Step 5: Scan your Computer

To protect your PC effectively, you need to scan it regularly at least once a week (apart from real-time scanning) so as to prevent it from virus and malicious codes infection. You can configure scheduled full scan on your PC, e.g. every Monday at lunch hour. On the other hand, you can also manually scan your PC to check if there is any virus or malicious code. Certainly, you should make sure the latest definition files have been applied for an effective scanning and protection.

For example, in AVG Anti-virus Free, you may follow the procedures below to scan your PC, other anti-virus or anti-spyware software also provide similar capabilities for selections.

1.	At the system tray at bottom right corner of the screen, double-click the icon of AVG anti-virus program.
2.	At the AVG user interface, click "Computer scanner".
3.	You may choose to scan the whole computer, specific files or folders. It is advised to perform a whole computer scan regularly in order to check thoroughly if there is any virus or malicious code.
4.	The scanning process may take several minutes or even hours, depending on the number and size of files. You may run the scan during lunchtime or when the computer is idle.
5.	After the scan is finished, scan results will be shown. If there is any virus or malicious code detected, you should clean them at once and re-run a computer scan to ensure the PC is clean.