I was driving by a computer repair shop yesterday and read the sign in the window, ‘Free PC Health Check’, and thought ‘what a ridiculous notion, all stemmed from the misnomer of computer virus I suppose?’

Then I began to wonder what I’d make of it if I’d come forward in time from 20 years ago, when Back to the Future was new; what would I make of the sign then? Perhaps I’d think it was a politically correct health check? But I can’t remember if politically correct was in use at the time? I’d probably think it was some kind of doctor’s surgery and, if I went inside, I’d be amazed at the technological wizardry and how unsurgery-like the place looked, and how undoctor-like the guy behind the counter was… then I guess the guy might be confused if I started stripping off for my free health check, thinking I’d get the jump on my friends back home with all the new breakthroughs in modern medicine.

Anyway, I wonder what other little things might confuse Marty McFly in our modern society?

Is it a misnomer? From what I understand - and please Sacharissa correct me if I'm wrong - while germs/bacteria are independent self-reproducing life-forms, (biological) viruses can only reproduce by inducing the infected cells to produce copies of them - this is effectively what a computer virus does.

Looking at definition b, one would assume, then, that a PC's health is not a misnomer. If it is in poor condition, it is in poor health. In good condition, in good health.

Ah yes, but it doesn't matter what the dictionary says, or whether my idea is right or wrong, it's just what I thought at the time. And the fact is that you didn't have stores advertising computer health checks 20 years ago. It's just a gimmicky thing to make it sound akin to a proper doctor's health check that you might have for yourself, a most likely unnecessary service fueled by the notion that a computer can catch a bug in the same way a human can - you wouldn't believe how many people actually think their computer has a 'virus' in the same way that a person catches a cold, even when they're not even connected to the internet and haven't added any dodgy unbranded software. I find my self sometimes having to say things like, 'No no no, your computer hasn't "caught" a virus - the reason it's going so slowly is because it's running on Windows 3.1 with a 60mhz processor, and you're trying to run Macromedia Flash 2004 on a ten year old machine.'

And anyway, I didn't say or think that a PC Health Check was a misnomer, just that I wouldn't know what it was if I'd travelled forward in time from 20 years ago.

Pixel, you are right, virii do need a cellular host, be it an prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell, in order to reproduce.

Nevertheless, they are not without a "sell by" date. The HIV cannot survive in the environment for long, whereas the HBV can go on for days.