How do you tell if your computer has a virus

How do you tell if your Windows computer has a virus? Seriously! You have an  antivirus software installed and you go about using the computer with the feeling that it was well-protected and hence malware-free. But maybe, just maybe, there could be malware or a Trojan or a key logger operating on your computer without your knowledge and compromising your security or damaging your data.

How do you tell if your computer has a virus

Is your Windows computer infected? Learn to recognize malware infections and signs, symptoms that will tell you if your Windows PC has a computer virus. In this post we will see some of the symptoms of malware infection, that will tell you if you computer was compromised or infected with computer virus.

Symptoms of Malware Infection

The typical symptoms that your computer may have been compromised are:

1. Change in your browsers home page or default search
2. Your web browser hangs or becomes sluggish
3. Your computer starts behaving sluggishly or hangs often
4. You are unable to open security-related sites or Microsoft.com domains.
5. You get re-directed to web pages you did not intend to visit
6. Unexpected toolbars in your browser
7. Security software or Firewall disabled
8. Your security software throws up warnings or its icon turns red or something.
9. Pop-ups while browsing, unknown or excessive
10. Balloon Notifications from your system tray
11. Excessive CPU or Memory utilization
12. Internet or data transfer activity – Modem appears to be working overtime
13. You start seeing unexpected Windows error messages
14. Some programs start automatically
15. Some important Windows functions or features disabled. Eg, Task Manager, Registry Editor, Control Panel, Command Prompt, etc.
16. New unknown unwanted software installed, etc.
17. You see new icons on your desktop suddenly.

If you see any of these signs, if is quite possible that your computer may have become infected with a virus or malware.

Starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced many security features in the operating system which were further improved upon in Windows 7 and Windows 8. Nevertheless, should your computer get infected with malware.