It's dangerous out there on the wild and woolly frontier of the Internet. Whether you have an always-on cable or DSL connection or you use dial-up, you're on a road that can deliver all sorts of nasties directly to your PC through downloads or e-mail attachments. Virus writers are becoming increasingly clever. Antivirus software is your absolutely essential first line of defense--if you don't have antivirus software, you need to get it now.

A wide variety of antivirus software is available. For a detailed look at how the top seven packages stack up, see the feature story "Protect Your PC" in the July 2002 issue.

The programs PC World has evaluated all provide an assortment of protection features, but each application sets its own defaults during installation. If you leave those out-of-the-box settings as is, or if you tinker with a few in an attempt to improve system performance, your PC may be unprotected in some crucial areas.

We've come up with a list of key settings that will help you ensure your PC is fully protected. All antivirus packages are different; some arrange options on easy-to-find summary screens, some bury options deep in submenus, and (to further complicate matters) some call virtually identical features by different names. The examples shown here are from Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 2003 and ETrust's EZ Antivirus. We can't show you the exact steps for every package, but the types of settings and the options you'll need to consider are similar. After you've found and enabled these settings, your PC will be on high alert.

1. Activate full-time protection

Virtually every antivirus software package is capable of operating continuously, monitoring all files as they are used; confirm that this feature hasn't been inadvertently turned off. If your antivirus software offers a choice of which files to work on, choose all. In addition, enable special options such as ETrust's incoming- and outgoing-file scanning, shown here.

2. Ensure that all files are scanned

Though some types of files are unlikely to contain viruses, technology--and the abuse of it--marches onward. It's important to have your antivirus program analyze all files on your PC, including compressed archives such as.zip files. To save time, some antivirus software neglects to scan compressed files and certain other file types. For maximum safety, set your software to scan everything.

3. Turn on automatic updating

The most critical step in maintaining your antivirus software's effectiveness is keeping the all-important virus signature file, which contains information about the latest viruses, up-to-date. Setting up automatic updating is vital. When this option is enabled, programs such as Norton AntiVirus check for updates via the Internet periodically, whenever your computer is connected to the Net. With some other antivirus apps, you need to specify when the program should check for updates; checking at least once a day is a good idea. All packages let you check for updates manually, which you might do if the news wires are running stories on a fresh virus outbreak.

4. Activate heuristic scanning

New viruses can circulate so rapidly that your system can get caught in an outbreak before your antivirus software vendor can update its signature file or virus definitions. That's why most antivirus software includes heuristic scanning, which tracks viruslike activity outside of formal definitions. Confirm that this feature is activated. It often goes by different names: ETrust simply calls it heuristic scanning, while Norton AntiVirus calls it Bloodhound and McAfee VirusScan dubs it H.A.W.K.

5. Choose automatic repair

Pay attention to the setting that controls what your software does when it finds an infected file. For most users, the best choice is automatic repair (if your software offers it). Some call it by a different name (ETrust, shown here, calls it System Cure). Several packages require more user intervention. Note that certain viruses can't be automatically repaired; in those cases, your software will give you more instructions.

6. Schedule automatic full-system scans

Even though all antivirus packages allow continuous scanning, you should regularly schedule a scan of your entire system to find any viruses that might have slipped through your PC's perimeter. Most packages allow you a great deal of control over when and how often to scan. If your PC is always turned on, you can schedule a scan overnight. If not, schedule the scan for a slack time when your computer is on. For the greatest level of security, do a complete scan once a day--though once a week is sufficient if you don't use your PC all the time. You can also run a full scan manually at any time.

7. Enable special features

Some of the newest antivirus software includes additional, distinctive features, such as the e-mail and instant-message scanning shown here in Norton AntiVirus 2003. Though you may have to dig deeply in the options menus of some packages to find them, the wisest choice is to have all special features enabled.

8. Update virus definitions

Since you're already playing around with your antivirus software, go ahead and manually update your virus definitions, even if you've scheduled an automatic live update for later the same day. Trying out this feature now is good practice for the next time a major virus hits and you want the latest protection.

9. Make backup disks

Finally, use your antivirus software's ability to create emergency backup disks. All packages offer this option, which is crucial for killing some viruses that can't be automatically repaired. The disks will also allow you to restart your system if a virus gets through the security perimeter and you can't reboot your PC.

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