1

Start the virus check. You can read how to do this in the section entitled: Virus protection

2

Now a check of your computer for virus infestation occurs. A window opens for this which includes information on the status of the check.

A progress bar at the top of the window shows you how the scan of your system is advancing. While the virus check is taking place you have a number of options for influencing the course of the virus check:

•Pause the virus check at times of high system load: You can use this option to specify that the software holds the virus check until you are finished with other tasks on your computer.

•Switch off computer after virus check: This function is very useful if you want to run the virus check overnight or at the end of the working day. As soon as the virus check by the G Data software has completed, your computer will be powered down.

•Password-protected archive: As long as an archive is password-protected, the G Data software cannot scan the files in it for viruses. If you check this box, the antivirus software indicates which password-protected archives it was unable to scan. Provided the archives are not unpacked, any viruses it contains will not pose a security risk to your system.

•Access denied: In Windows, there are usually files that are used exclusively by applications and that can therefore not be scanned while these applications are running. It is preferable that you therefore have no other programs running on your system during a virus check. If you set a checkmark here, the data that is not checked will be displayed.

3a

If your system is virus-free, you can exit the wizard window after the check has finished using the Close button.

Your system has now been checked and cleared of viruses.

3b

In the event that viruses and other malware are found, you can decide how to handle the virus discovery. Generally clicking on the Execute actions button is sufficient.

The G Data software now uses a default setting (unless otherwise configured in the settings under AntiVirus > Manual virus check for infected files and archives) and disinfects compromised files, i.e. repairs them so that they can still be used without restriction and no longer pose a threat to your computer.

If such disinfection is not possible, the files are placed under quarantine, i.e. they are encrypted and moved to an extra safe folder where they cannot cause any further damage.

If you still need this infected file, in exceptional cases you can retrieve the file from quarantine and use it again.

Your system has now been checked and cleared of viruses.

3c

If you are familiar with the infected files/objects and can tell which ones are no longer required, you also have the option of customising precisely how to respond to each virus discovery.

You can use the Action column in the list of virus discoveries to define what should happen with each individual virus discovery.

•Log only: The infection is listed in the Logs view. However, the files concerned are not repaired or deleted. Warning: If a virus is only logged, it continues to be active and dangerous.

•Disinfect (if not possible: log only): Here, an attempt is made to remove the virus from an affected file; if this is not possible without damaging the file, the virus is logged and you can deal with it later via the log entry. Warning: If a virus is only logged, it continues to be active and dangerous.

•Disinfect (if not possible: place in quarantine): This is the default setting. Here, an attempt is made to remove the virus from an affected file; if this is not possible without damaging the file, the file is moved to the Quarantine. Please also refer to the section entitled: How does the quarantine work?

•Disinfect (if not possible: delete file): An attempt is made to remove the virus from a compromised file; if this is not possible, the file is deleted. This function should only be used if there is no important data on your computer. Always deleting infected files can, in the worst case, result in your Windows becoming inoperable and requiring a reinstallation.

•Move file to quarantine: Infected files are immediately moved to the Quarantine. Files saved in the quarantine are encrypted. The virus cannot cause any damage here, and the infected file is still available for possible repair attempts. Please read about this in the section: How does the quarantine work?

•Delete file: This function should only be used if there is no important data on your computer. Always deleting infected files can, in the worst case, result in your Windows becoming inoperable and requiring a reinstallation.

If you click on the Execute actions button now, the G Data software proceeds with each virus detection as you have specified.

Your system has now been checked for viruses. However, if you have used a setting with the Log option, it may be that your computer is not virus-free.