Beware of Worm

Q: I suffered a computer crash last week and had to restore my hard drive, losing ALL of the information. Attempts to restore the data didn't work. After rebooting all of the
programs, I discovered that the computer has "The Worm" and I'm having difficulties in
exterminating it. I've run virus scan twice, and it reappears after such attempts. Has this
happened to anyone else? Why does it keep coming back? Is my difficulty in remaining
connected to the internet due to The Worm?
Scott D.
A: As I am sure that you are aware, there has been a constant succession of viruses lately. Each seems more virulent than the last. So I am not surprised that you may be having this problem. I would like to make a quick distinction. Although the terms worm and virus are used interchangeably, they are two distinct programs. Both worms and viruses can multiple themselves once on your computer. The difference lies in how they are introduced to your computer. A virus is normally introduced along with another file, like an attachment to an email. Worms do not need to accompany another file, and can take on many incarnations including pretending to be a file that they are not.
Now that we have that out of the way let’s try to resolve your problem. If you are still able to connect to the internet the thing that you want to consider doing is performing a security check on your computer. It is relatively fast and free, a winning combination. Symantec.com/securitycheck is one of the best places online to do this. The only thing is that they do not fix the problem for you, but at least you will know the malady is on your system. If you lack internet connectivity at the moment then you may want to purchase the latest version of anti-virus software, and if you are going to buy it ensure that it has a firewall included with it. The latest version of anti-virus software may be able to detect what older versions cannot.
If you have rebooted or reinstalled your operating system or programs and the problem still persists, then there may be another option that you may want to consider. You may be reinstalling the problem when you reinstall the software or other files that were on your computer. You can determine this by reinstalling the software one at a time and then checking your computer viruses after each installation. This is time consuming but it will help you in narrowing in on your problem. Also important to note is that if you are restoring your computer from a checkpoint on your system, the checkpoint that you are using may be infected. It is best to use a checkpoint or backup from a date that you are certain that the problem did not exist. If you find the problem exists after loading the operating system then you probably would want to take it to a computer repair professional.