Important:AOL® Safety and Security Center is no longer supported and does not receive security updates. Without up-to-date security protection, your computer is more vulnerable to online threats. To help protect your computer from viruses, spyware and hackers, it is important to go to http://safety.aol.com to upgrade to the latest security products from AOL.
About the Virus Shielding Feature in the AOL® Safety and Security Center Software
FAQs
About the Virus Shielding Feature in the AOL Safety and Security Center Software
AOL® Virus Protection is a comprehensive and automatic virus protection software service, designed to further protect your computers from virus outbreaks. It is part of the AOL® Safety and Security Center, a suite of programs designed to address all of your security needs.
The AOL Virus Protection software provides an Virus Shielding feature that helps protect your PC by actively checking for viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, adware, and other malicious applications once your Windows® operating system starts. This feature is always on and up-to-date by default. Whenever an infected or suspicious file is found, you will immediately see a pop-up window alerting you with the action taken to neutralize that threat.
When AOL Virus Protection finds an infected or suspicious item, the scan feature automatically tries first to clean it, then, if the file cannot be cleaned, AOL Virus Protection attempts to delete it. Finally, if it cannot be deleted, it is blocked. Blocking disables and isolates the instance, protecting other files on your computer until further action can be taken. You will be notified of any actions AOL Virus Protection takes and will have the option to review the list of items found and to specify what further actions, if any, you want to take. In addition, you can selectively search for infected or suspicious files.
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FAQs
About AOL® Virus Protection Scans in DOS Mode
About Virus Scans Using AOL Virus Protection
About the Quick Scan Feature
About the Full Scan Feature
About the Customized Scan Feature
About the Scheduled Scan Feature
When You Think You Have a Virus
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About AOL Virus Protection Scans in DOS Mode
The AOL Virus Protection software, like all components of the AOL Safety and Security Center software, is intended for use only on Windows operating systems and cannot be run in DOS mode. For more information about safety and security when using AOL® products and services, or to download a free copy of the AOL Safety and Security Center software, visit the Discover AOL: Safety & Security page or go to AOL® Keyword: Safety.
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About Virus Scans Using AOL Virus Protection
You have multiple virus scanning options when you have chosen to install the AOL Virus Protection software that comes with the AOL Safety and Security Center suite of programs. In addition to the Virus Shielding feature, you can choose to run either full, quick, or customized scans manually at any time, as well as to schedule scans to be run on a regular basis.
Note: During installation, if you have previously installed antivirus software on your computer, AOL Safety and Security Center may give you the option to uninstall that software and replace it with AOL Virus Protection. If you choose not to install AOL Virus Protection, the AOL Safety and Security Center will not be able to schedule or run virus scans. You will have the option to install this product later, should you choose to do so, after which this feature will be available.
The AOL Safety and Security Center must be open before scheduling scans or running them manually.
For more information about running scans, see the FAQs below.
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About the Quick Scan Feature
The Quick Scan feature saves you time and computer resources by only scanning the areas on your PC where the majority of viruses reside: the Program Files and Windows folders. The quick scan feature takes roughly 1 to 5 minutes to complete.
The AOL Safety and Security Center must be open before beginning the following procedure.
To scan the most frequently attacked areas on your computer for viruses:
1. If you are not in the Virus Protection area, from the list on the left side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window, click the Virus Protection item.
2. Click the Run a Quick Scan button on the right side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window.
The Program Files and Windows folders of your computer will be scanned for viruses, worms, and Trojans. If any of these malicious programs are found, they will be cleaned or blocked and you will be notified of this event.
Note: Blocked items can either be restored or permanently deleted.
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About the Full Scan Feature
The Full Scan feature runs a comprehensive and exhaustive scan of the entire hard drive, inspecting all files on your PC for known viruses and potentially unwanted programs. Depending upon the size of your hard drive, full scans can take approximately 45-60 minutes.
The AOL Safety and Security Center must be open before beginning the following procedure.
To scan your entire computer for viruses:
1. If you are not in the Virus Protection area, from the list on the left side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window, click the Virus Protection item.
2. Click the Run a Full Scan button on the right side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window.
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About the Customized Scan Feature
You can customize your scan by choosing the drives and folders to be scanned for viruses, worms, and trojans.
The AOL Safety and Security Center must be open before beginning any of the following procedures.
To view the customization options:
1. If you are not in the Virus Protection area, from the list on the left side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window, click the Virus Protection item.
2. Click the Customize link next to Full Scan on the right side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window.
You will see a list of drives and folders that can be scanned for viruses, worms, and trojans. A check mark in the box next to a drive or folder scan option indicates that drive or folder will be scanned.
To run a customized scan:
1. Click the box next to each drive or folder scan option to be changed. Place a check mark in the box next to each drive or folder to be scanned; clear the box next to each drive or folder you don't want included in the scan.
2. Click the Run Custom Scan button.
To cancel a customized scan:
Click the Cancel button.
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About the Scheduled Scan Feature
The Scheduled Scan feature of AOL Safety and Security Center allows you to ensure that your computer is checked for malicious software on a regular basis, without having to manually run scans. The AOL Safety and Security Center software suite includes AOL Virus Protection, AOL® Firewall, and AOL® Spyware Protection. Provided that you have chosen to install AOL Virus Protection during your installation of the AOL Safety and Security Center, you can run a single scan of your computer that will look for viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and adware, without having to run separate scans for these different types of threats.
For more information about scheduling scans see About Scheduled Scans with AOL® Safety and Security Center.
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When You Think You Have a Virus
When the AOL Virus Protection software detects a virus, it will automatically attempt to clean the infected file. If the file cannot be cleaned, then it is blocked. Blocking disables and isolates the file, protecting other files on your computer until further action can be taken. You will receive notification of the steps AOL Virus Protection takes when it detects a virus.
Due to the publicity viruses have received, it is easy to blame any computer problem on a virus. The following situations are not likely to be caused by a virus or other malicious code:
- Hardware problems. There are no viruses that can physically damage computer hardware, such as chips, boards, and monitors.
- The computer beeps at start-up with no screen display. This is usually caused by a hardware problem during the start-up process. Consult your computer documentation for the meaning of the beep codes.
- The computer does not register 640 KB of conventional memory. This can be a sign of a virus, but it is not conclusive. Some hardware drivers such as those for the monitor or SCSI card can use some of this memory. Consult with your computer manufacturer or hardware vendor to determine if this is the case.
- You have two antivirus programs installed and one of them reports a virus. While this could be a virus, it can also be caused by one antivirus program detecting the other program's signatures in memory.
- You are using Microsoft® Word and Word warns you that a document contains a macro. This does not mean that the macro is a virus.
- You are not able to open a particular document. This is not necessarily an indication of a virus. Try opening another document or a backup of the document in question. If other documents open correctly, the document that won't open may be damaged.
- The label on a hard drive has changed. Every disk is allowed to have a label. You can assign a label to a disk by using the DOS Label command.
Should you determine that you do have a virus that has not been blocked by your AOL Virus Protection software, the first step you should take to make sure that your AOL Virus Protection is on. As new viruses are discovered and steps are taken to neutralize their threat, the AOL Virus Protection software will automatically be updated to help provide you with the most up-to-date virus protection possible. If an infected or suspicious file cannot be cleaned, deleted, or blocked, please submit it for analysis at http://www.webimmune.net/.
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