You may have heard about the recent proliferation of the dreaded Conficker virus. If you are performing the Windows updates regularly, you will not get the virus over the Internet. However, Conficker also spreads by removable portable USB devices. To fully protect your computer, you should scan every portable device that you plug into your computer. Most antivirus programs can be set to do this automatically. Here are the instructions for doing this if you use AVG antivirus. If you use some other program, read these instructions. You antivirus program should have a similar capability that will probably be accessed in a similar way.
In AVG, all you need to do is change one setting. Here's what you need to do:
Open AVG by double-clicking on the AVG icon on the bottom toolbar or on the screen. Go to Tools , choose Advanced Settings - Scans -- Removable Device Scans .
Put a checkmark in the box that says Enable Removable device scan. Leave the other boxes as checked. Then click on Apply. Click on OK.
You need to do this only once. After you change these settings, whenever you insert a portable USB memory stick or hard drive, you will see a box pop up which shows that AVG has scanned the portable device and gives the results. Most often the scan results appear at the bottom right side of the screen. It often disappears quickly, so be alert after your insert the memory stick.
If you miss the results, double-click the AVG icon. Click on Computer scanner from the left menu bar and click on the Scan history button at the bottom of the screen. You will then see the results of the scan.
Please make sure that AVG says the no infections were found before you click to open any file on the portable device.
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