10 warning signs that your computer is infected by virus or malware

Computer viruses and other kinds of malware are very common. While corrupt data on your computer can make it unstable, sometimes malware replicates itself until it fills up all available space on the hard drive of the system, turning a computer into a brick. Here's a quick guide to detect the nasty viruses:

Sudden Slowdown

If no programs are running on your computer and the modem is constantly blinking, a virus may be transmitting data over the network.

If you have a virus in operating system, you may start seeing random messages appear on the computer screen, even if no other programs are running. These can include advertisements, error messages, and more. Virus can sometimes change the wallpaper of your system without permission. If it happens, chances are a virus is infecting your computer system.

If you get constant messages about a program requesting access to your firewall, it may be infected. You get these messages as the infected program is attempting to send data through your router.

Sometimes you find a security program you never installed running on your computer. Security program often get installed as you click on random links, accepting their terms.

If you are doing a Google search and it goes to a different browser, the system is virus infected. Normally, traffic redirection means an unwanted software has been installed. It can exist in the form of an extension to the browser. One can resolve the problem by clearing browser cache and uninstalling extensions.

If you suspect shortcut files on your desktop or drives, there are chances the computer is infected with shortcut virus.

Sometimes depending on the type of virus or malware on your PC, chances are it can use your bandwidth to download data and files to the machine without your consent. So if the internet is slow, check your security program to detect unwanted files. You can also scan the traffic and connection routing.