PC Tune Up: Updating Your Virus Scanner

If you use your personal computer a lot, and especially if you spend a lot of time Online, you are always at risk of getting a pesky virus. No, your computer won't get the sniffles, and it won't run a fever, but it will definitely act like it is getting sick! You can always keep ahead of the virus game by updating your virus scanner to provide the best protection. The viruses are always changing, so you will want to regularly maintain your virus scanner.

Like most of the other tasks performed to tune up your personal computer, it is fairly simple to update your virus scanner. Don't feel intimidated if you are new to the process; everyone has to start somewhere, right? It is a simple process and when you have completed it, you will be glad you took the time to do it yourself!

You can easily access and download programs that will help update your Virus Scanner. You can choose to use the McAfee Virus can and there is also the Norton AntiVirus. They are both very popular and will get the job done just fine. The process will not take long and it is worth every second you spend on it.

The following is a guide to installing either of the programs onto your personal computer:

If you prefer to use the Norton AntiVirus, you can easily access it at: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/defs.download.html. With your radio button on, you will want to choose the "Download Update" option. Once the screen shows a list of files you can choose to download the file entitled " 0817i32.exe". This program will only take up about 2.4MB of memory on your personal computer. Click on the link that shows this file to download it onto your personal computer.

If you are partial to the McAfee line of products, you can locate the ViruScan at: http://download.mcafee.com This program is also very easily installed. Just click on the "ViruScan SuperDAT" file. (It works as both a DAT file update and a scanning engine). Once you click on the option, you will encounter another screen that offers additional options. Be sure to click the one that says "without link". When you are asked, it is a good idea to go ahead and save this file. Simply click on the option saying "save this file". Once that is done, hit "okay". After clicking "okay", you will see a new box that has a list of folders to save the new file. Click on the dropdown until the save file option says "desktop". Once it has the "desktop" in the dropdown, choose "save".

Okay, once all of that is done, you can breathe again! See, that wasn't so hard, was it? You are almost done, but there are a couple of additional actions that you will need to take before completion. Don't worry, though, they are not hard, either!

First, you need to go ahead and close all of the current open applications you have listed on your taskbar (located at the bottom of your display screen). It would be in your best interest to be sure to take this step. If you do not, the open files will be lost. You could replace them once the process is over, but then you'd just have to redo everything again, so just take the couple of seconds to close the applications!

You may also want to update your current DAT file. If you don't have one, it is easy to install it, just double click on the icon located on your desktop. When it comes to installing or updating the DAT file, it's a lot easier on you if you just keep clicking on the "next" button to finish the process. Check for a new DAT file once a month, just to make things easier on yourself.

After you have made all of the installations, it is time to restart the computer. As with any program or hardware installation, this is the essential step in the installation process. After restarting the computer, you will see all of the new programs have been safely installed onto your personal computer.

Some experienced computer users recommend that once you have finished updating your virus scanner, that you delete the new program. This is for two reasons. First, it will free up valuable space on your hard drive. Secondly, the programs are updated often, so the next time you want to update your Virus Scanner, you will only have the older version of the program saved on your personal computer. You can remove the program by simply pressing, "delete"