I just did a virus scan using Norton Anti-virus. I’ve never used this program before but figured I should subscribe and sure enough, it found 6 threats on my system. It states that 4 of them were “removed” and the other 2 were “quarantined”. What does this mean? Can the “quarantined” viruses still harm my computer? Why does Norton quarantine them and not remove them?
Answer:
Follow this link to an on the internet “chat” with a Norton representative.
http://www.symantec.com/norton/support/p…
Quarantined simply means that the “potential” threat might or might not be a virus, so Norton is holding it back in case you need to put it back into play.
I have Norton on 3 personal and do not find that it slows down my personal. Your Personal computer will be slow if you don’t perform regular, routine maintenance:
1. Set wallpaper and screensavers to blank or none — they run continuously in the background and use memory.
—–right-click on the desktop, choose Properties
—–click the screensaver tab, on the left where it says “screensaver,” choose none.
—–click the desktop tab, for background, choose none
2. Review your begin menu – remove anything you don’t need on a daily basis — load games, etc. on an as-needed basis.
—–click Start, Settings, Taskbar and Start Menu
—–click the Begin Menu tab
—–select a program you don’t want to load at Startup, then click remove.
—–Caution — do not touch anything you are not sure of or you will mess up your personal royally.
3. From Internet Explorer, click Tools, World wide web Options: delete cookies, delete files (offline), and clear history. (You can also set days to store history to 0.)
—– These actions will clear your computer’s cache. (http://help.yahoo.com/l/ph/yahoo/mail/ac… )
4. Run Disk Cleanup, Scandisk, Defrag at least each two weeks (the more frequently they’re run, the less time they take). These can be found in Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools.
5. Periodically, click Start, Programs, Run — then type ipconfig renew
(that’s ipconfig space renew).
6. Optional: Speed vs Goodies — in the Control Panel, System, Advanced, Performance, Settings — you can have visual effects or let Windows choose the ideal options. I am using “Best Performance.” Your choice.
7. If you are on a network, you can save a little time by telling Windows to halt looking all over the network for a file. In the Control Panel, open My Computer / right-click on C: / click Tools / Folder Options / Folder Options / on the View tab, clear the box before “automatically search network …”
These things should increase speed and free up memory as much as possible.
Answer:
QUARANTINE FIRST, THEN DELETE LATER!
Malware removal is somewhat of an inexact science. Mistakes can and do happen. Often. False-positive detections happen more often then the anti-malware industry cares to admit. It's their dirty little secret.
Needed program files can be mistakenly flagged as malware. Quarantining grants a way to undo any incorrect file deletions, easily, if it ever becomes necessary. When the anti-virus vendor finds their mistake and corrects their signature definitions, for you, the user, it is too late. The needed file has already been permanently deleted. And then it's, “tough luck Charlie!”
A file in quarantine is totally safe. It can do no harm. Repeat after me…A file in quarantine is absolutely safe. It can do no harm!
Norton usually only slows down cheap, “low-end” personal.
Answer:
Quarantined means that Norton is keeping them safe in their own vault. It's okay, quarantined virus won't affect your computer.
But I recommend you immediately erase Norton and get a much superior AntiVirus software like Kaspersky, Avast, or Avair.
Norton slows down one's personal a lot.
Answer:
Quarantined means the file has been isolated and cannot do anything and the virus can't delete it if it is attached to an important windows file or the file is in use. so no it cannot still harm your system.