Its very easy to think you have been hacked or someone else has used your computers when you see changes to it.

Is a possibility, that either someone has been on it or some sort of malicious software has made changes to your computer to hurt you or benefit themselves in someone. However, there are also very different reasons your computer may have made changes to your system, settings or software packages.

Microsoft Windows Updates and Upgrades

You guesses it. If you have a Microsoft Windows Operating System, specially Windows 10, Microsoft will send you updates and install them whenever they think its a good idea.

There are ways to turn this off, however every time you make a change and install something yourself will enable the updates again and you will be at the mercy of the operating system gods again.

Software Upgrades

Your computer probably has a lot of different software, app and programs which didn’t come with your computer and have nothing to do with Microsoft.

Although these programs should ask for permission before updating or upgrading, a lot of them still don’t. Sometimes you might not notice the changes and other times, specially when something goes wrong, you will not only see the changes but your system might become unstable and inoperable!

Virus, Spyware and Malicious Software

Viruses on your systems will most certainly make changes on your computer. For most viruses though, making noticeable differences on a personal computer would be counterproductive.

Just about all the viruses we see these days have an objective. Either to make you buy something or steal your personal information like bank details for profit.

How Can I See Legitimate Changes

When it comes to Windows changes, this operating system has an update history where you can see the latest updates applied to your computer and if they apply to your noticeable change.

Different software packages are not as obvious. You can always see the version of the software you are running in the help tab, and check their websites to see if an update has been applied for that package.