Getting a computer virus is not fun, but if your computer is still somewhat functioning and you have access to the internet, then you can find free virus protection and removal software to download. There are different symptoms that you may encounter when your computer has a virus. It may start to become extra slow in processing most programs, especially the internet. You may start to see random window pop ups frequently. You may have trouble accessing certain files. If you suspect that you have a computer virus, then it is important to act fast.

My computer was recently attacked by a virus that caused pop up windows from Internet Explorer to open nearly every few minutes. I was able to successfully eradicate the virus with free virus protection and removal software found online. I do not claim to be a computer expert, but the following steps helped me to restore my computer to good health and I have not had another virus attack since then.

First, if you are using Internet Explorer, you want to download the latest version of <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/">Mozilla Firefox</a>, or other internet browser program. Internet Explorer is the most commonly used internet browser for both homes and businesses. And because it is the most commonly used browser, it tends to be the browser that gets targeted for most virus attacks, as hackers usually aim to infect as many computers as possible through internet browsers.

Mozilla Firefox has a great set of build in tools that are the first defense against computer viruses and they have frequent updates to their browser that downloads in seconds versus the long downtime that Internet Explorer needs in order to download.

Next, you want to download <a href="http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?tag=contentBody;mostPopTwoColWrap">AVG Anti Virus Free Edition Software</a>. AVG is the most popular free anti virus protection and removal software, I would go as far as to say it is a better tool than the expensive Symantec Anti-Virus program that most new personal computers are downloaded with initially. There is a free version of AVG and also a paid version, but for most the free version will work just fine.

Once the AVG free anti-virus protection and removal software is downloaded, you should start a scan that will search through all of your computer files for any red flags. This process will take anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on how many files you have on your computer.

Once the full computer scan is done, AVG will give you a report of infected files. Choose to quarantine these infected files so that they do not cause any more harm. Now restart your computer and continue to use as normal.

If you computer is still acting up, then you will need to take further steps. AVG works best with a completely virus-free computer because it will then provide great protection, but if you have a heavily hidden virus, then it may not be able to find it. AVG was unable to find the virus that had infected my computer, so I took the following steps.

Go to <a href="http://download.cnet.com/windows/">CNET Downloads</a>, this is a free download section of CNET. Don't worry, CNET is a trusted name in computer news and technologies and they have a lot of great (and free) resources available.

Once on the CNET Download page, scroll down and look for their top ten downloads. Now look specifically for "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware". Begin to download - this is a free virus protection and removal program that hunts down those hard to find viruses.

After the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware program is downloaded, begin a full computer scan. Again this could take anywhere from 2-4 hours. After the scan, remove any files that were found to be corrupt. Restart your computer and begin to use as you normally would.

The above steps had helped me to recover and restore my personal computer. If you own computer is still continuing to act up, then go back to the <a href="http://download.cnet.com/windows/">CNET Downloads page</a> and download more free anti virus protection and removal software and continue to scan your system. Depending on your virus, some anti virus programs will work better than others.

After your computer has been restored, you can always delete the anti virus programs that you do not need; although I would keep the AVG Anti Virus Protection Software and set it to perform daily or weekly scans on your whole computer for optimum computer health. The AVG program runs in the background while you do other work and hardly slows down your system.

Important Note: Downloading anti virus protection and removal software is only the first step. It is crucial that you maintain updates on your computer programs and internet browsers. Do not get complacent; when a new version of the software comes out take a few moments to download it. To put things into perspective, it took me over 8 hours to finally eradicate the computer virus that I had on my laptop -- had I updated my internet browser I may have been able to avoid it altogether.