Questions from FAQs About Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Answers from Computer Virus FAQ for New Users

What is a sexually transmitted disease (STD)?
A program designed to spread itself by first infecting executable files or the system areas of hard and floppy disks. Viruses usually operate without the knowledge or desire of the computer user.

How common are STDs?
When you share a copy of an infected file with other computer users, running the file may also infect their computers; and files from those computers may spread the infection to yet more computers.

If your computer is infected with a boot sector virus, the virus tries to write copies of itself to the system areas of floppy disks and hard disks. Then the infected floppy disks may infect other computers that boot from them, and the virus copy on the hard disk will try to infect still more floppies.

How can I avoid getting an STD?
My personal feeling is that if an executable file shows up unexpectedly attached to an e-mail, you should delete it unless you can positively verify what it is, who it came from, and why it was sent to you. You can't get a virus just by reading a plain-text e-mail or usenet post. What you have to watch out for are encoded messages containing embedded executable code or messages that include an executable file.

The recent outbreak of the Melissa virus was a vivid demonstration of the need to be extremely careful when you receive e-mail with attached files or documents. Just because an e-mail appears to come from someone you trust, this does NOT mean the file is safe or that the supposed sender had anything to do with it.

Why is knowing whether I have an STD important if I am pregnant or planning to become pregnant?
When you run it, it deletes files on your hard drive. Or the third time you start the game, the program e-mails your saved passwords to another person.

Viruses have the potential to infect any type of executable code, not just the files that are commonly called "program files." For example, some viruses infect executable code in the boot sector of floppy disks or in system areas of hard drives.

What should I do if I think I might have an STD?
In order to activate a virus or Trojan horse program, your computer has to execute some type of code. This could be a program attached to an e-mail, a document you downloaded from the Internet, or something received on a floppy disk. There's no special hazard in files attached to e-mail messages: they're no more dangerous than any other file.

1. If you haven't used a good, up-to-date anti-virus program on your computer, do that first. Many problems blamed on viruses are actually caused by software configuration errors or other problems that have nothing to do with a virus.

2. If you do get infected by a virus, follow the directions in your anti-virus program for cleaning it. If you have backup copies of the infected files, use those to restore the files. Check the files you restore to make sure your backups weren't infected.

Are sexually transmitted infections (STIs) different from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?
Viruses, known as "multipartite" viruses, can spread both by infecting files and by infecting the boot areas of floppy disks. Some viruses are deliberately designed to damage files or otherwise interfere with your computer's operation, while others don't do anything but try to spread themselves around. But even the ones that just spread themselves are harmful, since they damage files and may cause other problems in the process of spreading.

The FAQ Part 1/4 includes an excellent section on initial steps for dealing with a suspected infection. Just because your computer is acting strangely or one of your programs doesn't work right, this does NOT mean that your computer has a virus.

***Note that viruses can't do any damage to hardware***

Sources:
Computer -- http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/new-users/
STD -- http://www.etharc.org/faq/faqstd.htm

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