Question

What can I do if I think I have a virus?

Answer

Skip this and contact a professional

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There are a few steps you can take if you think you have a virus.

Use anti-virus software

One of the first things you should do is scan your computer with anti-virus software. Many Toshiba computers come with software for this purpose. You may choose to use an alternative, but you should only have one anti-virus program installed at a time.

Run your anti-virus program and ensure it's fully updated. Once it's updated, preform a full scan of your computer.

Disconnect accessories

If that doesn't help, you should disconnect any accessories connected to your computer. It's possible that the symptoms that you think are due to a virus could be due to an accessory.

Uninstall new software

An error with a new program might be causing problems that you think are being caused by a virus. To check this, uninstall any new programs that you installed near the time your computer's symptoms first appeared.

Perform system restore

If none of the previous suggestions helped, you might consider performing a system restore. This will return your computer's system files to a previous state. System settings will revert, and programs installed since the restore point was created might need to be reinstalled. Your documents shouldn't be changed.

For more information on performing a system restore, see one of the following articles:

System Restore in Windows 8

System Restore in Windows 7

Contact a professional or perform a system reset

Lastly, you might want to return your computer to factory default conditions. This is sometimes called a system reset or a system recovery. Note that this will remove all of your software and data that you added including applications, documents, photos, etc.

If you don't want to reset your computer and you'd like to contact a professional, CLICK HERE.