anti-virus for Windows

All faculty, staff, and student computers are provided with licenses for Symantec AntiVirus software. If you do not have Symantec AntiVirus installed on your workstation, please contact the Help Desk at 540-654-2255.

Below are step-by-step instructions for using Symantec AntiVirus software to update virus definition files, schedule automatic virus definition updates, scan your computer for viruses, and schedule a virus scan. Before running a scan of your computer, it is imperative that you first update your virus definitions and remove infected e-mails from your computer. Before proceeding, you may want to print this page.

Update virus definitions:

1. Launch Symantec AntiVirus by double-clicking the Shield icon in your System tray. The System tray is the small strip in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

2. Update the latest virus definition files by clicking the Live Update button in the Virus Definition section.

3. The LiveUpdate window appears. Click Next to continue.

4. LiveUpdate will check for new updates to install, when this is complete, click Finish.

schedule automatic virus definition updates:

1. Click to the File menu, and choose the Schedule Updates option.

2. Check Enable scheduled automatic updates, and click the Schedule button.

3. Select a frequency in which the updates will occur—we recommend Daily. From the drop down menu, select a time that your computer will most likely be on.

4. Click OK to exit the dialogue box.

Your virus definitions are now updated and automatic updates have been scheduled. Now let's run a virus and worm scan.

Scan for Viruses and Worms:

1. Expand the Scan folder located in the left pane. Notice that you have three scan types to choose from. Click each and read its description in the right pane, then choose the type that best suits your needs. In these instructions we will demonstrate a Custom Scan. Notice that you can choose to scan your entire computer, only one drive, or several drives. We've chosen to only scan the C drive.

2. Regardless of the type that you've chosen, start the scan by clicking the Scan button.

3. Click Close when the scan has Completed.

 

schedule A Scan:

1. Expand the Scheduled Scan folder located in the left pane. Click New Schedule Scan in either the left or right pane.

2. Choose the type of scan that you would like to schedule. We recommend a Full System scan, then click Next.

3. You can give the scheduled scan a unique name and description. You would do this if you wanted to schedule separate scans. Be very careful not to schedule more than one scan at the same time! Click Next.

4. Select Enable scan, then choose a frequency in which to run the scan—we recommend Daily. Choose a time that your computer will most likely be on and click Next.

5. The final window will remind you of the type of scan that will be performed. If you are happy with your choices, click the Save button to complete the scheduling process.

6. That's it! Click the Exit button on the Symantec AntiVirus main window to quit the program.

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