McAfee VirusScan: manually scan your computer (Windows XP)

By default, the UD version of VirusScan will automatically scan your computer every Wednesday at about noon. If your computer is off at that time, or if you want to scan your computer more frequently, follow these instructions.

Any files that can be cleaned will be retained; any that cannot will be deleted. If for any reason you are unable to run a scan or if McAfee is unable to clean or delete the virus, scan your computer in Safe Mode.

  1. Temporarily disable System Restore:
    1. Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, and then click Properties.
    2. Click the System Restore tab.
    3. Check the Turn off System Restore check box.
      System Properties window
    4. Click OK.
    5. You will be prompted to restart the computer. Click Yes.
  2. Run Disk Cleanup to delete your temporary files.
  3. Right-click the V-shield icon in the system tray (in the bottom-right corner of your screen).
  4. Click VirusScan Console.
  5. Right-click Full Scan.
  6. Click Start.
  7. VirusScan will take between five minutes and several hours to scan your computer, depending on the amount of data on your computer's drive(s).

    NOTE

    VirusScan will not scan encrypted files. You'll see the message File not scanned [The file is encrypted.].

  8. When the scan is complete, close VirusScan.
  9. To be sure that your computer is clean, restart your computer and follow steps 2-8 to scan your computer a second time.
  10. Re-enable system restore:
    1. Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and click Properties.
    2. Click the System Restore tab.
    3. Uncheck the Turn off System Restore check box.
      System Properties window
    4. Click OK.
    5. You will be prompted to restart the computer. Click Yes.