HYPERLINK Technical Support

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Welcome to the HYPERLINK Internet support page. Here, you will find configuration information for first-time users as well as useful information on protecting your computer from viruses, adware/spyware, and other harmful effects. Also, you will find information about virus quarantines and how to release yourself from quarantine.

Virus Information and Links

A computer virus is "a computer program usually hidden within another seemingly innocuous program that produces copies of itself and inserts them into other programs or files, and that usually performs a malicious action," according to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Viruses will often cause adverse effects on users' PCs; slowing internet speed. Viruses such as the MSBlaster and Nachi worms spread themselves by sending out massive amounts of network traffic looking for additional PCs to infect. This often strangles out legitimate traffic sent from a user's computer, such as legitimate requests for various websites; translating into websites loading slowly or not at all. Unfortunately, this does not only affect the user with the virus, but all other people that are connected to the network with the infected PC. MSBlaster and Nachi are just an example of the many thousands of viruses on the internet that can cause similar problems.

Therefore, it is imperative that all residents on the internet have some sort of virus protection software running on their PC, and that they keep their virus definitions up to date. Having a virus scanner on your system does not protect you from infection unless you have the current virus definitions. In most cases these definitions can be downloaded from the anti-virus manufacturer's website of the anti-virus software that you are running.

Adware/Spyware Information and Links

While browsing the internet it is possible to pick up unwanted applications called "Adware" or "Spyware." These programs collect personal information and data about you and pass this information to advertising agencies.

Adware/Spyware software usually runs without the user’s knowledge. These programs usually display unwanted pop-ups and can be installed without the user’s knowledge (most commonly by freeware or shareware programs). Some adware/spyware programs can affect your computer in ways that are not desirable. Unfortunately, these programs cannot always be removed with "Windows Add or Remove Programs" in the Control Panel. To ensure you have completely removed these programs, you will need an adware/spyware removal program.