Anti-virus Software - Part 2 of Extending your Computer’s Life Series

Thanks to Heidi for writing this! I remember the day she emailed me & said - you better check your computer, it’s doing random mailing… ugh! But you know what was funny (well not really), we had gotten the virus from my daughter’s school. And most computers come with a trial period & I think people are too complacent about letting the antivirus software expire - not realizing how important it is. So here is some good information. ~ Connie

Virus Checker:

Why do we need a Virus Checker?
Unfortunately there are some not very nice people out there that spread bad software. They write the software in such a way that it spreads. A virus can range from anything from benign to extremely damaging & capable of wiping out your system. An anti-virus checker runs all the time watching for any virus it knows about.

What does a Virus Checker do if it encounters something?
The anti-virus checker that runs all the time will probably warn the user and block the file from being saved or used. Periodically, a virus checker should run a full system scan on your drive and verify that it is virus free. If it does find a virus, it will attempt to repair the file and remove the virus; if it can’t do that, it will quarantine that file. A quarantine doesn’t allow another software program access to it. Lastly, it can just delete the file.

If the anti-virus checker is running all the time, do I have to do a full-scan on my pc? It takes hours. The answer is - Yes.

Two reasons:
a) The virus may be hidden in such a fasion that the anti-virus checker that is running doesn’t detect it. The full-scan virus check is more thorough.
b) The virus may be new and anti-virus checker doesn’t recognize it. When you run the full scan virus checker later, it will probably get the latest virus definitions (with the new virus definition in it) and then do a full scan and find the virus.

What virus checker should I use?
It’s a matter of preference. This is a huge list of anti-virus software that is available.
List of Virus Software’s
Norton and McAfee are big anti-virus software in the United States.

My subscription to my anti-virus software has expired, am I still protected?
Not really. You are protected from the old viruses but not from new viruses. To be the safest you need to always have the latest virus definition/dictionary. Virus definitions or sometimes called virus dictionaries. It is just a list of known viruses. An anti-virus program may not protect you against the very latest viruses. It may only be as good as your last update.

I have heard of viruses but what is trojan?
A trojan software is a program that opens a back door to your computer and lets the malicious user in through that back door to get what they want (your data, install software, use your computer for illegal things.) Most anti-virus software will be watching for trojans too. A worm is another type of malicious software and anti-virus software should protect from these too.

What should I do to be the most protected from viruses?
Verify that you have some kind of anti-Virus checker installed AND running.
Verify that it is up-to-date and has the latest virus definition/dictionary. (Some anti-virus software automatically does this and some ask before doing it.) There should be a status or last time it received an update somewhere in your anti-virus software.

Full System Scan:
First, check to see if there is a schedule. All software is different but start your anti-virus software and look for ’schedule’. If you can’t find it, it may not have this capability.
If there is schedule, make sure that it has run when it was suppose to. Sometimes pc’s are off and then the anti-virus checker doesn’t run. If not, run a full scan when you won’t be using your computer for a while.
If there is no schedule, then run a full scan and make a note to do this once a week.

Your anti-virus checker should protect you. But you should be cautious too in what you do.
* Don’t download software that you don’t trust.
* If there is an attachment from a person or place you don’t recognize it, don’t open it.
* Make sure the browser and email software that you use is up-to-date. This is how many viruses are spread and the companies release updates to their software when a potential security flaw is found.

I want to switch anit-virus software, how can I?
Make sure you do a full uninstall of the old one and reinstall the new one. If not, you may have conflicts or other strange errors that will be difficult to resolve.

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