Definition of virus 1

A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself[1] and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly, but erroneously, used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have a reproductive ability.

Malware includes computer viruses, computer worms, Trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware and other malicious or unwanted software, including true viruses. Viruses are sometimes confused with worms and Trojan horses, which are technically different. A worm can exploit security vulnerabilities to spread itself automatically to other computers through networks, while a Trojan horse is a program that appears harmless but hides malicious functions. Worms and Trojan horses, like viruses, may harm a computer system's data or performance. Some viruses and other malware have symptoms noticeable to the computer user, but many are surreptitious or simply do nothing to call attention to themselves. Some viruses do nothing beyond reproducing themselves.

An example of a virus which is not a malware, but is putatively benevolent, is Fred Cohen's compression virus.[2] However, antivirus professionals do not accept the concept of benevolent viruses, as any desired function can be implemented without involving a virus (automatic compression, for instance, is available under the Windows operating system at the choice of the user). Any virus will by definition make unauthorised changes to a computer, which is undesirable even if no damage is done or intended. On page one of "Dr Solomon's Virus Encyclopaedia", the undesirability of viruses, even those that do nothing but reproduce, is thoroughly explained[1]. 2 A computer virus is an executable program. Depend on the nature of a virus, it may cause damage of your hard disk contents, and/or interfere normal operation of your computer. By definition, a virus program is able to replicate itself. This means that the virus multiplies on a computer by making copies of itself. This replication is intentional; it is part of the virus program. In most cases, if a file that contains virus is executed or copied onto another computer, then that computer will also be "infected" by the same virus.

A virus can be introduced to a computer system along with any software program. For Internet users, this threat can come from downloading files through FTP (file transfer protocol), or referencing email attachments. (Please refer to our web page on Handling Email's File Attachments for details.)

When a virus is introduced to a computer system, it can attach itself to, or sometimes even replace, an existing program. Thus, when the user runs the program in question, the virus is also executed. This usually happens without the user being aware of it.

A virus program contains instructions to initiate some sort of "event" that affects the infected computer. Each virus has an unique event associated with it. These events and their effects can range from harmless to devastating. For examples:

An annoying message appearing on the computer screen. Reduced memory or disk space. Modification of data. Files overwritten or damaged. Hard drive erased.

Advantage and disadvantage of antivirus

1. Avira AntiVir

Advantages

No registration required Unobtrusive and reliable

Good customer support Regular updates

Disadvantages

Displays/nags ads after each update of the virus definitions Slows down a little bit the performance of your computer Free version shows a lots of buy me ads. Extras

You can overcome this ads displaying problem by Killing the ad nagging by adding a software restriction for avnotify.exe

2. AVG

Advantages

Fast on demand scanning speed. Very popular among mainstream user. Daily updates

Disadvantages

Very bad customer support Consume more resource than Avira Most free solutions are limited to personal use only.

3. Microsoft Security Essentials

Limited to personal or home-office use only. Requires an original registered version of Windows.

Advantages

No registration, no ads Simple, unobtrusive UI Updates via Microsoft Update (note: virus definitions are updated more often)

Disadvantages

Rather new, so not yet tested extensively

4. avast! Home Edition

Advantages

Skinnable UI

Regular updates

Disadvantages

Remember to turn off sound, it disturbed with the sound WHOOP! WHOOP! A VIRUS HAS BEEN DETECTED! Skinnable UI Registration required. No script blocking or scheduled scans.

5. ClamWin

An open source product, best choice for the open source lovers.

Advantages

Database updates pretty fast with new virus definitions Outlook plug-in allows you to scan incoming and outgoing emails Can be set to work with Firefox to scan downloads with a Download Statusbar add-on. Add-on has to call ClamWin.exe on the command line with the following: mode=scanner remove close path=%1

which will remove any flagged and closes after each download

Disadvantages

Free version does not do real-time scanning. You need to manually scan a file in order to detect a virus or spyware.

6. Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool

Not a true resident antivirus suite but its one of the best tool to make an on-demand scan.

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is a utility designed to remove all types of infections from your computer. Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool implies effective algorithms of detection used by Kaspersky Anti-Virus and AVZ.

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is not capable for real-time protection of your computer. As soon as your computer is cleaned you are supposed to remove the tool and install a full version of antivirus software.

Highlights

Easy interface. Can be installed to an infected machine (Safe Mode supported). Integral search and removal of malicious software: effective combination of signature detection and heuristic analyzer. System Analysis and interactive scripting language.

Disadvantages

System memory is not available in x64 OS Windows XP / Vista / 7 because of work specifications of the applications system drives. If User Account Control is enabled in Windows Vista settings, then it is impossible to rename a folder with applications files if Self-Defence is disabled.