Setting Manual Scan Options - McAfee INTERNET SECURITY SUITE 2008 User Manual

40 McAfee Internet Security

Setting manual scan options

Manual virus protection lets you scan files on demand. When you
start a manual scan, VirusScan checks your computer for viruses
and other potentially harmful items using a more comprehensive
set of scanning options. To change manual scanning options, you
must make decisions about what VirusScan checks for during a
scan. For example, you can determine whether VirusScan looks
for unknown viruses, potentially unwanted programs, such as
spyware or adware, stealth programs, such as rootkits which can
grant unauthorized access to your computer, and cookies that
Web sites can use to track your behavior. You must also make
decisions about the types of files that are checked. For example,
you can determine whether VirusScan checks all files or just
program files and documents (since that is where most viruses
are detected). You can also determine whether archive files (for
example, .zip files) are included in the scan.
By default, VirusScan checks all the drives and folders on your
computer each time it runs a manual scan; however, you can
change the default locations to suit your needs. For example, you
can scan only critical system files, items on your desktop, or
items in your Program Files folder. Unless you want to be
responsible for initiating each manual scan yourself, you can set
up a regular schedule for scans. Scheduled scans always check
your entire computer using the default scan options. By default,
VirusScan performs a scheduled scan once a week.
If you find that you are experiencing slow scan speeds, consider
disabling the option to use minimal computer resources, but
keep in mind that higher priority will be given to virus protection
than to other tasks.
Note: When enjoying things like watching movies, playing games
on your computer, or any activity that occupies your entire
computer screen, VirusScan pauses a number of tasks, including
automatic updates and manual scans.
Set manual scan options
You set manual scan options to customize what VirusScan looks
for during a manual scan as well as the locations and file types it
scans. Options include scanning for unknown viruses, file
archives, spyware and potentially unwanted programs, tracking
cookies, rootkits, and stealth programs.
1
Open the Manual Scan pane.
How?