With the steadily increasing importance of technology in our lives, hackers and scammers are devising increasingly cunning methods to infect our computers.  In some cases, a seemingly harmless application that you downloaded is an entry point for other viruses to invade your PC.  Knowing essential telltale signs of virus infection can help you mitigate the risk of data loss and compromised devices.

5 signs your computer might be infected with a virus:

• Annoying pop-ups and suspicious advertisements
  • It is common to see pop-ups while using the computer, but when you are seeing them frequently or they start to become a nuisance, it is a sign that you have a malicious application on your PC.
• A scanning window from a program you are not aware you have installed
  • Some malicious applications will pretend to be antivirus programs and display a scanning window but will give you a fake scan result. Usually, they will ask you to pay a certain amount of money to fix the fake issues found.
• When browsing the internet or doing a search, you get redirected to a weird website.
  • This happens when your browser gets hijacked or you have enabled a malicious browser extension that’s messing with your browsing activities.
• You suddenly can’t open your files, and you see a message saying your files are encrypted.
  • This is a sign that you are infected with ransomware and will be forced to pay cybercriminals to decrypt your files.
• Your PC slows down noticeably when booting up or when opening applications.
  • Some viruses will add a startup entry to the Windows registry, so it will execute when you start your computer. This creates other running applications that take up your computer’s memory and slow down your PC.

Does Windows 10 need a virus scanner?

This is a common question asked by many. Although Windows 10 has built-in Antivirus, Trend Micro has over 30 years of expertise in cybersecurity, protecting consumers and businesses alike. That experience and technology are built into the Trend Micro HouseCall Free Virus Scan, which can be used on its own or as a backup scanner. With its daily malware pattern updates, HouseCall can help you make sure the latest threats to your Windows 10 PC can be detected and cleaned.  

Scan your Windows PC to see if it is safe now!
The easy way to check and remove a virus on your PC is to use an effective and trusted virus scanner.

• Free Malware Scan
  • Discover if your files are safe and block malicious software hidden outside of files.  
• Threat Report
  • With the detailed report, you can see what threats have targeted your device and take quick action.
• Threat Removal
  • Threats can harm your device before you realize there is a problem. Use HouseCall to get your device back to normal. 
• Custom Scan Options
  • With HouseCall, you can choose which scan to run – quick or full. You can even create a custom scan. 

Download HouseCall now.