WEBINAR ARCHIVE
Little Rock, AR (October 22, 2004)
Introduction
Everyday new Viruses are discovered by the developers of Antivirus software.
Thanks to modern-day news media on TV and the internet, many people are aware
of the effects of viruses and are up-to-date with major outbreaks that can
affect not only home computers, but entire business systems as well. With
so many viruses and virus programmers out there it is very important to keep
your virus definitions current.
Many people believe their virus definitions are updated every time a system scan is performed. Unfortunately this is not true. Virus definitions must be updated weekly, sometimes even daily in order to protect your systems and precious information stored within them.
Each Antivirus suite performs differently, so it's best to refer to your software documentation, or your software developer's website for specific information on how to update your definitions. Below are links to the websites of two of the most popular antivirus software developers, McAfee and Symantec. There you can find information on updating your virus definitions.
McAfee - Makers of VirusScan®
http://www.mcafee.com
Symantec - Makers of Norton Antivirus and Symantec Antivirus solutions for
businesses
http://www.symantec.com
Microsoft also provides links to various other antivirus software vendors
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;49500
The above sites also provide information on how to rid your system of various
viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. All three of these types of code can cause
havoc in your home or business so it is good to understand how each one works
and what you can do to prevent them from taking over your systems and resources.
For more information, please visit this Microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/virus101.asp
Walkthrough
Network users: You may want to contact your network
administrator before you update your virus definitions. Your network administrator
may already be pushing the updates to your computer from the server or they
may be testing how your company's software reacts to the updates before allowing
individuals to download and apply them.
This walkthrough will show you how to update virus definitions using Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition.
1. First locate the Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition icon in your task bar, it is located on the bottom right hand of your screen, and looks like a golden shield. (See image below) Once you find the icon, double click it.
2. Now you should see a menu like the one below. On the right hand side towards the bottom you will see a button that says "Live Update." Next to this button you will see the "Version:" followed by a date. The date is the last time your virus definitions were updated. If that is not today's date, you should probably run Live Update to see if there are any new virus definitions. To update your virus definitions, click on the button that says "Live Update"
3. The Live Update menu will now appear. To proceeded, click on "Next" on the bottom right of the menu.
Now you will see Live Update check for new definitions and download any new updates.
4. Once Live Update has finished you will either see that it as updated your
virus definitions or you will see a screen telling you that your Virus definitions
are up to date, meaning there are no new Virus definitions at that time (If
this is the case, the version will not update to today's date, it will keep
the date of the last set of virus definitions downloaded).
5. To complete the update click on "Finish." If you downloaded new
definitions, Symantec will now install them. You will see a window pop up
that shows the progress of the installation. Once this is complete you may
click on "Exit" on the main menu. Your virus definitions are now
up to date.
If you do not use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition, you can find help
with updating your antivirus' virus definitions on the vendor's website or
by visiting Microsoft.com for help with your problem. You can also click on
the link below to take you to a Microsoft Article all about virus definitions.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/antivirus.asp
