Antivirus Prevention and Software
Help protect your computer files and e-mail by using and updating your antivirus software. To help reduce the risk of a virus exploiting a vulnerability in your Microsoft software, make sure you have the latest patches and updates for your Microsoft® Office applications and Microsoft Windows® operating system.
Angelo State University has a license agreement that allows current students, faculty and staff to install McAfee’s VirusScan antivirus software at no cost on their personal computers. It is available for Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro and Vista operating systems. You will need to install a new version of the software every year in order to stay current with their subscription.
Information Technology manages the Enterprise edition of McAfee on your office computer. Therefore, do not download or install McAfee on your office computer.
You can obtain your FREE copy of McAfee’s antivirus software in two ways:
1. Download a copy of McAfee’s virus scanning software.
2. Go by any of the general access computer labs or the IT Help Desk to pickup a McAfee Antivirus CD.
Note to Faculty:
Do not download or install McAfee on your office computer!
Note: McAfee does not currently support 64-bit Operating Systems.
Contact Information Technology for assistance with McAfee on your office computer.
How Can You Get a Virus?
Besides picking up a virus from an e-mail attachment, you can acquire a virus or worm from free content you download from a Web site or on a diskette someone shares with you. If your computer is not protected, once you download and install the program, the virus can spread.
What's Your Risk?
Viruses can carry a damaging payload, such as a worm or Trojan horse program. When a virus infects your e-mail or other files, it can:
- Make copies of itself, possibly filling up your disk drive.
- Send itself to everyone else on your e-mail list.
- Reformat your disk drive and/or delete your files and programs.
- Install hidden programs, such as pirated software, that can be distributed and sold using your computer.
Get the best protection available from antivirus software
- Scan incoming e-mail and attachments. Practice good perimeter protection—scan files before you open them.
- Sign up for automatic updates with your antivirus vendor. Let the program help protect you by automatically updating the virus signature files.
- Schedule weekly disk drive scans. Schedule your antivirus program to check your system while you sleep. It will have a report waiting for you in the morning.
- Make sure it's working. Check the antivirus icon on your task bar regularly to make sure your software is active.
How to know if your computer has a virus?
- Computer slows down. This could indicate unauthorized activity going on in the background.
- Very large amount of modem or network activity.
- Unusual behavior of your computer. Notice if applications are not operating correctly or if content in files appears scrambled.
What should you do if you get a virus?
- Get the latest "virus signature file" from your antivirus vendor's Web site. For each new virus, antivirus vendors issue updates as inoculants against new viruses. Check for procedures to follow.
- Run your virus protection scan. It will find infected files automatically. It will advise whether it is able to remove viruses from every file or whether you should delete infected files.
