Do
you open the security suite and execute scans? The default Windows antivirus Microsoft
Security Essentials and other such programs think that the system needs it and
provides a warning else the computer would be at risk.
These
manuals are not what they are meant to be. If you have a relevant suite then it
would do its job in the background without any external help. It would alert
when there is any problem.
Manual scans are not necessary
Irrespective
of whatever software you use it would always run in the background. Everything
that runs on your system is monitored thereby ensuring that no malevolent
processes are being executed. Whenever a
new file is downloaded or the program is opened it would start its work in
order to examine the file and compare it to viruses prior to allowing it to
run. If the virus is downloaded the antivirus support software would notice
without you having to scan anything. It would deal with the file without
manually scanning. This is called real time protection or
background scanning or on demand scanning and so on.
The
application would check every malware that has arrived. You would not have to
click any button as it has already started its work. Normally it runs once a
week in the background without interrupting the user.
When the manual scans should be executed
These
scans are useful but it need not be opened regularly. Manual scans are still
useful in some cases. When an Antivirus
is first installed it would perform a full-system scan right away. This allows ensures
that the system is in a clean state and the viruses would not loiter in
unopened files on the hard drive. But
when you would open the files they would be scanned again.
Regularly
the definition files of antivirus are updated. They contain a list of
identified malware and the antivirus compares programs in order to see whether
they match or not. There is a possibility that there is a virus in the
executable file on your hard drive and the security program missed during the first
scan manually. In case a virus
definition has been added it would catch the dormant virus when the scan is
performed. If you run the file which has the virus then it would be
caught.
At a
time run a single antivirus support as implementing multiple ones can cause
issues problems with your computer. In case you want to scan with a second
application then do a manual scan with the second one instead of the background
feature of scanning.
Background Protection is preferable
In
some programs background scanning can be disabled and perform manual ones only.
A manual scan is like telling a security guard to search each and every part of
the house for intruders. That way it is
better to guard the house entrance so that the threats can be caught before even
entering the house. When the program can hide itself as well as prevent the
antivirus program, Windows Task Manager from running. This is called root kit.
The
malware can be detected before the virus can run on your PC. So make use of automatic
background scanning and not manual scans. Make use of automatic scans as it
provides maximum protection.