A rootkit gives attackers full access to the system (hence the term ‘root’) and typically hides the files, folders, registry edits, and other components it uses. In addition to hiding itself, a rootkit typically hides other malicious files that it may be bundled with. View full post on About.com Antivirus Software: Most Popular Articles

Without a basic understanding of how computers and their files interact, you will not be able to understand the impact viruses and malicious code can have on a system. View full post on About.com Antivirus Software: Most Popular Articles

Internet Explorer caches web pages you visit and cookies coming from those pages. While designed to speed up browsing, if left unchecked the burgeoning folders can sometimes slow IE to a crawl or cause other unexpected behavior. In general, the less is more principal works well here – keep the Internet Explorer cache small and [...]

By default, Windows does not display hidden files and folders. Virus writers often take advantage of this, by dropping hidden files to the system that the casual user can’t see. Here’s how to view hidden files and folders in Windows. View full post on About.com Antivirus Software: What’s Hot Now

Malware often drops itself as a hidden file and then disables the Folder Options menu in Windows Explorer so you can’t change the settings to view hidden files and folders. If you are unable to access the Tools | Folder Options in Windows Explorer, here’s how to modify the registry to regain access to the [...]