The last Technology Tip of the Week showed you how to save email attachments before launching them so that anti-virus software has an opportunity to check for unwanted viruses. It is possible to explicitly scan for viruses on your workstation and take appropriate action in eliminating viruses before they spread This week’s Technology Tip of the Week will demonstrate how to scan and eliminate virsues on your workstation.
Tip #32: Viruses Part II - In Search of Viruses
DEFINITIONS:
Virus: In the virtual world, a virus is a piece of software specifically designed to corrupt, destroy, add to or delete from a host computer.
Scanning a computer: The process of searching all files and folders on a particular computer to locate any known virus.
Anti-Virus Software: Software that is designed to locate virus "signatures" and eliminate the virus. These signatures must be updated regularly (usually weekly or monthly subscription) to guard against the latest viruses.
Signatures: Signatures are the telltale signs of a virus. Part of paying for a subscription is in the knowledge that your anti-virus software can eliminate the latest discovered viruses.
If you suspect a virus or if you have received and saved an attachment, scanning your workstation and/or personal home directory is a good rule of thumb. The steps are simple and here is what you do:
Go to the Start button and choose Programs, Cheyenne AntiVirus for Windows 95 [folder], and finally, Cheyenne AntiVirus for Windows 95.
When the anti-virus software launches, click on the Scanner button. The C: drive is always pre-selected but be sure to select your H: drive by clicking on the small blue square in the left-hand list box.
Finally, click on the green scan button to begin the scan of your home directory and attachment. The process will take a few moments.
Once the scanning process is complete, any viruses detected will show on a summary page (below). This allows you to delete the offending software before it can destroy your computer or workstation.
Close the anti-virus software.
You can now safely open your files without fear that something else will be destroyed due to a virus. Perhaps more importantly, you can be sure that if you decide to forward a file as an attachment to someone else, you have done so free of viruses!
This week's tip submitted by Barbara Capralos and David Kovar
