What You need to know about File Corruption
A corrupted file is always worrisome. That is because it often has to do with a more global problem inside your computer, which is malware infection. If you start finding many files that are shown as corrupted, it may be because your computer is infected with malware. It is time for you to take it to a professional, so he can try to find the problem and solve it, rapidly. Here is what you need to know about file corruption.
What does it mean to have a Corrupted File?
If you try to open a file and your computer responds that it is corrupted, you probably won’t be able to access it, simply because it no longer works. It is most probable that it won’t ever open again, and that you won’t be able to recuperate the information on it, by any means. As you will read below, there are a few actions you can try to activate, but there is no guarantee that they will do the job. And if you are wondering: Can a PDF have a virus? The answer is yes. For a long time, people thought they were better protected because their content is locked, but malware can still infect it and destroy it, so you won’t ever be able to use it again, in the future.
How does the Corruption of File happens?
Corruption of files is quite often due to malware. There are so many, out in the virtual world, that they are not hard to get. You could find yourself with a trojan or ransomware, as well as a large variety of viruses. When they enter into your computer, one of the things that they can do is to corrupt your files. The goal that they have, is to spread to a larger portion of your computer, but also to get back out and head towards another device, when one of these files is making its way outbound. Just like a virus that we find in humans, the main objective of a computer virus is to spread.
Basically, the way that a file gets corrupted, is that it is infected by a malicious code. This code may have been created to target a specific computer, but in most cases, they are meant to infect as many as possible, before they get destroyed, which almost never happens since there is always a corrupted file remaining somewhere in the world, which can find its way out to another PC. However, just like vaccines for men and women, anti-virus systems are made to recognize these viruses and capture them, as they try to enter into your computer, blocking any potential infection. That is unless you let them enter by yourself, when opening a file that contains malware. Which is why you should never open any file that comes from someone you don’t know, or if it seems strange to you that the person would be sending you such a file.
How can you fix Corrupted Files?
It is very difficult to fix a corrupted file. The first thing you should do, if you find one in your computer, is to run an anti-virus scan. It is possible that it catches the malware and removes it, giving you access to your file, once again. For Windows users, running the check disk system tool will search for errors inside your device. If it finds any, it may recover your corrupted files. Finally, if you absolutely need the file, you may decide to do a full system restore, which will bring your computer back in time. You have to hope that it works, and your files will be as they were. But you will most probably lose some information as well, in the process.