Where do Malicious Computer Viruses Come From?

A computer virus is a self-replicating computer program that is written to alter the way a computer operates. But where do they come from? So in this blog, we'll examine where do malicious computer viruses come from?

The most common source of virus infection is of course the internet. This will not be a surprise and it doesn't mean that you have to stop accessing the internet. The best defense is an updated computer. Find here how to clean a virus infected computer.

Let’s take a look at the most common sources where computer viruses came from.

1. A virus usually comes from the web without opening a file. When you open websites that use java or VB scripting, these files can easily compromise your computer and do things that you are completely unaware of and you do not have to click and open anything to get a virus.

2. Did you download an attachment from a sender you did not know? When you download any files, there is a very high risk of the entry of a virus into the computer. Perform a strong virus removal on your computer to remove it.

3. Check your internet browsing history to see if you visited any questionable websites recently. Some sites are created specifically to download a virus. Also determine if you clicked any suspicious pop-up ads. Sometimes viruses are installed when you click on ads that link to a malicious website.

4. There are many kinds of removable disks that users use these days like pen drive. When you save a virus infected file to a pen drive and plug-in to a computer which don't have strong virus protection, then virus can easily transfer from pen-drive to computer.

Apart from the above mentioned sources, You will get infected if you don’t have strong antivirus protection. It really would recommend a full internet security suite. But there are also some  limitations of antivirus software. 


So, Virus protection is not enough to keep your system safe.

How to find and stop hidden programs running on Windows 7

At any given time, there may be some hidden programs running on your computer. Some of these processes are merely part of your Windows operating system. Others may be viruses, adware or spyware that have been hidden from view. However, you can use an anti-spyware program to find and remove virus and block this type of malware from your computer.

There is a tool installed with Windows, called MSConfig that allows you to quickly see what’s running at startup and let you disable the programs you prefer to run as needed. Find easy steps below -

Step 1: Press 'Clt + Alt + Del' to open Windows Task Manager. Click the 'Process' tab to view list of processes that are currently running on your computer, also see how much memory the process is using under the 'Mem Usage' tab.

Step 2: Now right click the 'Start' button and click 'Explorer' to open Windows Explorer. Select the 'Organize' drop-down menu and choose 'Folder and Search Options'. Click the 'View' tab and select 'Show Hidden Files and Folders'.

Step 3: Again go to 'Start' and type the name of the hidden program you are searching for. The program should appear in the search results.

Step 4: Right-click the file in the search results and click 'Open File Location'. Browse the folder to see what program the process belongs to.

Step 5: If you haven't located it and want to stop it from running, type 'msconfig' into the 'Search/Run' command. Go to the 'Startup' tab to see if it is in there. If it is there, you can deselect it to stop it from automatically running at startup. 

Step 6: Check the 'Services' tab on both Task Manager and MSConfig to see if it is running as a service in the background but most likely it isn't.

It could be a corrupted non responsive program, a virus, or a poor free third-party program that can't remove itself from the memory very well.

How to remove Virus without Antivirus

If your antivirus has expired and you are not able to update it or run a scan and you immediately want to remove virus, you can do it without the help of your security software. But it can be too risky because you need to search through the system registry to find virus and other malicious programs. So you must have good knowledge of Windows registry.

So we are sharing here some easy tips for how to remove virus manually or how can you remove virus without using antivirus. Find steps below -

Step 1: Open task manager with 'CTRL+ALT+DELETE' keys and click 'Processes' tab. Check all running process and notice which process is unfamiliar. If you find any unfamiliar process, select the program and right click on it and click 'End Process' to terminate it.

Step 2: Now go to 'Start -> Search' and type 'msconfig' and open 'System Configuration'. Click on 'Startup' tab that will display the applications which are running automatically. Now locate the same process which you terminated in Step 1. If you find this process then uncheck this process from checkbox and click 'OK' to close window, and note the path and file name shown in the 'Command' column. If you couldn't find the process, close the window and continue. 

Step 3: Now open registry editor from 'Start -> Run -> regedit' and navigate to the following areas in the registry editor-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/RunOnce

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/RunOnce

These registry areas will display all the programs that are running automatically. If you didn't find any unfamiliar malicious process in the 'System Configuration', you should be able to find it in one of these areas. Make a note of the path and file name shown in the 'Data' column, then right-click the registry and select 'Delete' to remove it.

Step 4: Now open 'Mycompputer' and navigate to the path on your hard drive that you noted in Step 2 or Step 3 using the 'Windows Explorer', then select the program and right-click on it and click 'Delete' to remove it from your computer.

Now it is time to restart your computer and ensure that your computer is working properly or not.

See also: How to do free online computer scan and virus removal >>