Thread: AVG Anti-Spyware

AVG Anti-Spyware, like most other protection tools in the market, uses different scanning technologies to check for malicious activity in your machine and also to make sure that there is no unsolicited entry of harmful files in your machine. The different scanning tools available with the software can be used for various purposes. Click on the "Scanner" icon. A "Complete Scan" is something that every user should conduct after installing AVG. It checks every drive and directory in your machine. "Registry" and "Memory" scans are self explanatory. A "Fast System Scan" is useful for a quick scan of your machine.

Click on the "Settings" tab to customize your scanning settings. This can be used to carry out a lighter scan. "How to scan" is a section that deals with the scanning procedure that you should undertake. You can look for different data sources in your system. Different types of files can be scanned by the scanner and the you can select which ones are to be scanned by you.



In the next section that's called "Possibly unwanted software", you can choose what kind of malicious codes you are looking for. "Report Generation" can also be controlled from here. And finally, you have an option of choosing particular file formats that you would like to scan by selecting them from the dropdown box.

AVG Anti-Spyware provides you with a resident shielding mechanism that runs continuously on your machine. It alerts you every time you come. across some malicious code. Click on the "Shield" button. Make sure that your Resident Shield is active all the time.

"Self-Protection" makes sure that AVG is active at all times and does not get terminated without your permission. "Memory", "Files" and "Cookies" can all be scanned accordingly. You can disable those scans which may not be necessary, since this is a continuous resource consumuing process.

The Custom scan feature of AVG Anti-Spyware is great if you want to scan just a few files or folders in your system rather than the entire system. "Profiles" are different scanning schemes that you can schedule for later checks. You can add as many profiles as you want. These can be renamed so that you know what each profile is capable of. Different files and folders can be added to your scanning profile by clicking on "Add File/Folder". If you want to scan the memory or the
I registry files then simply click on "Add Memory" and "Add Registry" buttons.

The "Status" section of the AVG Anti-Spyware software displays all the current status settings of your machine. You can activate or deactivate your "Resident Shield" and "Automatic Updates" from here. Make sure that you frequently update your software so that you can stay away from new threats. Clicking on "Update Now" will connect to the server and will download the updates accordingly. Other features like the "Malware Counter" and the quarantined files can be reset from here itself.