Reference number: CH000533

How do I update my antivirus program?

Issue:

Additional information:

Computer viruses, worms, and other threats to computers are frequently created by malicious users, and to help your computer from becoming infected, antivirus companies develop definition, identity, or pattern file updates that enable the antivirus program identify and prevent new viruses, worms, and other threats from attacking your computer.

If your your computer and antivirus scanner is not updated it will be vulnerable to any computer virus or worm that has been released since your last update. This could mean if you have not updated your antivirus program in over a month that your computer could be infected or have the potential of being infected by dozens of different viruses and/or worms.

Ultimately, it would be beneficial to check for updates every few days, but we realize that not all users can do this. Therefore, TNTC would strongly suggest that you make an effort to update as much as you possibly can and/or update at least three times a month.

New computer viruses, worms, scams, and other computer related threats are posted on our free Security news site a few times every week. This page can also be used as a tool to help protect your computer and know when you may need to update your antivirus program.

Answers:

Update through antivirus program

The majority of new antivirus programs (programs or computers purchased after the year 2000) enable users to update their antivirus program through the software. Open the Virus program and look for "Update", "Check for updates", "Live Update", or something similar. Below are some examples of how a user may update their antivirus program.

Microsoft Windows users running recent versions of McAfee can double-click on the Vshield icon in their systray and click "Check for VirusScan update" to check for available updates.
Microsoft Windows users running recent versions of Norton can double-click on the Norton icon in their systray and click the "Live Update" to check for available updates.

Update through antivirus web page

If your antivirus program does not include the ability to update your virus definitions through the software program or you wish to download your definition updates directly from the developers web page, make sure to first identify what version you are running and then visit your manufacturer's web page below to update your software.