How to Remove Viruses

The Eller College uses Sophos Anti-Virus software, which is available free of charge to faculty, staff, and students, from CCIT. Faculty and Staff computers connected to the Eller Network Servers recieve anti-virus updates automatically several times a month. Please read the following document on how to use the Sophos application. If you have any questions, please send e-mail to Eller IT Support Team at support@eller.arizona.edu.

How to use Sophos Anti-Virus

The Sophos application will be located under your collection of programs on the operating system. To execute the Sophos application, proceed with clicking on Start -> Programs -> Sophos Anti-Virus -> Sophos Anti-Virus. Completing these steps will bring up a window that resembles the following image:

Once the Sophos application is at this screen, different tasks and scans can be added to the application depending on your needs. For example, if you wanted to create a task that scanned attachments received into to Eudora, select Add located on the right portion of the window. This should bring you to a screen that looks like this:

At this screen, click Browse and locate the folder where Eudora resides. Often the path should be “C:\Program Files\Eudora” or a close variation of this like “C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora”. At this point, you should return to a screen that resembles the following (Our recommendation is that you select the All radio button where it specifies which File Types will be scanned):

Once you have completed these procedures, select OK and it will bring you back to original Sophos Anti-Virus window with the addition of a newly created task.

How to configure Sophos Anti-Virus

At the initial Sophos screen, select Options from the top toolbar and select Configuration.

You will want your Sophos application to bring up the following window. Eller IT recommends that Sophos be configured so that it resembles the following configuration:

Click on the next tab Action and select the following combination of checkmarks to ensure that the application thoroughly scans, disinfects, and deletes infected files from your system:

Once this is complete, click OK and you will return to the initial Sophos screen. At this point, Sophos is properly setup to complete thorough and effective scans of your machine.

How to execute a manual scan with Sophos Anti-Virus

To execute a manual scan of the machine, open the Sophos application so that the following window appears.

Identify the tasks that are configured for scanning, select that job you would like to execute and double-click on the link associated with the correct job. For example, if you wanted to scan all attached local hard drives, double-click on the “Local hard drives” icon and Sophos will begin scanning all attached hard drives. Alternatively, if you felt that you may have received a suspicious email that had an attachment you were unsure about, double-click on the “C:\Program Files\Eudora\” link to disinfect that directory. A properly executed scan should look like the following during its execution:

Once Sophos completes the specified scan, it will provide a report stating what actions have been taken (e.g. File Deleted, Disinfection Successful, No Action Taken, etc..). In the following case, the white dialog box at the bottom of the Sophos application states that ‘W32/Sobig-E’ detected in C:\PROGRAM FILES\EUDORA\Attach\your_details.zip”. In the next line, the application states what actions have been taken on the infected file. In this case, it states “File Deleted” meaning that the virus has been successfully removed from your system.

[AUG 2003]