When you select an anti-virus package, familiarize yourself with its features so you know what to expect. In other cases, the software may attempt to remove the malware without asking you first. Sometimes the software will produce a dialog box alerting you that it has found malware and ask whether you want it to “clean” the file (to remove the malware). How will the software respond when it finds malware? Scanning media, including CDs and DVDs, for malware before opening files.Saving and scanning email attachments or web downloads rather than opening them directly from the source.

Manual scans – If your anti-virus software does not automatically scan new files, you should manually scan files and media you receive from an outside source before opening them.

Automatic scans – Most anti-virus software can be configured to automatically scan specific files or directories in real time and prompt you at set intervals to perform complete scans.Once you have installed an anti-virus package, you should scan your entire computer periodically. Anti-virus vendors find new and updated malware daily, so it is important that you have the latest updates installed on your computer. Anti-virus software (sometimes more broadly referred to as anti-malware software) looks for patterns based on the signatures or definitions of known malware. Although details may vary between packages, anti-virus software scans files or your computer’s memory for certain patterns that may indicate the presence of malicious software (i.e., malware).

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