Antivirus Resources
Several tools are available for download that can help you diagnose and deal with virus infections. These resources fall into one of the categories below.
- Online Virus Scanners/Fix Tools
- McAfee Stinger
- Online virus scanners
- Symantec virus-specific fix tools
- Informational Tools & Web Resources
- Virus Information Databases
- Internet Search Engines
Scanners/Fix Tools
There are several tools that can be used in situations when you are not able to run a scan with antivirus software.
- McAfee Stinger - McAfee Stinger is a stand-alone tool that scans for currently popular viruses. This file is easy to download and does not require that any other antivirus software be installed. It is important to note that McAfee Stinger only scans for the top 40-50 most popular viruses and is updated daily. A copy of Stinger that was downloaded a month ago will be out of date if run today.
- Online Virus Scanners - These are pages on the web that can scan your computer using controls in your web browser. The advantages to using an online virus scan is that you do not need to install or update anything on your computer. However, you do need a live and preferably fast Internet connection to use these tools (not recommended on dial-up connections). Below are several online virus scanners from various antivirus software companies:
Symantec | McAfee | Trend Micro | PCPitstop.com | Secunia
IMPORTANT: These sites are only effective in removing some viruses from an infected machine. To prevent virus infections, you must maintain an antivirus client, such as Symantec AntiVirus, on your computer at all times. The Symantec AntiVirus client can be downloaded from the ITS Software Download Site . For instructions on installing and updating Symantec AntiVirus, click here.
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Symantec Fix Tools - Symantec has small, downloadable utilities that are designed to search for and disinfect a certain virus and its variants. These fix tools are available here from Symantec's web site.
Informational Tools & Web Resources
There are several useful web sites where current information about recent viruses can be found.
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Virus Informational Databases - You can search for a virus by its name and get vital information about how to identify a virus infection and how to disinfect it from your computer.
NOTE: Different antivirus companies will come up their their own names for the same virus. For example: What Symantec calls the "W32.Blaster.Worm", McAfee calls the "W32/Lovesan.worm.a" virus.
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Internet Search Engines - A great way to tell if an e-mail or a file is carrying a virus is to simply open the Google search engine (http://www.google.com) and do a search for the filename, subject, or part of the body of the e-mail that is unique. The results will often give you a good idea if the e-mail is carrying a virus. When new viruses are released, there is usually information available about them on the Internet.
Last Updated: 04/24/2008