Symantec AntiVirus

Automatic Virus Scan

See Your Version of Symantec AntiVirus

How to Initiate a Manual Scan

How Symantec AntiVirus Responds to Viruses and Security Risks

Automatic Virus Scan for Admininstration and Finance Computers

• All computers in the Administration and Finance division
• Daily at 12:15 p.m. your Symantec AntiVirus protection will scan your computer for infection
• In addition, TSS staff regularly monitor VPAF computers for virus activity

See Your Version of Symantec AntiVirus

1. Open Symantec AntiVirus
2. Go to Start > Programs > Symantec Antivirus
3. Click Symantec AntiVirus to Open.

• View Virus Definitions File
• Version - this reveals the date of the update and the rev. number

How to Initiate a Manual Scan

You can initiate scans from the My Computer window, the Windows Explorer window, or the Symantec AntiVirus main window.

To initiate a manual scan from Windows

• In a My Computer window or Windows Explorer window, right-click a file, folder, or drive, and then click Scan For Viruses.
  • Note: This feature is not supported on 64-bit operating systems.

To initiate a manual scan within Symantec AntiVirus

1. In Symantec AntiVirus, in the left pane, expand Scan
2. In the left pane, select one of the following:
   • Scan a Floppy Disk -This option is available only when a floppy disk drive is present.
   • Custom Scan
   • Quick Scan
   • Full Scan
3. If you selected Scan a Floppy Disk or Custom Scan, in the right pane, do the following:
   • Double-click a drive or folder to open or close it.
   • Check or uncheck items that you want to scan.

   The symbols mean the following:

   • The file, drive, or folder is not selected. If the item is a drive or folder, the folders and files in it are also not selected.
   • The individual file or folder is selected.
   • The individual folder or drive is selected. All items within the folder or drive are also selected.
   • The individual folder or drive is not selected, but one or more items within the folder or drive are selected.

4. For all manual scans, click Options to change the default settings for what is scanned and how to respond if a virus or security risk is detected.

The default settings are as follows:

• The default setting is to scan all files.
• For viruses, the default settings for actions are to clean the virus from an infected file and repair its effects, and quarantine the infected file if the virus cannot be removed.
• For security risks, the default settings for actions are to quarantine the security risk and repair its side effects, or log the risk if it cannot be quarantined and repaired.

To apply the modified settings only to the current scan, click OK. To apply the settings to all future scans, click Save Settings.

5. Click Advanced to configure a scan progress dialog box to appear during the scheduled scan.
6. In the Scan Advanced Options dialog box, under Dialog options, in the drop-down list, click Show scan progress, and then click OK.
7. In the Scan Options dialog box, click OK.
8. In the Symantec AntiVirus main window, click Scan.

Symantec AntiVirus begins the scan and reports the results.

Directions from Symantec AntiVirus web site.

How Symantec AntiVirus Responds to Viruses and Security Risks

Symantec AntiVirus safeguards computers from viruses and security risks no matter what the source. Computers are protected from viruses and security risks that spread from hard drives and floppy disks, and others that travel across networks. Computers are also protected from viruses and security risks that spread through email attachments or some other means. For example, a security risk may install itself on your computer without your knowledge when you access the Internet.

Files within compressed files are scanned and cleaned of viruses and security risks. No separate programs or options changes are necessary for Internet-borne viruses. Auto-Protect scans uncompressed program and document files automatically as they are downloaded.

Symantec AntiVirus responds to files that are infected by viruses or by security risks with first actions and second actions.

When a virus is detected during a scan, Symantec AntiVirus, by default, attempts to clean the virus from the infected file and repair the effects of the virus. If the file is cleaned, the virus is successfully and completely removed. If for some reason Symantec AntiVirus cannot clean the file, Symantec AntiVirus attempts the second action, moving the infected file to the Quarantine so that the virus cannot spread.

When your virus protection is updated, Symantec AntiVirus automatically checks to see if any files are stored in the Quarantine and gives you the option of scanning them using the new protection information.

Note: Your administrator may choose to scan files in the Quarantine automatically.

By default, for security risks, Symantec AntiVirus quarantines the infected files and returns the system information that the security risk has changed to its previous state. Some security risks cannot be completely removed without causing another program on your computer, such as a Web browser, to fail. If Symantec AntiVirus is not configured to handle the risk automatically, it prompts you before it stops a process or restarts your computer. Alternatively, you can configure Symantec AntiVirus to use the log only action for security risks.

When Symantec AntiVirus discovers security risks, it also presents a link in the scan window to Symantec Security Response, where you can learn more about the security risk. Your system administrator may also send a customized message.

Information from Symantec AntiVirus web site.