How to configure on-the-fly disinfection of some viruses

The Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000+ on-access scanner can be configured to disinfect macro viruses, floppy disk boot sectors and some executable file viruses (PE file viruses) at the time that the infected items are accessed.

If you use these options, you must take careful note of which files were disinfected, and which virus they were infected with:

• some macro viruses edit the content of the infected document (e.g. WM/Switcher)
• executable file viruses can corrupt the files they infect, making them unstable.

Check documents if there might have been changes. Where possible, replace disinfected program files from backups or original media.

What to do

You can configure on-access disinfection centrally at the Enterprise Console or locally at the Windows 2000/XP/2003 computer.

• Log on as local administrator.
• Open Sophos Anti-Virus.
• In the home page of the Sophos Anti-Virus window, click 'Configure Sophos Anti-Virus'.
• In the Configure page, click 'On-access scanning'.
• Click the Disinfection tab.
• Select 'Disinfect items that contain a virus'.
• Click 'OK'.

Any actions that Sophos Anti-Virus takes against infected items are logged at that computer.

If Enterprise Console is used to administer Sophos Anti-Virus on workstations, it may override changes made here. To avoid this, refer to the Enterprise Console manual.