Here’s one of the possibilities that you might not like but that might unfortunately happen to you any day. You’re working on an important project and you’re starting to see annoying pop-ups appearing on your computer suddenly. What’s more, it takes too long to load your files or apps. You continue to wait before you start to ask yourself: “Is my computer infect with malware?” Unfortunately, the answer may be “yes” and your PC may already be compromise by viruses or next-gen malware which slow down its performance.
This is one of many warning signs indicating that your PC may be suffering from malware infection. But there’s so much more to be aware of and understand about, so you can act quickly.
In this article, we’ll show you the most frequent warning signs of malware infection on computers running Microsoft Windows and what can you do about it.
The most common warning signs displayed on a computer are:
- Your computer is slowing down
- Annoying ads are display
- Crashes
- Pop-up messages
- Internet traffic suspiciously increases
- Your browser homepage changed without your input
- Unusual messages show unexpectedly
- Your security solution is disabled
- Your friends say they receive strange messages from you
- Unfamiliar icons are displayed on your desktop
- Unusual error messages
- You can’t access the Control Panel
- Everything seems to work perfectly on your PC
- You get the error on the browser
- You get suspicious shortcut files
“My computer applications run slowly, and they take longer than usual to start.”
It could mean you have viruses on your computer if you’re dealing with this scenario.
I know, it’s so frustrating to see this slowly working. It’s a known fact that one of the main activities of malware is to slow down the operating system, irrespective of whether you are browsing the Internet or merely using your local software.
What can you do?
First, you need to investigate the causes and try to understand what is going on.Here are some of the most common issues that slow down your PC:
- Your system’s RAM memory is low.
- There is no storage space on your hard disk.
- Your browser may be using too many computer resources.
- Your system may be fragment.
- Your Windows OS hasn’t been updated or you’re using outdated drivers.
“I keep getting annoying ads on my computer screen which open randomly or strange messages.”
Unexpected pop-ups appearing on your screen are a typical sign of an infection with malware which is causing havoc on your computer.
This form of malware is known as spyware and is designed without their knowledge to collect and steal sensitive data from users. The main issue in this particular case is not just the numerous pop-up windows which affect your Internet browsing. Deleting them from your system, too, is quite difficult.
Not only are these pop-ups annoying, they usually come bundled with other hidden risks to malware, which can be much more harmful to your OS. These might be posing as legitimate programs, tracking your web browsing data or monitoring your online activity to capture passwords and other personal data.
We strongly recommend CLICK NEVER on a suspicious popup!
Make sure you apply these safety measures to keep your computer away from malicious threats:
- Do not click on pop-up windows.
- Do not answer unsolicited emails that look strange. Always verify the sender’s email address and never open attachments or click weird links.
- Be very careful when you are trying to download free applications.
- Use a next-gen threat prevention solution that identifies online dangers and blocks them before they get the chance to infect your PC.
“When I watch Youtube videos or play games my laptop keeps crashing. It just freezes, and then a blue screen appears.”
So, you got the popular BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Then it recovered and “told” you Windows was recovering from an unexpected shutdown.
There may be two things that cause this type of problem:
- You may be dealing with a technical problem that is triggered by a possible incompatibility with your software and/or hardware.
- That may be a problem with malware.
How to fix this problem:
- Use the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) that is openable in Windows ‘ search bar. Select the run command from there.
- For malware infections: run a full scan of a good antivirus software on the device. So, make sure you never get malware compromised by using a can, all-in – one security suite that identifies threats before they occur.
“I started getting this popup message <You’re running out of disk space on Windows (C:)>”
If you are receiving this warning message, it means there’s no free space left on a partition (in this case, C) on the main hard drive on your computer. More and more users are reporting this issue.
How to fix this problem?
First, you need to test if your physical storage space has recently increased, or whether some of your files have vanished or changed their names. Second, make sure you delete all those old or unnecessary files that might lower the performance of your PC. Third, this could be yet another sign of infection with malware. There are so many types of malicious programs that use various methods to fill all the space available in the hard drive and cause it to crash. To do this, make sure you use an anti-malware solution that conducts scans automatically and does not allow viruses or threats to get to your device.
