Recently we've had more and more people ask us to take a look at computers that "just aren't acting right." It turns out that the vast majority of these computers are infected with some type of virus, trojan, worm, adware, or spyware. Here are some quick definitions if you're unfamiliar with any of these terms:

A virus is a computer program that attaches itself to another program, then runs when the original program is launched. Once a virus is launched, it resides in memory, and attaches itself to other computer programs. A virus attempts to replicate itself as many times as possible. The virus may also do damage, such as deleting files.

A worm is similar to a virus, except that it does not attach to a program. It is a stand-alone program that is run unintentionally by the user, usually in the form of an email attachment.

A trojan is a program that disguises itself as a useful program, and sometimes does do something useful, but when it is running it does something the user does not expect or know about. This could be something like capturing a user's passwords and sending them back to the creator of the trojan. A trojan does not replicate itself, but could be installed by a virus.

Adware is software that runs on a computer, usually without the user's knowledge, that pops up ads when the user takes certain actions, such as launching a specific program or visiting a web page with specific keywords.

Spyware is software that runs on a user's computer and monitors their web surfing habits, then sends this information back to the creator of the spyware. This information can then be used to affect the behavior of adware installed on the user's computer to display relevant advertisements. Spyware may also be used simply to invade someone's privacy and monitor their Internet habits.

While we've always offered "tune-ups" for PCs, we've now developed a procedure that we will perform on any PC to make sure its Operating System is safe and healthy. These steps are as follows:

1. Remove any programs that startup automatically but have no reason to.
2. Ensure the virus definitions are up to date, and install Anti-Virus software if needed (extra charge for the software).
3. Uninstall any known trojans, adware, or spyware.
4. Uninstall any unneeded software (with the user's permission)
5. Perform a full system virus scan.
6. Run a full scandisk/chkdsk on the system.
7. Run a full disk defragmentation.
8. If the computer is at our shop, we will also remove the cover and clean out any dust and ensure all fans are operating properly.

If you have a computer that's "just not acting right," perhaps it needs a CCS Networking tune-up today!