How to Understand AntiVirus Software - Using Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009

Nowadays, you cannot surf the internet without having some soft of Anti-virus software installed on your computer. The great amount of malaware ready to destroy your system is nothing you should neglect, especially if you have sensitive data on your computer. Viruses have become so powerful and destructive that without the proper protection they can wipe-out your system or simply make it unusable until you format all your hard drive (therefore deleting the virus in the process). The unfortunate part is that viruses such as these prohibit you from saving your precious data – if no back-up was performed then you can simply consider all your data lost. In order to avoid such unfortunate occurrences you have to install one of the best antivirus software on the market, and maybe use it in conjunction with a firewall application. In this particular tutorial we shall discuss some of the features Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 has to offer and how to enable them for further protection.

From the moment you install your AV software, it is configured to a Recommended level which includes:

-    Anti-Malaware protection – In other words, your files and memory, along with e-mail, IM and web traffic are continuously scanned for possible intrusions (we are not discussing about static files, but only about the files you are about to access). Aside from that Online Security ensures anti-phishing. The proactive defense system ensure protection against keylogger detection, hidden driver install detection, hidden objects and so on. Basically, with these three features (Anti-Malaware security, System Security and Online Security) your system should be heavily guarded at all times. (right click on each of them to adjust manual settings)

Full Scan and Quick Scan – While the full scan ensures going through all your files (or at least in a specified location) quick scan ensures the scanning of System Memory, Startup Objects and disk book sectors. These last three are to always be checked since is the first place where a virus would settle in. Full scan usually includes these three, along with e-mail scanning option, removable drives and network drive scanning. A full scan should be performed at least once every two weeks for maximum protection. Obviously, on-demand full scan can also be an option if you know your web environment is not particularly harmful, and traffic on your computer is low. On-demand full scan can also be useful whenever you have a hunch that something may be lurking within your system.