If you receive a message warning you of this sort of activity, stop whatever
you are doing. Shut down any programs that are running, including your Web
browser and e-mail. Physically disconnect the cable to your broadband
Internet router or shut off your wireless router. And then follow the instruc-
tions of your antivirus program to quarantine or remove the virus. After the
virus has been isolated, you should run a full antivirus scan in search of any
other viruses or malware.
How can a virus get onto a machine even if you have an antivirus program
installed? The answer is that new works of nastiness are introduced on an
almost-daily basis, and you just might be so unlucky as to receive a virus in
the relatively short time between its release and the receipt of an update to
your antivirus program. The best of the antivirus companies react within
hours to reports of a new virus; it’s up to you to regularly update the virus
definitions on your machine. (Make sure that your program is set up to auto-
matically communicate with its manufacturer anytime you connect to the
Internet.)
What do you do if you suspect a virus and for some reason you do not have an
antivirus program running on your laptop? You should almost panic... and
immediately shut down your machine and disconnect it from the Internet. Then
run or walk — the machine is not going to do anything while it is turned off —
to a computer store and purchase the best antivirus software you can find.
If you have a virus on your machine — or suspect that you do — most
antivirus makers instruct users not to install their programs (and allow the
existing virus to do more damage) but instead that you boot the machine
from the antivirus software CD and scan the system from that disc. You may
have to change your system BIOS setup options so the CD drive is the first
place the system searches for bootup tracks. Once the antivirus program has
cleaned up your disk, you can install it on the hard drive and enable auto-
matic, regular updates.
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