Computers are a necessity in everyday life. Since they are so important to us, it is also important that we watch for any viruses that can do serious damage to our systems.

Watch for these warning signs:

• Strange and frequent pop-ups – If you’re getting bombarded by pop-up ads, your computer may be infected by a virus. Same goes for unusual alerts and ads for anti-virus products.
• Messages you didn’t send – It’s a red flag when a friend says they received a fishy email, instant message, or social media message from you that you didn’t send.
• Lockdown warning – This might be the scariest virus symptom: a pop-up message saying you’re locked out of your computer unless you send money. Ignore the scammer and take your computer to a computer repair professional.
• Very slow startup – If your computer takes forever to boot up — and you’ve done all the usual troubleshooting, including reducing the number of programs that launch at startup — a computer virus could be the cause.