Scanning for Viruses(Scanning the entire computer)

The brute-force method of scanning your computer is to look at the entire hard drive and every file in it. It’s actually pretty easy to tell your antivirus software to do this — just scan drive C:, or all hard drives, or however your antivirus program offers the choices to you.

There are probably ten thousand or more files on your computer, and probably many times more than that. Your antivirus software is meticulous and actually enjoys examining every blade of grass in the field. Not much else to do, I guess.

To scan your entire computer for viruses, follow these steps:
1. Open your antivirus program and run the Scan command.
Each program is a bit different, but the Scan command is usually a button or hyperlink toward the top of the main interface screen.
2. Select the drive letter that corresponds to your computer’s hard drive.

Most programs give you a choice of which drive letter to scan.

If your computer’s hard drive is divided into two or more drive letters, you’ll need to scan each one. And likewise, if your computer has more than one hard drive, then you’ll need to scan each one. It’s possible, though, that your antivirus program has an All Hard Drives option, which makes this easier. Then, some where, you’ll find a Start Scan (or Begin, Go, Giddyup, whatever) button to get the scan started.