Viruses, Trojan horses, adware and spyware can wreak havoc on your computer and make you wish it had simply crashed. Some computer users believe their computer is automatically protected when it's not, while others feel anti-virus software is an unnecessary expense. Without protection, what can viruses and spyware do to your computer?

A virus is malicious software attached to real software programs. For example, a virus may be programmed to attach to a word processing software. Every time you run the program, the virus runs too. It can attach to other programs and cause significant damage. Some viruses come as e-mail attachments. When you open the attachment, you expose yourself to the virus. (Read more)