How Often Should a Virus Scan Be Run

Only the most naive person out there would disbelieve the potential risks of your computer contracting a computer virus When you turn on your computer each and every morning and head to the Internet, there is always a risk. Your safety is tied right to the software on your machine. The quality of the anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware software will be the difference between joy and misery with your time on the Internet.

The biggest question is how often should you scan your computer for viruses?

How Often Should You Scan For Viruses On Your Computer

While it is true that anti-virus software often times may run a background check, that is rather scratching the surface. You will find many instances where background virus scans are inadequate and you will need to delve deeper into the problem to ensure your problem remains clean.

Therefore you should set some time aside to scan your files on your computer for any potential nastiness whether it be viruses, malware, or anything else you may think about that will harm your machine, at least once a week.

Depending on the speed of your machine, the number of files on your machine, and the virus scanning software, you may find that this process will take anywhere from twenty minutes to a couple of hours. Regardless of the time the process takes, it is well worth your time when you think of the consequences.

We want to prolong the lifespan of our machine as much possible. A good virus scan should be able to combat anything before we even notice it but those who create the software are forever catching up with those who are creating viruses.

In the end a little bit of common sense goes a long way but it would be wise if you would run a virus scan once a week to ensure the health and future safety of your machine, not to mention your personal information.