Scan Your Computer

PC Tools AntiVirus' Scan functions are capable of conducting a system-wide scan of your computer for the presence of infected or suspicious items and files. Infected files are those that are known to contain virus or related malware code. On the other hand, suspicious files are those which contain code that is either modified or reminiscent to that of a virus or item of related malware.

The Scan function is also capable of detecting and shutting down the running processes of infected files during a Scan in order to protect your computer against further infection.

PC Tools AntiVirus has two Scan functions:

Full Scan

This function conducts a comprehensive scan of all files and items on the computer, based on the options selected on the Settings -> Scan Settings screen.

To start an immediate Full Scan, click the Scan Your Computer button on the Main Status screen.

Alternatively, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Scan button on the left of the interface to display the System Scan screen.

2. Under Select Scan Type, ensure that Full Scan is selected.

3. Click the Start Scan button to start the Full Scan.

Custom Scan

This function conducts a customized scan of selected files and items on the computer, based on the options selected in the Custom Scan and Settings -> Scan Settings screens.

To commence a Custom Scan, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Scan button on the left of the interface to display the System Scan screen.

2. Under Select Scan Type, ensure that Custom Scan is selected in order to display the Custom Scan Selection tree on the right of this screen.

3. Choose all the items and areas to scan in the Custom Scan by selecting or clearing the appropriate check boxes. If you wish to exclude specific files, folders or file types from being detected in the File Scan, click Scan Exclusions at the lower right of the Custom Scan Selection box to set these exclusions.

4. When you are satisfied with your Custom Scan options, click the Start Scan button to start the Custom Scan.

Note: If an external drive such as a USB drive is added to or removed from your computer, the Custom Scan Selection tree is updated dynamically to indicate the addition or removal of these drives.

Scanning your computer

The Scanning screen is displayed during the progression of a Scan. A progress bar increments from left to right twice as PC Tools AntiVirus first scans the computer's memory and then file system. The animated graphic of files being scanned indicates that the scanning process is still active.

When the Scan finds an infected file, PC Tools AntiVirus first attempts to disinfect it by removing the offensive code. If the file cannot be disinfected, it is either quarantined or removed or you are prompted to select one of these actions, according to the Action to be performed on a detected item options chosen on the Settings -> Scan Settings screen.

The following information is displayed on the Scanning screen:

• Scan progress - Indicates the percentage of the entire Scan that has been completed.

• Virus definitions - Indicates the total number of virus definitions being used in the Scan. This is the same as the number indicated on the Main Status screen.

• Items processed - Indicates the total number of items that have been scanned.

• Infections found - Indicates the total number of infected and suspicious items that have been detected in the Scan.

To stop the File Scan at any time, click the Stop Scan button.

If you have selected Prompt Me for either an Infected item or Suspicious item under the Action to be performed on a detected item section of the Settings -> Scan Settings screen, you are prompted to perform an action when an infected or suspicious file (respectively) is detected during the Scan. When the prompt displays, you can select:

• Remove - This deletes the suspicious or infected file from the computer. Note: Deleted files cannot be recovered.

• Quarantine - This places the suspicious or infected file into quarantine, where it can subsequently be restored through the Quarantined Items List.

• Selecting the Don't prompt me again during this session check box before clicking either Quarantine or Remove performs the selected action on any subsequent detections for the remainder of the current Scan.

Note: If you do not click either Remove or Quarantine on a given prompt within 20 seconds, the detected file is automatically quarantined.

When PC Tools AntiVirus has finished scanning your system, the Scan results screen displays.