Last updated 12:25, Friday, 21 March 2008

Computers with Alan Cleaver

IT always worries me when someone tells me they’re home page has ‘changed’. “I had it set up as Google” said John the other day “but now it’s something else.

Theoretically it is always easy to change back but such a change is also indicative of your computer having been taken over by some dodgy website.

It’s not usually a virus but rather that twilight world of ‘malware’ – software designed to infiltrate your computer without first asking permission.

Normally I look to the teenager in the family as the one to blame for allowing such malware onto the computer. Typically it’s a “free” pop or filmstar picture screensaver or some browser add-on that’s to blame. Kids just can’t resist downloading such goodies – and of course hidden behind them is the malware which begins taking over your computer.

The next time you switch on your computer your home page is now freesaucypictures.com and every ten seconds there is a pop-up advert for Sexy Sal.

Fortunately on this occasion there was no such malware and it was our old friends Microsoft who had changed the home page. Changing it back to John’s favourite of Google was fairly straightforward. Launching the browser, go to Tools/Internet options and on the General tab you where you see the field, Home Page, type in “http://www.google.co.uk”. Click OK and that should sort it.

If you do think your computer has been taken over by malware then there are a few free tools to help you remove it. Just type ‘malware removal’ into Google and you will be shown various websites offering such services – including Microsoft’s own anti-malware tool.

The industry has woken up to this threat and has taken some decisive action. On occasion you may search on Google for something and when you click on your desired website it may come up with a warning along the lines of “The site you wish to visit may be harmful for your computer”. That’s their way of warning you about such threats so heed them well. And educate the kids about the dangers of downloading free goodies.

”PLEASE forward this to all your friends. This is not a hoax...And so begins hundreds of emails doing the rounds on the internet.

And of course in reality any email that says “forward this to everyone you know” should most definitely not be forwarded to anyone but deleted.

The last one to arrive in my In-box warned of “the most destructive virus ever” that would “destroy the zero sector of my hard disc” – whatever that is – and came via an email headed ‘Invitation’.

It’s a hoax of course. There’s no such virus and the only purpose of the email is to act as a chain letter. “But” I heard you ask “some virus warnings might be genuine – how do I know which to forward to friends and which to delete?”. Fortunately the answer is simple – you don’t forward any virus warnings to friends. The only message you ever need send them is “Please make sure you have up-to-date antivirus software installed on your computer”. There. Now pass please forward that to all your friends!