Safe Luxury

If I think my home computer has a virus is it safe to connect my laptop using the wifi from home?

Public Comments

1. No
2. depends what kind of virus. some virii spread through network or LAN, in which case your computer is vulnerable. however, most just stay on the host computer, in which case you're safe.
3. Most likely, it is not safe, unless you have killer virus protection on your laptop. However, it is best to avoid connecting your laptop to your wifi. It would also be best to use anti-virus software to get rid of the evil on your home computer. Once it is confirmed that it the home computer is safe, it will be safe once again to reconnect your laptop. I highly recommend you put anti-virus software on every computer that has internet access in your home to prevent problems like this from arising.
4. Possibly. Many viruses (called "worms") spread through home networks. However, in order to get on your laptop, it still needs to take advantage of an exploit in your operating system (I'm assuming it's running Windows). What you should do is turn off your home computer, then connect your laptop to the WiFi and run Windows Update ( http://update.microsoft.com ). Once you've completed all the updates, make sure that you have Automatic Updates enabled and restart your laptop. At this point, it should be safe for you to connect your laptop to your home network with your other computer running. You should make sure to get that other computer fixed ASAP as it might be doing anything from infecting other computers and sending spam to helping distribute child pornography. Once you get your computer fixed, make sure it has Windows Update's Automatic Updates enabled and gets its anti-virus software updated regularly!