Sometime last month, I read a blog post cautioning players about a computer virus doing the rounds in Wuhan. Not too long after this, the following message showed up on my phone: “Congratulations! You’ve been subscribed to Games Service at $1 a day.”

First, I figured that I could ignore it based on the assumption that it’s your regular run-of-the-mill spam message which usually turns out to be far more bark than bite. 

I realized that I couldn’t ignore it when it actually appeared to deduct the money. The same message also jumped to another device. 

The first step was dialing the carrier’s USSD code for subscriptions. The service didn’t show up there – and the menu claimed the number wasn’t subscribed to anything. 

Step two was taking a closer look at the phone’s internal files. Only two new folders showed up, one of them carrying the name of a seemingly legitimate app company. Nothing new had been downloaded, installed or opened.

Eventually, the only thing that killed it was a full factory reset of the phone (and a full re-install of the computer). This took a good few hours of work, frustration, expletives and fumbling with a USB drive, but worked successfully thanks to a few step-by-step guides.

Files managed to be saved – including in-progress work – but by the end of it I felt a little like I’d walked off a bizarre digital battlefield.

Worms? Try This 

If you’ve been affected by any viruses, worms, Trojans or malware, there are a couple of decent ways to get rid of it yourself just in case you don’t have an IT expert to call.

• Always Backup

Always backup any information that you would like to have kept safe. Backup it in several different places and in several different formats, and never figure that you can “do this tomorrow” when it comes to saving important information in the right places. Many apps can be synced to backup information as it’s saved to an online account.

• System Restore Points

Windows (and a few other operating systems) allow for what’s called a system restore. This takes the PC and its settings back to a previous restore point – usually to one before the malware or virus affected the PC.

If you’re able to successfully boot up your PC and access the start menu, you can opt for a system restore point instead and it works in most cases.

• Re-Install and Partitioning

If you aren’t able to access your start menu or you can’t get rid of whatever affects your system, sometimes a complete re-install is the best option. This is usually simple enough – and all you’re going to need is a Bootable USB (which you can make yourself with software like Rufus and an install-iso file of an operating system).

Some software like Rufus gives you the option to install as a partition. What this means is that it will allocate a section of your current hard drive for the installation of the new operating system.

This is useful because you can usually still access the files from your main drive inside new installation once you’re complete, and you can likely access and backup most of your files.

If you’re not sure how to do any of this, more than enough guides can show you exactly what to do.

• Factory Reset and Update

A factory reset is a lot like a restore point, but it takes your device right back to the start when it was fresh out of the box. This is sometimes what it takes to get your mobile device back to working the way it should.

Be careful when doing this. All your settings, numbers, history, accounts and saved files will be erased along with it. 

After a factory reset, access your device’s settings and update your operating system to the newest version. Yes, updates can be useful, and your device is likely to work the way it should.