How can I tell if my antivirus program is actually working?

If your computer is showing signs of a malware infection, but your virus scans are running clean, it's possible that your anti-virus software isn't working properly. However, you don't want to put a virus on your computer just to test the software. That's why we have the EICAR test virus. This is a file that does nothing more than display a string of text when executed, yet is recognized by most anti-virus programs, including the three supported by Pomona, as a virus. (You'll see "EICAR test file" as an entry in each of our antivirus walkthroughs.) To download EICAR, simply click on the link above and read through the page, which provides more information about the file and what it does. At the bottom of that page, you'll see a box with several options. Click on one, and your download should be initiated. Then run your antivirus program. It should find and delete EICAR.

If your anti-virus program doesn't find EICAR, try going to Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and removing your anti-virus program and all its components. (For Norton, this includes any programs published by Symantec.) Then reinstall it using the appropriate instructions:

• AVG Anti-Virus
• McAfee Antivirus
• Norton AntiVirus

If it's your anti-spyware program that doesn't seem to be working, it's almost certain that you have some sort of infection, as there are certain forms of spyware that will prevent anti-spyware programs from operating. Try running HijackThis, which should kill enough of the offending malware to let the automated tools do their job.

If any of your anti-malware programs seem not to work and these tips don't help, please contact the ITS Helpdesk at x18062 or helpdesk@pomona.edu for further assistance.