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 AOL® Virus Protection
FAQs
About AOL Virus Protection
The AOL Virus Protection software 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 software uses advanced heuristics to scan for unknown viruses and provides real time protection against viruses, worms, and Trojans. AOL Virus Protection scans e-mails and attachments, and also regularly checks your hard drive and scans for known viruses from a variety of files and programs. Infected files are immediately repaired or blocked without interrupting your work.
Note: During installation, if you have previously installed anti-virus 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 have not installed AOL Virus Protection, the AOL Safety and Security Center will not be able to schedule or run virus scans. For more information about installing AOL Virus Protection and other AOL Safety and Security Center software, see the online help article Install AOL® Safety and Security Center or One of Its Components.
In addition to the periodic scan of your hard drive the software performs, you can also scan specific files, zipped files, folders, subfolders, drives, downloads, DVDs, and CDs at any time. When an infected file is found, you have the option to remove, delete, or block it.
The virus protection software automatically receives new updates so your computer is further protected during the next virus outbreak. Every month approximately 250 new computer viruses and similar attacks are created, and antivirus software must receive updates as they're released in order to block new known viruses.
For more information about safety and security when using AOL® products and services, visit the Discover AOL: Safety & Security page or goto AOL® Keyword: Safety via your AOL® account.
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FAQs
Internet Connection Not Required to Run Scans with AOL Virus Protection
AOL Virus Protection Scans E-Mail Attachments
AOL Virus Protection Scans Compressed Files
About Viruses, Worms, and Trojans
Virus Sent From My E-Mail
AOL Virus Protection Scans Fewer Files Compared to Previous Scan
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Internet Connection Not Required to Run Scans with AOL Virus Protection
AOL® Safety and Security Center Virus Protection is not an Internet-based application program, therefore you do not need to connect to the Internet to run a scan using the AOL Virus Protection software. However, we recommend that you connect at least once a week to the Internet to receive updates for the AOL Virus Protection software. Every month approximately 250 new computer viruses and similar attacks are created, and anti-virus software must receive updates as they're released in order to block new known viruses. The software automatically receives new updates when you connect to the Internet so your computer is further protected during the next virus outbreak.
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AOL Virus Protection Scans E-Mail Attachments
AOL Virus Protection is designed to offer comprehensive security coverage to your computer. AOL Virus Protection scans all your e-mail attachments downloaded through applications such as Microsoft® Outlook Express, Incredimail®, etc. All AOL® e-mails and their attachments are scanned by the AOL® service, before they reach your computer.
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AOL Virus Protection Scans Compressed Files
AOL Virus Protection offers comprehensive security coverage to your computer. AOL understands that compressed files, such as those with extensions .zip or .cab, may possibly contain viruses that can damage your computer, so AOL Virus Protection is designed to scan compressed files.
To scan all types of files:
1. Launch the AOL Safety and Security Center software. On the Windows® desktop, double-click the AOL Safety and Security Center icon. If the icon is not present, click the Windows Start button, select Programs or All Programs, then click AOL Safety and Security Center.
2. From the list on the left side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window, click the Virus Protection option, then click the Settings tab on the right side of the window.
3. Click the Enable on-access protection when Windows starts box to place a check mark in it, then click to mark the All file types option.
To scan only those file types you choose:
1. Launch the AOL Safety and Security Center software.
2. From the list on the left side of the AOL Safety and Security Center window, click the Virus Protection option, then click the Settings tab on the right side of the window.
3. Click the Enable on-access protection when Windows starts box to place a check mark in it, then click to mark the Only these file types option.
4. In the Add or remove file type extensions separated by a single space. box, type the file extensions associated with those file types you want to scan, using a single space to separate the file extensions, then click the Save button. For example, type exe zip cab in the box to specify that only files of those types should be scanned.
Note: If you enter specific file types, then return to scanning all file types, the next time you want to scan only specific file types you will have to enter the file extensions again.
