[buginson]

Hi everyone,
I've come to a point in my life where i quit my job because of problems with work colleagues.
Was a Senior Biology Lab Tech at a local school, not a great job but after five years at university studying microbiology which interested me that was the feild i wanted to work in.

Now i realise with out a major replan and moving to some grotty city far away from this lovely City of Plymouth in Devon (united kingdom) I feel i could have done something far better.( http://www.colin99.co.uk/plymouth.html ) <-pictures of my home town

Now i've been interested in I.T. since I got my first P.C. (a 386) way back in the early 1990's. I was wondering how you get to understand the functions of a P.C. and how to reconise what and how a virus or trojan works in a P.C.

Are there any sites (or books like "the idiots guide to...") that can teach me how to reconise these problems? I've looked everywhere in local book shops but can't find anything on reconising viruses etc. I have basic knowledge on pc's. I know how to install new parts to a pc, programs etc, how to reformat your hard drive and put a clean install of windows on etc.

If anyone has any ideas on how i can change my life to get into P.C's i would love to know.
By the way i have very little money, so going to do a course at a college or university would cost too much for me, but if there is any material i can buy to learn from that would be good.
As i have quite literally taught myself through trial and error how to use my pc (sometimes causing problems for myself).
Many thanks. Buginson

Hope the moderators don't mind my putting a link of my home town on here, It is in no ways ment to advertise my town, just so you can see why i wouldn't want to leave this city and end up in a dirty run down town far away, where noone know's you!!!

[Ciberblade]

A very nice looking hometown you have there

As for your IT interests -- specifically involving the recognition of viruses...I suppose the first thing you should know is that a virus is a program first, beyond all else. For a program to be considered a virus, it must duplicate its own code -- a trojan is a virus that is hidden in a non-virus program..usually to avoid detection.

To really understand viruses and be able to detect them in anothers code....you would have to be rather good a programming. If you are not looking to become that in-depth, you could focus on the symptoms of virus-like activity. This will build knowledge of the normal functionality of your PC and what steps to take for removal. You could browse some of the anti-virus sites, reviewing assorted viruses....what they do...how they are found...and removal.