Chapter 1
Operating Systems
Course: 220 1202 Comptia A Exam Core 2
Subject: 220 1102 Comptia A Plus Exam Core 2
Chapter: Software Troubleshooting
1. Investigate and Verify Malware Symptoms
Description: The first step in malware removal is to identify and confirm the presence of malware. This involves recognizing unusual behavior, analyzing suspicious files, and using diagnostic tools to detect potential infections.
Common Symptoms of Malware:
- Sluggish performance: The system becomes slow due to excessive CPU or memory usage by malware processes.
- Unwanted pop-ups: Frequent and unexpected advertisements or alerts may appear during browsing or even on the desktop.
- Altered settings: System settings, browser homepages, or installed applications may change without the user's permission.
- Unexplained disk activity: Excessive disk usage may indicate that a malware program is running background operations.
- Unauthorized network activity: High network usage or suspicious connections could suggest malware communication.