Windows 7 Service
Antivirus Software
Introduction
It is most important that your antivirus software is kept up to date. This should happen automatically, between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day. Furthermore, with the Windows 7 Service (Including Windows XP) if your computer has not been connected to the network and has missed an update, it will automatically perform the update next time you switch it on when connected to the University network.
Portable computers must be regularly and reasonably frequently connected to the University network.
Firstly note that e-mail coming in to the University is automatically scanned for viruses, and that the DAT files which identify viruses in the e-mail system are automatically updated every three hours. This still does not guarantee that an e-mail does not contain a virus - the virus may have spread to us before the DAT file entry has been designed to exclude it.
To protect against viruses, we have installed antivirus software with each Windows computer. It, too, must update its DAT files to keep itself up-to-date with the latest list of viruses.
Users of laptops in particular may wish to manually force an update of their DAT files (particularly when they return to work after an absence or holiday). Users may also wish to check which version of the DAT file they are using and which version of the DAT file is the latest.
Check your software version
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Find the shield with a "V" icon (VirusScan On-Access Scan is Enabled) in the "System Tray" - the area of Windows Task Bar at the bottom of your screen at the far right.
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Right-click it.
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From the pop-up menu select About VirusScan Enterprise....
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The screen will show the version of the DAT file as Virus Definitions, and the version of the Scan engine, which changes less often, and the version of the software, which changes very rarely. Check the Created on date, ensure that it is a recent date.
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Click OK to close the program.
If your computer is not updating the virus update automatically please contact your Department's IT representative.
How do I know what is the latest version?
We provide a mailing list to notify you when a new DAT file has been released by McAfee. This list usually has at least one message a day, sometimes more.
There will be about a 12 hour delay from the DAT file being released by McAfee until it is available on campus. This is to allow for testing and the transfer of the files.
To subscribe to the DAT file list, you should send an e-mail message to Majordomo@lists.lboro.ac.uk containing the single line:
subscribe dat-update
in the main body of the message.
Further details regarding mailing-list subscription are available.
If you have any problems, please contact the IT Services Service desk who will be happy to advise further.
How to manually scan disk drives
You may wish to manually scan for a virus, perhaps because you suspect that your computer is infected, or perhaps because IT Services or your Department IT representative may ask you to.
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Find the V Shield icon in the system tray.
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Right-click it.
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From the pop-up menu select On-Demand Scan....
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Select the Item you wish to scan in the Scan Locations tab.
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Click the Start button.
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The On Demand Scan Progress window will appear and show the status of the scan.
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Hopefully, when the scan is complete, no viruses will have been detected.
If this is the case, close the program. Otherwise, follow the on-screen instructions.