Viruses & Other Malware

Use free anti-virus software

Duke offers virus protection for Windows and Mac users at no cost. The Office of Information Technology distributes and supports McAfee VirusScan for Windows and for Macintosh. The software will check for updates automatically when you start your computer and can be set to scan your computer regularly, too.

 

Download the software and get instructions on scanning your computer for viruses:

 

NOTE: Update your definitions file daily (for Windows and Macintosh).

 

Scan attachments and downloaded software

When you receive an email attachment or download software, save the file(s) to a central folder and scan the folder with your anti-virus software. Instructions are available for McAfee VirusScan for Windows and McAfee VirusScan for Mac.

 

Set macro security to high

If you don't use macros in Microsoft Word or Excel, set the Macro Security option to High.

To set the Macro Security option:

 

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options dialog box, click the Security tab.
  3. Click Macro Security.
  4. In the Security dialog box on the Security Level tab, select High.
  5. Click OK.
  6. In the Options dialog box, click OK.

 


Clean up spyware

No one program will find and fix all spyware problems. Applications such as Ad-Aware, a free utility from Lavasoft (www.lavasoft.com), or Spybot S&E (www.safer-networking.org) do good jobs of detecting and removing most spyware-related files. However, to properly remove all detected spyware files, you may need to uninstall them manually or run multiple spyware removers.