Thread: Protect your PC from AVG Anti - virus

If you believe all the internet horror stories then you'd be forgiven for avoiding the web altogether. But, by taking the right precautions, it's possible to enjoy the many
benefits of being online without having to worry about the
hackers and viruses.

One of the most important bits of protection is an anti-virus program. As the name implies,such applications protect a PC from viruses. Windows XP and Windows Vista don't include anti-virus protection as standard, so your new computer may be at risk. Here, we'll explain how to check if your PC is protected and - if it's not - how to install some free anti¬virus software.


1] ONLY ONE ANTI-VIRUS program should be installed on a computer at anyone time.So,start by verifying that your PC is not already protected.To do so, click the Start button followed by Control Panel.ln Windows Vista,c1ick the'Check this computer's security status' link under the Security heading; in Windows XP click Security Center. If anti-virus software isn't installed on the PC, the Security Center will make this obvious; if the Security Center doesn't open, check to see if you have Norton Internet Security installed - this disables the Security Center, but does include anti-virus protection. If Security Center shows that your PC does have up-to-date anti-virus software installed and running, then you have no further need ofthis Workshop. Otherwise, read on .

2] WE'RE GOING TO LOOK at how to download and install the free version of respected anti-virus application, AVG Anti-Virus. Launch a web browser, type.cominto the Address or Location bar at the top and press Enter. Once the page has opened, click the Free download link and save the file to a convenient location on your computer, like the Windows Desktop. When the download has finished, locate and double-click the AVG installation file - its icon is a green, yellow and black box with a shield in front of it. If a security warning dialogue box appears, click Run followed by Continue.

3] AVG'S SETUP PROGRAM WILL launch. Click Next at the first screen, read the licence agreement and click Accept to continue the installation. After a short pause, leave Standard Installation selected and click Next.Your name, organisation and a licence key will appear¬you can change the name or organisation if desired; otherwise click Next. At the installation-summary screen, click Finish and the program will install.A Desktop icon will appear, and you may be told the program is out of date. Ignore this for now and click OK when the installation has finished .



4] AFTER THE UPDATE HAS been downloaded and installed, click OK to return to the configuration wizard. Click Next, leave the daily scanning options at their defaults (enabled, with a low-priority scan) and click Next again.You'li now be prompted to scan the computer for viruses - do so by clicking Scan computer! and wait for it to complete.This can take some time, possibly hours,so be patient and keep checking back to see how it's progressing. If you're lucky the scan will find no signs of infection and you may jump to Step 7. But should AVG's report indicate a problem, read on .

5] AVG WILL LAUNCH FOR the first time with a congratulations message. Click Next to configure the program.At the first screen click the Check for Updates button (remember, anti-virus software is only effective if updated regularly).ln the future,AVG will check for updates automatically on a daily basis, but the first update should be downloaded manually now.The program will ask you to provide the update source - tick the box marked 'Do not ask for the update source next time' and click the button marked Internet. If prompted to download a priority update click Update .

6] ALL INFECTED ITEMS ARE listed by file name, location on the hard disk drive and by the kind of infection - usually a Trojan horse or wonn.Once AVG has finished scanning the hard drive it will attempt to fix any infections. If a legitimate file such as a Word document or image file was infected then AVG will attempt to'heal'it by removing the virus. If it is unable to do this, the program will 'quarantine'the file in the Virus Vault or delete it.We'll explore both possibilities later.

7] AFTER THIS INITIAL SCAN,AVG will prompt you to register for free internet-based support.Make your choice then move on.The program will now report that your computer is protected, so click Continue to move to the Test Center screen. From here it is possible to scan specific drives and folders by clicking the Scan Selected Areas button, launch another full system scan or look for updates.To access the Test Center once the window has been closed, right-click the AVG icon in the Notification Area of the Taskbar on the bottom right of your screen and choose Launch AVG Test Center from the pop-up menu .

8] IF YOU DOWNLOAD OR copy a file from another computer, the internet or a CD or DVD,AVG should automatically check it for viruses. Should any be found,an alert box will pop up. Click Heal or Move to Vault. Healed items are left where they are;quarantined items are placed in the Vault, which you can access from the Test Center screen. From here you can see what has been quarantined. Attempt to heal individual items or delete them completely but don't be tempted to click the'Restore objects as .. .' button, as this could re-infect your computer.This button should only be employed by advanced users .

9] FOR IMMEDIATE REASSURANCE, IT is possible to scan individual files and folders by right-clicking them in Windows Explorer and choosing Scan with AVG.The scanning dialogue box will appear as the files are scanned.By default,AVG won't attempt to remove any infections; it'll merely report what it finds.You can change this behaviour by double-clicking the AVG icon in the Taskbar's Notification Area to open the Control Center. Select Shell Extension under Component and click Settings.Tick'Automatically heal infected files' and click OK. Next time a file is scanned,AVG will attempt to remove any infection it finds .

10] AVG INCLUDES AN EMAIL scanner, that checks incoming and outgoing mail for viruses. In some circumstances it can conflict with the email application so if, after installing AVG, you can no longer send or receive email try disabling the option to see if it's the culprit. To do this,open the AVG Free Control Center. Select Email Scanner from the Components list and click Properties followed by Disable Plug-in. If your email program now works, visit /4phk3 for additional advice on configuring the scanner to work alongside your email program.