Contrary to popular opinion, malware is usually created in such a manner that you will never notice that it is on your PC. The reason for this is the people who write them do not want you to get rid of them from your computer.

Yet despite this ability to stay hidden, there are certain symptoms that will give you clues as to whether you have malware on your system or not.

And while in some cases, ransomware will announce its presence on your system while the presence of others will not be so obvious.

That said, here are 4 ways by which you can tell if malware exists on your system:

#1: Poor PC Performance

If you PC is running slower than ever or several unwanted, unrecognizable programs in the background, then you can attribute this to malware.

#2: Toolbars that don’t seem to go away

A number of programs usually install toolbars on your system and which can be uninstalled in one go. However, if this isn’t possible, then there’s probably malware on your system and which will require you to do more.

#3: Home and Search Pages change

Similar to the issue with toolbars, if your Home and Search Pages cannot be reset back to the URLs that you prefer, then it’s probably because of malware too.

#4: Maintenance programs do not work

Malware protects itself by disabling programs that have been designed to recognize and remove it in the process. Some of these programs include Task Manager, Windows Update, System Restore, Msconfig, Regedit or even your antivirus program.