“For quite some time, every time I start my PC, I notice that the Internet traffic suspiciously increases.”
Chances are there is an unusually high network activity happening on your PC that could be the cause of a malware infection.
What can I do?
Check each of these items:
- The last Windows update for your computer
- Is there any program or application that’s downloading any data?
- Is there any update for a certain app running at this moment?
- Is there a large download that you start and forget about, which may still be running in the background?
If the answer to all these questions is NO and you can’t find a cause for your increased Internet traffic, then this may be a sign of malware infection. In this case, you should use a specialized security suite designed to address advanced and new online threats.
“My homepage has changed, and I don’t remember doing it myself.”
If you’ve spotted this unusual behaviour or a new toolbar shows up from nowhere, or you’ve been redirected to a different web address than the one you first accessed, these might be signs of malware infection. It usually happens when you visit a website and you click on a link or a pop-up window, by accident.
This triggers a download and install unwanted software on your device. Not only are the effects irritating but they are also malicious and can compromise your data.
What to do?
You can always manually change your homepage address from your browser’s settings.
But the actual cause of this behaviour can be, unfortunately, rooted much deeper, and be a sign of a more serious malware infection. So, the best way to avoid compromising your files, passwords, and payment details is by using a complete, next-gen threat prevention and mitigation security solution.
“My PC is acting weird because I get unusual messages that appear unexpectedly.”
That’s usually the type of warning message that makes you wonder “What’s going on with my computer?”
Here are some regular warning signs to look out for:
- Suddenly you see programs automatically open and close.
- The Windows OS shuts down suddenly, for no cause at all.
- You have noticed strange windows appearing when your PC is attempting to boot.
- Windows tells you that some of your drives get lost.
Although the root cause may be a technical issue, it could also be a warning sign that malware has taken over your computer and is slowing down its activity.
“I use an antivirus product and keep getting the message that .”
When you find that your antivirus solution no longer appears to work or that the Update feature is disable, then you should look for ways to fix that immediately.
Were you aware of some types of malware being sneaky and being able to disable your security?
Okay, yeah, they’re design to leave users without any protection and make detecting them difficult.
If you’ve already try to reboot your computer, the protection solution is close and open and all your troubleshooting efforts appeared futile, the malware intrusion scenario could be consider. This is especially the case because it’s a know fact that traditional antivirus solutions can’t easily detect, block or remove next-gen and advanced malware (such as ransomware, adware or financial malware).
Thus, you can get expose to all kind of attacks, and we strongly recommend enhancing your protection by adding multiple layers of protection.
“My friends tell me they’re getting strange random messages from me on Facebook, which I didn’t send.”
If your friends have sent many odd messages/emails or strange links from you recently and you have not sent them, you may have been infected with malware.
Here’s a good example of Facebook Messenger spreading malware and tricking users into clicking on links they have received from one of their friends.
But first, check your online accounts and see if any of your accounts actually sent those random messages.
If something like this has happened, take immediate action by following these protections:
- Log out from all your accounts.
For most of our online accounts, we log into multiple devices and we often forget to log out. So, make sure to log out from your online accounts on all connected devices.
- Use unique and strong passwords for all your online accounts.
Always remember to change passwords! NEVER use the same password(s) for multiple accounts, because if you are hack, all of them will be expose and your valuable data will get stolen. This password security guide will help you master passwords like an expert.
- Start using two-factor authentication RIGHT NOW.
Do you want to increase your control over your accounts’ security? Then add this second security layer that will ask for an extra authentication step in the login process, along with your credentials.
“There are these new, yet unfamiliar icons on my desktop that I don’t recognize.”
If you’ve notice unknown and new icons on your PC, those sneaky programs called PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) are most likely download by accident. These are malicious programs that can cause a lot of harm and expose you to data leakage, show irritating advertising or pop-ups on the screen or add toolbars to your browser.
They often come together with suspicious software you’ve ended up installing. You may have accidentally given your consent to install additional tools which you didn’t notice were there.
But while good Internet practices can protect you against PUPs, it’s advisable to rely on proactive security software.
