IT Central Support & Services

Viruses/spyware

The University of Montana offers free Symantec Antivirus Protection for all Faculty, Staff and Student computers. Your computer may already have Symantec installed if it is a UM owned computer. If so, please follow the directions below for updating your antivirus protection. If not, please contact your system administrator or IT Central for assistance in downloading the software to your machine. The following are tips for protecting your computer from viruses.

How to Manually Update Symantec Antivirus Software

1. Double-click the Symantec Antivirus Icon located in the lower right-hand corner of your screen (it will be next to your clock and should look like a tiny computer with a black and white medical bag attached to it or a gold shield).
2. Symantec will open in a new window. Next, click on the “Live Update” button.
3. This will bring up a new window that will ask you how you want to connect to the internet. It should by default say “internet” if not choose “internet” and then click “Next.”
4. It will now go out to Symantec's server and automatically check which Virus Definitions that you already have and will download and install those which you do not have yet. This process is automatic and requires no additional work or information from the user.
5. After the updates are installed click on “Finish” and then close Symantec Antivirus.

6. If no updates are needed at the time Symantec will display a message stating such. If this message is displayed just click “Finish” and close the program. You are done! This should be done once a week to insure that you virus software has the most up-to-date Virus Definitions. You should also get in the habit of doing a “Full-System Scan” about once a month.

How to Run a Full-System Scan with Symantec Antivirus Software

1. Open Symantec Antivirus in the same manner as above. Make sure that you have closed all open programs before you begin the scan.
2. You should see a button or menu labeled “Scan” then “Scan Computer.” Click on this and then click once in the square to the left of “My Computer.” This should put check marks in all of the squares which means that Symantec will scan all drives on the computer.
3. Next click on the “Scan” button in the lower portion of the Symantec Antivirus window. This should automatically start the scan. It usually takes between 5 and 60 minutes to scan depending on how many files are on your computer and other variables.

4. Symantec will show a progress report while scanning files. If a virus is found Symantec will both automatically attempt to repair and then quarantine if unable to repair or Symantec will prompt you that a virus has been found and then ask you what action to take. This varies depending on what version of Symantec you are running. If you are asked what action to take, choose "attempt repair" and then "quarantine."

How to Delete Temporary Internet Files and Cookies (Internet Explorer)

1. Open Internet Explorer and click on "tools."
2. Next, click on "options."
3. On the General Tab, near the middle of the window, click on "delete files."
4. You may also want to check the box next to "Delete all offline content."
5. Click "ok" and wait for the hourglass to stop spinning. This can take a bit if you have not deleted these for a while. When it is finished, your temporary internet files have been deleted.

6. Next click on "delete cookies" and then click "ok" to delete cookies that web sites have placed onto your computer.

Be Sure to Keep Your Operating System and Software Patched and Updated

If you have a Microsoft Windows operating system, go to http://www.windowsupdate.com/ and get ALL the PRODUCT UPDATES from their auto-update site. Newer versions of the Windows operating system can be configured to automatically download and install available updates. Just make sure that you give you connect your computer to the internet and leave it connected for long enough for it to install all the downloads. This is especially important if you are on a slow dial-up connection.

Periodically go to software manufacturer's web sites and check for available updates and patches for other software as well.

If you need further assistance please contact IT Central in Social Science 120, 243-HELP (x4357), or send an e-mail to: ITCentral@umontana.edu.