Speed up your yirus checker
Never run a disk scan while streaming audio or other big files
from the Internet, or while running any program that actively
accesses the hard drive. If you have a sturdy, up-to-date firewall
in place, you can disable Norton-AntiVirus (NAV) Auto-Protect
feature when you are not using the Internet or any other network
(including e-mail); Auto-Protect uses up memory. Just be sure
to scan every download for viruses before you open it and after
you update your virus definitions.
Turn off what you do not need
If you exclusively use Web-based e-mail--such as Gmail or Yahoo
Mail--that you access via your browser (not through Outlook,
Mozilla Thunderbird, or any other e-mail client), you can safely
turn off Norton AntiVirus's automatic e-mail protection: Click “Options” then “Norton
AntiVirus.” Select “Email” in the left pane,
and uncheck “Scan incoming Email” and “Scan
outgoing Email.”
If you install NAV on a system protected by the ZoneAlarm Internet
Security program (which has an antivirus tool of its own), NAV
will urge you to uninstall ZoneAlarm. Ignore it and click the “Next”t
button. NAV will install just fine. When your PC reboots, you'll
find that ZoneAlarm's virus checker is disabled. Flipping between
the two virus scanners is easy: In NAV, select “Options” then “Norton
AntiVirus.” Uncheck all the boxes to disable NAV, and end
by rebooting your PC. A message will pop up asking whether you
want to enable ZoneAlarm's antivirus scanner. (If the message
doesn't appear, double-click ZoneAlarm's icon in the system tray,
and activate its antivirus and spyware features manually.) Reverse
the preceding steps to revive the virus scanner that's built
into NAV.
Leave Auto-Protect on
When you install a new game or productivity program, Symantec
recommends keeping Norton's Auto-Protect features activated.
The company claims that you need NAV running on all cylinders
during software installation. Programs from little-known sites
may harbor malware, and there are cases where even shrink-wrapped
software from major vendors has accidentally shipped with viruses.
Stay Informed
Need the latest information on the latest virus threat? Check the
company's all-in-one " Symantec
Security Response" page. It's a one-stop-shop where you
can read about the latest virus threats, check recently discovered
holes in your favorite software (such as Excel, Windows Media Player,
and even Windows itself), find the newest definitions and removal
tools, hear about viruses myths (the bogus threats your friends
may e-mail you about), and check the handy ThreatCon indicator
(by the way, ThreatCon 4 is bad, real bad). Another very handy
site is TaskList.org,
which bills itself as "the ultimate resource to help you determine
if your computer is infected with spyware, adware or viruses."
|
