Staff Desktop XP
Antivirus Software
Introduction
It is most important that your antivirus software is kept up to date. This should happen automatically, between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day. Furthermore, new with the Staff Desktop XP service, if your computer has not been connected to the network and has missed an update, it will automatically perform the update next time you switch it on when connected to the University network. This is useful if you have been away from the University. This is also most useful for those with portable computers who may not have been connected to the University network for some time while working away. Note that you can check that your version is up to date, and manually update if necessary.
Portable computers must be regularly and reasonably frequently brought on campus and connected to the University network.
Firstly note that e-mail coming in to the University is automatically scanned for viruses, and that the DAT files which identify viruses in the e-mail system are automatically updated every three hours (and we may increase this). This still does not guarantee that your e-mail does not contain a virus - the virus may have spread to us before the DAT file entry has been designed to exclude it.
Even then, this is not sufficient to exclude viruses. E-mail is not the only method of virus propagation, and users of laptops may receive e-mail at home which has not been through our e-mail virus protection system. Worse still, such a user may bring an infected computer back on campus and that may then try to infect other computers.
To protect against this, we have installed antivirus software with each Staff Desktop computer. It, too, must update its DAT file to keep itself up-to-date with the latest list of viruses. Your antivirus software will automatically check each day between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (if the computer is switched on and connected to the network).
Users of laptops in particular may wish to manually force an update of their DAT files (particularly when they return to work after an absence or holiday). Users may also wish to check which version of the DAT file they are using and which version of the DAT file is the latest.
Check your software version
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Find the shield with a "V" icon (VirusScan On-Access Scan is Enabled) in the "System Tray" - the area of Windows Task Bar at the bottom of your screen at the far right.
Right-click it.
Note: If the system tray at the right of the screen is not visible, first click the Show hidden icons button immediately to the left of the clock:
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From the pop-up menu select About VirusScan Enterprise....
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The screen will show the version of the DAT file as Virus Definitions (in this case 5978), and the version of the Scan engine (in this case 5400), which changes less often, and the version of the software (in this case VirusScan Enterprise 8.7.0i), which changes very rarely. Check the Created on date, ensure that it is a recent date.
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Click OK to close the program.
If your computer is not updating the virus update automatically please contact your Department's IT support representative.
How do I know what is the latest version?
We provide a mailing list to notify you when a new DAT file has been released by McAfee. This list usually has at least one message a day, sometimes more.
There will be about a 12 hour delay from the DAT file being released by McAfee until it is available on campus. This is to allow for testing and the transfer of the files.
To subscribe to the DAT file list, you should send an e-mail message to Majordomo@lists.lboro.ac.uk containing the single line:
subscribe dat-update
in the main body of the message.
Further details regarding mailing-list subscription are available.
If you have any problems, please contact the IT Services Service desk who will be happy to advise further.
How to manually update the software
You may wish to manually scan for a virus, perhaps because you suspect that your computer is infected, or perhaps because IT Services or your Department IT Support Representative may ask you to.
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Find the V Shield icon in the "System Tray" - the area of Windows Task Bar at the bottom of your screen at the far right.
Right-click it.
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From the pop-up menu select Update Now....
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An Update in Progress dialogue will be displayed. This will automatically close 30 seconds after completing the scan.
If your computer is not updating the virus update automatically please contact your Department's IT support representative.
How to manually scan disk drives
You may wish to manually scan for a virus, perhaps because you suspect that your computer is infected, or perhaps because IT Services or your Department IT Support Representative may ask you to.
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Find the V Shield icon in the "System Tray" - the area of Windows Task Bar at the bottom of your screen at the far right.
Right-click it.
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From the pop-up menu select On-Demand Scan....
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Click the Start button.
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The On Demand Scan Progress window will appear and show the status of the scan.
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Hopefully, when the scan is complete, no viruses will have been detected.
If this is the case, close the program. Otherwise, follow the on-screen instructions.
Virus Protection
Even with antivirus software and even with up-to-date DAT files, a virus may arrive at your computer. You can protect yourself by being somewhat cautious about incoming e-mail, especially with attachments.
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Don't open unsolicited e-mail (Spam).
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Don't open an attachment from someone you don't know.
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Don't open an attachment if you don't know what it is. Does the sender usually send attachments of this type? Are you expecting this attachment? If not, you can always e-mail or telephone the sender (and the e-mail may have "spoofed" the sender's e-mail address) and ask them if they really meant to send that attachment.