Just like you can get a virus, so can your computer. Computer viruses range from simple, mischievous programs that might display stupid messages to really dangerous ones that can wipe out all the data on a drive. How does your PC get infected? Well, you can get a virus from any number of sources, including the Internet, email attachments, and opening a file that happens to be infected from a floppy disk or other removable type of media (like a CD drive).
caution
Another nuisance that you need to protect your computer from is spyware. This is a program that installs itself, usually without your knowledge. It then tracks what sites you visit on the Internet and relays this information back to its owners. Checking for and removing spyware is covered in Chapter 8. |