How often should I run a malware scan?

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Does anyone recommend how often the average user (myself) should run a malware scan, and if any software besides the main anti-virus is recommended? I run Avast! but that's the only anti-malware software I run.

I did daily....over-kill.

or switch to run Linux natively

If you don't visit suspicious sites and only ever go to your trusted one, and you don't install software from unreliable sources, I don't see why you have to scan daily. I only do it weekly along with my AV.

I run a full version of Norton, as i used to use avast but find Norton a good all rounder including tests i have done in the past on an old system that was purposely infected to test each program. I also use 'malwarebytes' and advanced system care on the side which runs itself when my system is idle and then once a month will defrag my hard-drive and run CCleaner.

If you are not seeing any symptom, run the scan weekly. If you see "funny things" happen run it daily until you can pin point the source.

I have an automated scan set weekly indeed, the same as the virusscan.

Aside from the scheduled scans, i also run a manual scan whenever i see something strange, and a manual virusscan whenever i download something from a 3rd party website.

I also run "deep scans" for both virus and malware monthly (scheduled tasks)

Norton...

I have done an apprenticeship as a computer technician and am fully qualified, despite being unemployed, and I have to tell you, Norton and McAffee are the worst antivirus programs in existance. They catch almost nothing, and the amount of system overhead they require is disgusting. They are garbage. Pretty much any free antivirus is better.

It is very difficult to have a fully secure windows machine. Impossible really. But if you are careful with what you do online, you should be ok for the most part.

It's a good idea to run antivirus and malware scans weekly for anybody using Windows. Don't run Norton and McAffee. Get the full version of Kaspersky or Bitdefender.

Never. Delete Windows and install Linux.

Bleeping Computer provide many freeware tools that you can use to clean your system of potential malware and threats, I recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware if you are looking for a program which scheduled scanning and constant updates.

Consider Firefox to browse the internet with the added security extensions, you can use https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/ to scan a website for malware if you are uncertain on the safety of a particular website.

- Adblock Plus
- Calomel SSL Validation
- eCleaner
- Empty Cache Button
- Masking Agent

Kaspersky, Bitdefender and ESET Nod32 provide a good level of security, I would recommend them if you are looking for an anti-virus software. You could run a proxy on top of that if anonymity is an important factor to you, Tunnel Bear and Private Internet access are the most common services.

You can run programs and browse in a sandbox which runs the program in a virtual environment without writing it to your hard drive, I recommend Sandboxie.

Although i dont entirely agree i respect your input also kasperspy is also good. I have been running Norton Full for 3 years now and it hasn't let anything through ( so already kills the argument that it doesnt stop anything! I do not have a certificate but i have been involved with computers since the BBC computers were first on the market some 30+ years ago and yes that was before the spectrum! and has been an interest of mine ever since!), i like the small none intrusive timed pop ups that you get when accessing movie sites that are notorious for malware, it has thus far caught most things, it has let a few minor malware apps through but nothing that would be a hindrance to my system. Avast let heaps through but that was 3 years ago and things may have improved .. I know Norton 3 years + ago i would not touch and did try back then and did notice amongst 10 i tried it came 7th in the list. However i re-evaluated again and for the last three years has for me been a good all rounder. I do agree that McAffee is rather crap as a few weeks ago my flatmate had issues with his system running this app and found over 1000+ intrusions! So fully agree with you there

As far as system resources go on windows 10. As of writing this is only using 14MB ram. Yes a few years ago it used to eat resources for breakfast but as mentioned things do change and they thus far have done pretty well

...unless the computer on which it is installed has not yet been exposed.

Telling someone to use Linux, if they don't use it already, is like telling them to change their religion—you're just not supposed to do that

By the way, I wonder if anyone else misread the title as "How Often Should I Run A Malware Scam"

I can't even remember the last time my computer got infected with malware. It's been years. I also run unsupported, unpatched Windows XP.

This is an important factor, the internet is constantly changing and databases must be constantly updated to combat cyber attacks.

Norton comes bundled with many systems and this is why many people use it without the knowledge that it is classed as bloatware by many security professionals. Norton uses many resources running in the background and this will have an impact on your overall performance of your system. When you remove Norton, the program also leaves many traces in your registry files and subsystem.

You might not experience this slowdown if you are using the computer for browsing but if you test CPU or RAM intensive tasks, you will notice a significant difference.

Here is a benchmark for a laptop with a GTX 1060 and and an i7-6700HQ, 16GB DDR4 RAM and an M.2 SSD that is impacted by Norton anti virus.
http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2580- ... top-ge62vr

AV software protects you from what came out ten days ago. Common sense protects you from what came out ten seconds ago.

I do one once a week.