If you scan your computer using whatever virus software you have, will it find ALL viruses, spyware etc that you may have on your system or can some viruses get past scans and go un-noticed? If so, how do you do a definitive check?
2006-12-13 05:33:08 · 10 answers · asked by A 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
Viruses and spywares are two different kinds of threats. There are also softwares that are combinations of anti virus and anti spywares. Some include firewalls. There are quite a number of security softwares that gives all-round protection. But from my experience there is no one single software that is perfect. I use both Kapersky Internet Security as well as well as AVG Anti Virus. What Kapersky didn't catch, my AVG did. I also have 3 anti spyware programs.. I also go for the free online Safety Scanning provided by Windows Live OneCare about twice a month.. But many people adviced against using more than one anti virus software for fear of clashes.(I take the risk.) It is alright though to have more than one anti spyware programs .. .. This is my experience. So far my computer is working fine... By the way viruses and spywares are created daily so you must always update your softwares as often as possible. And, yes, viruses and spywares can get past scans but not for long if your softwares are good and uptodate.
2006-12-13 06:13:26 · answer #1 · answered by Chris 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-25 15:46:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it won't find everything. Most of the top anti viruses will - if you keep them up to date - find most viruses and a few trojans.
Yo u also need anti spyware, and you need to keep that updated too.
Theres a list of software on my blog and some of it will prevent problems getting on your pc and making changes. An anti virus won't prevent a browser hijack for example and may have trouble fixing it, because its notcaused by a virus.
The best thing to do is update at least once a week, scan at least once a week and with the programs that offer a quick scan mode (Ad-Aware SE PErsonal and Ewido/AVG anti spyware) you can scan every day, it only takes a couple of minutes.
If you haven't noticed any problems it may be that there aren't any!
If you're worried use a sandbox. You open the sandbox, then open the browser, and when you finish and close the sandbox it erases all data in the box. (So don't forget to save anything you want to keep).
http://www.sandboxie.com
2006-12-13 08:07:13 · answer #3 · answered by sarah c 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You cannot do a definitive check. Antivirus software can only find viruses that it knows about. If a new virus comes out today, you could be infected and your antivirus software will not detect it until the vendor learns of the virus and creates a definition for it.
If you want to be very sure (although never quite 100%) that you don't have viruses, get a Mac. There are no known viruses for OS X in the wild.
2006-12-13 06:08:46 · answer #4 · answered by nospamcwt 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Viruses cannot get past scans that have been designed to detect them. That means if you scan your PC with a virusscanner, it will detect all viruses it can detect (it will not miss a few by chance, for example). Repeated scans of the same system with the same virus database will yield the same results.
However, it is possible that a virusscanner is not equipped to detect a particular virus, and it can get past the scan. If it will do so once, it will do so every time untill you update and your virusscanner becomes equipped to scan for that virus. There are some viruses that are not detected by anti-virus software, but they are without exception extremely rare. Why? Because if they were not rare, companies that make anti-virus software would equip their scanners to detect the viruses. Simple as that.
The moral of the story? If you keep your anti-virus software updated, you will be protected from practically all the threats out there. The chances of you getting a rare virus that the virusscanner cannot detect are very remote. It is also not neccesary to scan your system every time you have updated your virusscanner, but it definitely can't hurt to scan regularly.
2006-12-13 05:51:13 · answer #5 · answered by jalexxi 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do multiple scans with different software. There will always be some thing that some software won't detect why do you think they are always coming out with new updates. Do a quick scan everyday and a full scan twice a week monday and friday. Or whatever you wish. Try a few online scanners can take several hours sometimes but worth it if it detects something. Better safe than sorry. Plus you can just do it at night when you are sleeping.
2006-12-13 05:52:41 · answer #6 · answered by micaso1971 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Normally when you scan the system completely, all the malicious scrips and viruses got detected by the antivirus s/w. Still you have confusion that viruses got past scans, you can try scanning folder wise or drive wise.
2006-12-13 05:39:52 · answer #7 · answered by vijay0003 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not necessarily. Only scan it using a reputable virus protection such as Norton. Many that "pop up" are viruses and spyware in disguise.
2006-12-13 05:40:35 · answer #8 · answered by Your #1 fan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Normally itshould remove, if you insatll a standard antivirus soft ware such as Norton, AVG , Avast ( free antivirus software and Ad-aware, Ewido ( free spyware removers). You can download free softwares at
http://fixit.in/antivirus.html and http://fixit.in/spywareremover.html
2006-12-13 16:29:32 · answer #9 · answered by RAS 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes i think that it will detect everything, it you beleive that it doesnt then go to your internet explorer and search options for detecting others you think may still be on there.
2006-12-13 05:43:38 · answer #10 · answered by ronniestang 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