How often should you scan your PC?

DO YOU THINK YOUR PC HAS A VIRUS? IF YES, SCAN IT AT THE EARLIEST.

Generally you visit to your trusted websites over internet or find them by Googling. But you never know which one is going to attack your PC. On other side, your friend shared some data on your PC with USB memory stick, and some days later, you find yourself requesting your computer to work properly. That is why scanning of your PC is important.

It is supposed, that once anti-virus software is installed on your PC, you never need to scan it. It should scan the computer automatically. And there is not any hard-n-fast rule to follow a schedule for a regular scan of your PC. But you never know when you will stuck in middle of an urgency. Therefore safety is more important before you need a remedy.

You may find any of these conditions when you will say “Ah! I need to scan my computer”

• When you are running a software program or an application and it suddenly got malfunctioned.
• You find your PC performing slowly than usual.
• You wish to delete some program, but you are unable.
• Your PC got hanged and you need to restart it again.
• Your CUP is showing 100% CUP usage in idle mode when not so much programs are running.
• You got the Antivirus alarm that it has detected some Virus and recommending you to fix it now.
• In the middle of your work your PC suddenly got a reboot.

Including above, whenever you find your PC is slightly unstable; it’s time to have a scan.

How long it takes to scan your pc and when should you do it?

Well, it depends on the Anti-Virus software you are using and the type of virus or malware. Some of them you will find pretty fast and some of the Anti-Virus software will make you to wait longer, sometime more than an hour. Also some Anti-Virus software offers a quick scan of your system. But, however, I would suggest you should have a full pc scan for better protection.

I asked some of my friends, “How often do you scan your computer?” Some said every day, some weekly or some monthly. I also read one thread over Wildsecurity, where two users claimed that they never used pc scan.

I am surprised! Is it so!

Ok! Leave them. It depends on the conditions. Wherever you feel that you need to have a scan, do it. You should fix some schedule, weekly or monthly or do it when you have some spare hours.

Generally, full system scan need plenty of time, therefore, choose weekends or when you have enough time. I prefer night hours, when I have nothing to do

Type of Security Scan Systems: Around every Anti-Virus Software provide two type of protection to your PC.

• On Demand: Whenever you need you can start a pc scan. You can select specific folder or a system as a whole to scan.
• On Access: It means continuous monitoring of your computer, wherever working online or offline. As soon as it detects a virus, malware or a Trojan it automatically deletes it or alerts you.

On the verge of security of your pc, I would suggest you the following points:

• Always keep enable on-access protection option on your Anti-Virus.
• Update your Anti-Virus on a regular basis.
• When you get time go for full scan of your pc instead of a quick scan.

Regular Anti-Virus Update: 

If you anti-virus software is not updated regularly it would be weak against the latest virus. It means it is not ready to protect your computer for this virus. Therefore, you should regularly update your anti-virus software.

I hope, you find this article helpful. Please give suggestions and feedback.