Home Tech Security FAQ

Q: I've installed Norton on my computer. Am I protected?

A: Maybe. Many people fall into the habit of using a corporate name to describe a software and the result is they aren't really sure what they have.

The Norton products (which belong to Symantec Inc.) are a line of software products, marketed individually and in groups. Included in the line are Norton Antivirus, one of the leading antivirus programs, and Norton Personal Firewall, a software firewall. Each of those programs fulfills a specific purpose but does not do the other.

Norton packages its programs as Norton Internet Security, Norton Utilities and Norton SystemWorks. Those names are not programs; the packages simply include different sets of programs.

In order to make sure you are protected, you need to see that what specific Norton products you have installed.

Q: My computer came with an antivirus program. So I'm all set, right?

A: No.

New computers often come with an antivirus program installed, but they need to have their definitions updated when you first turn the computer on and then updated regularly afterward. Open the program and make sure it's set to start with Windows and look for the date for the definitions. If the date is more than a week old, you need to update your definitions.

Some new computers only come with a 90-day starter subscription for definitions. Before that expires, you need to either pay for a subscription to it, or get another antivirus program to replace the starter one.

Q: The last time my anti-virus program checked for viruses it found two and put them in the virus vault. Can I just delete this or do I leave it there?

A: The "virus vault" is where the program puts the offending file to prevent it from infecting your computer. Other anti-virus programs have other terms for the same thing, such as quarantine.

In years past a large number of the viruses circulating around would attach themselves to legitimate files, such as Word documents. Anti-virus programs were designed to isolate such files so that an effort could be made to clean the virus off and preserve the file it was attached to.

The quarantine also gives you time to download new virus definitions and then try to clean up the file to avoid losing it. Files left in the quarantine will stay there indefinitely.

Today many viruses are e-mail attachments which are entirely a virus, rather than a virus attached to a file. It's safe to delete the files your antivirus program has segregated; it's also not dangerous to just leave them there. If you do have a virus attached to a file that you want to try to save, update your virus definitions and see if the program can clean it.

If the program can't clean the file, or there is nothing there to save, you can delete the file safely. Another option often is to send the virus to your antivirus program's maker so they can see if it's a new one they need to be aware of. I'm sure the big antivirus vendors see viruses very quickly after they start moving around the world and there's no need to send them another one.

When working through such issues you need to watch the program prompts carefully. Norton Antivirus tells you that it can't repair files which are entirely a virus, and then warns you that the virus still exists. It can't repair the file because the file is only a virus and there's no way to repair it. Deleting it solves the problem nicely.

When in doubt, the best source of information is the web site of your anti-virus company.

Q: I keep my antivirus program up to date. Am I protected against people trying to break into my computer from the Internet?

A: No. See the firewall information for more on that subject.

Q: My antivirus program told me an e-mail I'd just gotten had a virus. I told it to quarantine it. Does that mean my computer is infected now?

A: If the antivirus program did its job, no. It sounds like the program effectively identified the virus and quarantined it before it could do any damage.

If you want to be sure, update your virus definitions and do a full system scan.

Q: I have an updated antivirus program and a firewall. Do I still have to worry about spyware and adware?

A: Yes. Spyware and adware are not detected by antivirus programs because they are not viruses; they're software which is installed with the user's permission. And firewalls won't keep spyware from being installed because it requires a user to deliberately start the process, as is the case with other software.

While they won't keep spyware from being installed, firewalls that monitor outgoing traffic, such as Zone Alarm, will alert you when a spyware program attempts to send reports to its server and you can stop them.

For more information, see the spyware information page.

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