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About Viruses, Worms, and Trojans
About Viruses
A virus is a program that is capable of replicating itself with little or no user intervention. Once your computer has been infected with a virus, the virus program will attempt to replicate itself and each of the replicated programs will continue to duplicate. There is typically a piece of code that causes an unexpected, usually malicious, event (payload) to occur. Sometimes the event caused by the virus is initiated (triggered) following some action, such as reaching a specific date. Viruses are often disguised as games or images with clever marketing titles such as"Pictures of ME".
About Worms
A worm is a virus that spreads by creating duplicates of itself on other drives, systems, or networks. Worms may send copies of themselves to other computers across network connections, through e-mail, through an infected Web page, or through Instant Messenger and Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Some worms are differentiated as being @m or @mm, which signifies that their primary distribution method is through electronic mail or mass-mail.
About Trojans
A Trojan, or Trojan horse, is a program that either pretends to have, or is described as having, a set of useful or desirable features, but actually contains a damaging payload. True Trojan horses are not technically viruses, since they do not replicate. Many viruses and worms, however, use Trojan horse tactics to initially infiltrate a system. Many people use the term Trojan to refer only to non-replicating malicious programs, thus making a distinction between Trojans and viruses.
Although Trojans are not technically viruses, they can be just as destructive.
About Virus Hoaxes
There are a lot of viruses out there. But some aren't really out there at all. Virus hoaxes are more than mere annoyances. They may lead some users to routinely ignore all virus warning messages, leaving them vulnerable to a genuine, destructive virus.
The next time you receive an urgent virus warning message, be sure to check the list of known virus hoaxes. A common hoax is the Jdbgmgr.exe"virus." It describes an otherwise legitimate system file as being a virus not detected by the McAfee® or Norton® application that stays quiet for 14 days before damaging the system. The file in question, coincidentally, is displayed with a teddy bear icon and is often convincing as a result.
Remember to never open an e-mail attachment unless you know what it is -- even if it's from someone you know and trust.
Some of the common phrases used in these hoaxes are:
- If you receive an e-mail titled [e-mail virus hoax name here], do not open it!
- Delete it immediately! It contains the [hoax name] virus.
- It will delete everything on your hard drive and [extreme and improbable danger specified here].
- This virus was announced today by [reputable organization name here].
- Forward this warning to everyone you know!
Be aware that virus writers can use known hoaxes to their advantage. For example, AOL4FREE began as a hoax virus warning. Somebody then distributed a destructive Trojan attached to the original hoax virus warning! The lessons are clear:
- Always remain vigilant
- Never open a suspicious attachment
Determine When Difficulties are Not Caused by a Virus
Because of 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 anti-virus 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.
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Virus Sent From My E-Mail
Since all AOL e-mails and their attachments are scanned by the AOL service, the most likely reason you are receiving reports that you have sent e-mails containing viruses is due to E-mail spoofing. Spoofed e-mail is e-mail that appears to have originated from one source when it was actually sent from another.
Junk e-mailers frequently want their e-mail to appear to be sent from an address other than their own. This way the e-mail cannot be traced back to the original sender. Sometimes the e-mail goes to an invalid address, so it is returned to your address rather than to the e-mail address from which it was actually sent. It's just as if someone sent a letter via postal mail to another person and wrote your return address on the envelope instead of their own.
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AOL Virus Protection Scans Fewer Files Compared to Previous Scan
When using the AOL Virus Protection software to scan for viruses, it may appear as though fewer files are checked in comparison to previous scans. For example, the software may report that it is checking 15,000 files when the previous scan checked 16,000 files. So what happened to the other 1000 files? There are several reasons this can occur:
- More drives were selected for the previous scan.
- There was a CD in the CD drive during the previous scan that has since been removed.
- Temporary or Temporary Internet Files have been deleted since the previous scan.
Be assured, however, that AOL Virus Protection is working properly. There are no known issues with the AOL Virus Protection software checking all files on selected drives.
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