problems.
• Spontaneous system reboots.
• Strange messages.
• System crashes / hangups.

Spyware Infection Symptoms:

Below you will find some of the most common indicators of spyware infection. A combination of more than 2-3 of any of these symptoms could mean a major problem for a proper Windows operation.

• Every time you do a search on your browser, you end up at the same unusual and unknown web site-search engine, or you get 1-3 pages of unrelated search results. Typically referred to as a 'search page hijack'.
• Excessive popup windows occurs during usage which you are unable to stop or close.
• New foreign shortcuts appear on your desktop, your task bar or even your system tray.
• New unknown bookmarked entries appear in your favorites folder.
• The homepage of your internet browser is changed suddenly, and you have no clue as to how it happened. This is commonly called a browser hijack.
• There is a new program or multiple programs in the Add/Remove Programs section of your control panel. More times than not, you are unable to uninstall or remove them.
• You suddenly notice an 'extra' toolbar on your browser and once again you did not install it. Toolbar infections are of a wide variety, coming in many forms and names.
• You're unable to access any of these: task manager, regedit, MSCONFIG, they just pop up and disappear.
• Your computer performs sluggishly out of a sudden.
• Your desktop has been changed to a web page or some type of warning messages that indicate your PC has been infected.
• Your Windows firewall alerts you to an unknown program trying to access the Internet. This usually means a foreign program / file has already installed itself into your PC and it requires internet access to call for 'backups'.