The first thing to do when you suspect a virus infection is make sure your antivirus is installed, updated and operating. You can perform a manual scan of your hard drive within the antivirus program. The virus definition date should be no more than 2 weeks old.

If you do not have antivirus installed, or the software is outdated and will no longer update from the internet you can scan your computer through a one-time-scan free from either Symantec or Trend Micro.

If a virus is found, you should allow the scanner to attempt to clean the virus or delete it if it can not be cleaned. Record the name of the virus found, then search for a patch or fix on the internet. If the virus is an automated worm you'll need to update your software to prevent re-infection Simply having up to date virus software will not always stop a virus from infecting your computer. You need to fix the security hole the virus came though.

If your network has been degraded by the virus spreading too fast and you can not perform these steps you will need to temporarily disable the network and download the fix onto another computer. The easiest way to disable the network is to unplug the switch/hub that connects them all together. Then, save the fix onto a floppy or CD and visit each computer manually before you enable the network again.

To update your Windows computer go to the www.windowsupdate.com site run by Microsoft. Install all of the critical updates that are available. You should then perform the same steps on every computer on your network. It is critical to have all service packs and patches installed on every computer to prevent these kinds of infestations. It is also important to have antivirus software installed on every computer that covers the files and e-mail systems. Corporate antivirus will have detailed logging and monitoring to ensure that all the computers are kept up to date. Antivirus software with obsolete virus definitions offers very little protection.

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