Guide
Signs Your Computer Has a Virus
A short list of what is actually suspicious — and what is just a slow or aging machine.
Stop clicking first
If the screen is full of warnings you did not open, do not call the number on the pop-up and do not buy the “antivirus” it is selling. Unplug from Wi-Fi if you can still get to the menu, and write down what you see.
This guide is for a home or small-office Windows PC. It is not a promise that every slow computer is infected.
Signs that are worth a cleanup
New toolbars, a home page you did not choose, or every search landing on a site you do not recognize.
Pop-ups that stay after you close the browser, or a program that reinstalls itself after you remove it.
Files that will not open, a ransom note, or a lock screen that is not Windows.
Friends telling you they got strange mail from your address.
Signs that are often just a tired computer
Slow boots on a machine that still has a spinning hard drive.
One program that hangs while everything else is fine.
Windows update nights that make the PC feel broken until they finish.
What to do next
Do not install random cleanup tools from ads. If you have a person you trust, start there.
If you use the same password on email and the bank, change those from a different device after the infected one is off the network.
TLC Computer Help can clean the machine and tell you whether the files can stay. We will not invent a threat to sell a new computer.