How To Recover After A Virus Attack

by: Paul Wilcox

PC viruses are more than just a nuisance; they can actually cause serious damage to your computer, just as a biological virus can cause damage to your body. There are many different types of viruses, some are just annoying and may cause a message to flash on your screen, while others are more malicious and can actually delete files necessary for your computerís operating system. There are others that can also leave your computer open for hackers to do as they please with your computer.

Viruses are for the most part easy to prevent. You should always have a trusted up to date anti-virus program running at all times as well as deleted emails with unknown file attachments. However, despite our best intentions it is still possible for your computer to become infected with a virus.

If you do get a virus, it is important to do a little diagnosis before trying to fix and eradicate the virus.

Firstly, you should try and find out what the virus is one your computer. Run a full virus scan using your anti-virus software. Make sure your software has the most current virus database and donít skip any sections of your hard drive or memory. This can take some time, but it should find it and recommend a course of action to get rid of the virus.

If your computer is not operational try and boot your computer using an anti-virus CD or diskette, you should have created one when you got your computer. Once you are back in your computer do the previous step and do a full virus scan of your system.

If you have only rebooted the computer once since infection and are running any version of Windows you can try to reboot from the Last Known Good Configuration. This usually doesnít help but it is worth a try.

If you canít discover the source of the virus take a look at your computerís operating files. Most of them should have the same date and one that is more current may be a virus. kernel32.exe and lsass.exe are two files that are often hit by viruses. If you find some discrepancy try replacing them with clean files.

If you find you're only having problems with one program try uninstalling it completely and reinstalling with a new copy.

If you have lost data that is vital to you and have no backup you may need to get professional help. While there is no guarantee that your data can be recovered it is possible. This may be an expensive lesson that you should frequently backup all important data.