Computer Viruses?
One might think of a computer virus as a tiny computer program designed to perform mischief. Most computer users have heard about computer viruses. A computer virus is the result of a destructive program that someone has written and placed inside a computer program, which unsuspecting people then place in their computer system.
Some
viruses can erase all the information from the place where it's stored
on the computer's hard disk. But each virus is different. Some display
strange messages on your computer screen; others make small changes in
your computer programs.
Where
do these viruses come from? They certainly don't float around in the air
like some human viruses. Instead, like any other computer program, a human
must create them.
Why
do people create them? It's hard to say. Some people create these programs
out of meanness to get even. While others create them just as a challenge.
Why do you thing people create these very destructive programs? How does
your computer get a virus? Almost exactly the way humans do. The computer
gets exposed to one. Well, its not quiet that easy.
Many
people get contaminated computer programs by trading programs with other
people. Others get contaminated computer programs through the use of modems,
which allow computers to communicate over telephone lines (ie. The Internet)
Most
of the time, programs that arrive by modem or a trade are perfectly safe
to use. However, you do stand a chance of getting a program that has been
tampered with. Here a computer program virus is hiding inside the normal
program. Many computer programs that are traded were copied illegally.
When
this program enters your computer through your input device, it hides in
your computer's memory and starts to duplicate itself like a disease. When
you save your data, you also save the virus. Slowly but surely, the virus
crowds out your data and causes major system problems.
The
virus can't affect the computer's ROM (Read Only Memory), but it can affect
RAM (Random Access Memory) and your computer disks. When your shut off
your computer a virus that has been picked up will be lost, just like any
other memory that is held in RAM.
If
the virus is on your disk or hard drive, it will return to the computer
when you use the program again. If you switch from one program to another
without shutting down the machine, the virus will attach itself to the
new program. In this way, it can slowly infect all your programs before
you know that it exists. Today millions of dollars are being spent to rid
and protect computer systems from these virus programs.
Commercial
and shareware programs have been created with the sole purpose of detecting
and fixing suspect programs that might be viruses infected. These detection
programs should be ran when any disk is put into your disk drive or every
time your computer is first started up each day to scan the computer's
hard drive.
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