The first thing to check if your current anti-virus program is not functioning or your computer starts to behave badly is if there is a possible virus. This program does not catch all the viruses but it does remove some common ones.

Viruses can work in different ways. The most commonly found viruses these days are called Trojans. So called because they allow other viruses and spyway to infect your computer, slowing it down, damaging files or extracting information from your computer.

I am finding especially with improved speed (broadband) and increased use of the internet, programs such as Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components are becoming a major problem.

The first indication of this sort of program is unexpected connecting with the internet, unfortunately with broadband this is not always noticed, as you can always be connected on-line allowing more of these programs to get into your computer system, and also with the speed of broadband it would take longer to notice the slowing down in the speed of your connection.

Also check that your antivirus definitions are up to date. Customers have installed the antivirus programs but not updated the definitions. The definitions are the list of viruses and tells the program what to look for, these are updated weekly and at times daily.

Some viruses will disable the antivirus program and leave it running so that you think it is doing its job but really it is doing nothing.