Software is a critical resource for computers. It is their lifeblood. They need data to process and once processed, they need that data to be stored somewhere safe and sound. The operating system is the main software that makes their working possible by harnessing their awesome computing power. The operating system itself requires some software programmes to execute various tasks.

Computes do not work properly if there is a problem with the operating system, software programmes or the data that they process. One of the prominent objects that can damage these is known as a computer virus. It is one of the most feared words in the world of computers.

But what actually is a computer virus? It is nothing but a small software programme written with a malicious intent. It is designed in such a way as to enter any computer without the knowledge of its user and cause damage to the software, making it inoperable. The virus is self-perpetuating – that is, it is designed to make many copies of itself automatically. It attaches itself to files and programmes and as these go from one computer to another, the virus leaves a copy of itself everywhere, thus infecting everything in its path.

A virus may exist on your computer but it cannot do any damage till you execute the file or programme that it is attached to. Only then it comes to life and starts to do mischief that it was designed for. A worm is a type of virus that is codified to make copies of it and perpetuate itself automatically. For example, a worm will, without you even knowing about it, send emails to everyone from your address book, each of which will be carrying a copy of the worm. A Trojan is a virus hidden in a harmless looking file like a picture or greeting card. Once you click to open the picture, the virus becomes active.

Viruses and their variants like worms and Trojans do millions of dollars worth of damage every year. Who writes them? Since virus is nothing but a fancy name for a computer programme, only those people who know how to do programming can write it. These computer programmers – mostly teenagers –are driven by a sense of adventure or the want to prove to their own selves how talented or powerful they are. It is difficult to trace virus back to its origin and virus creators rarely get caught.

Viruses spread through exchange of files. They can arrive in your computer when you copy an infected file from any source – another computer, a data CD or from the Internet. Some of the viruses can do massive damage by making it impossible for you to open a file that you were working on. Some of them are designed to even reformat your hard disk as you watch helplessly all your data disappearing in front of you.

What can you do about it? An entire industry exists to protect your computers from virus attacks. It makes anti-virus software which, when installed on your hard disk, scans every file for malicious code. The anti-virus companies have a library of all known viruses. It is regularly updated as soon as a new virus comes to light anywhere in the world. The anti-virus software is designed to recognise these viruses, regardless of where they are hiding on your computer.

It is a very good idea to install such anti-virus on your computer to prevent any virus from entering it. If your computer has already been struck by a virus, then you have to buy an anti-virus software and scan the hard disk. The moment the software detects a virus it either deletes it or, if it cannot be deleted, then the file is quarantined and not allowed to be used by any programme.

If a virus attack is severe – like the virus that has reformatted the hard disk – or if you really need the quarantined file, then you have to approach a professional data recovery company like Fields Data Recovery. These companies have the expertise to separate the data from the virus code manually, that is, by going through each line of code and removing the virus programme that has become embedded in it.

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