Recommended Settings for McAfee Anti-Virus

McAfee Virus Scan is due for end of life 31/12/2021. Please ensure you have updated your antivirus before then.

Depending on how it was installed, the settings for McAfee Anti-Virus software may not be optimally configured for the best protection. For this reason, you can check the settings as per the instructions below.

Accessing the VirusScan console

Anti Virus settings can be checked and amended using the VirusScan Console which is accessed by right clicking on the McAfee Shield icon, found in the system tray (bottom right of screen), or by accessing the McAfee program group from the start menu.

The following settings are what is recommended:

On-Access Scanner settings

This is the main area of protection provided by the software as it analyses files for threats when they are being opened by the computer, it should always be set to Enabled.

To check the settings, right click on On-Access Scanner and select properties. Ensure that the Artemis (Heuristic network check for suspicious files) Sensitivity level is set no lower than Medium. Higher Artemis settings are recommended if you suspect your computer and / or network to be a target of malicious software attack but this may affect system performance.

If any changes are made please ensure you click Apply and OK.

Full Scan settings

The full scan is a system scan for malicious software that is run on demand or as part of a schedule.

To check the settings right click on Full Scan, click properties and open the Performance tab. Ensure that the Artemis (Heuristic network check for suspicious files) Sensitivity level is set to Very High.

Scheduling a full Anti-Virus scan

Where possible, a full weekly Anti-Virus scan should be scheduled. For computers and servers that are not switched off, these can be scheduled to take place over the weekend avoiding the times when the nightly backup is run. For computers that are turned off at night, the scan can be scheduled to run over the lunch period. Computers can still be used when the full scan is running but you may notice a slight drop in performance due to the systems resources being used up by the scan.

To schedule a full scan, ensure the settings are correct as above, open the VirusScan console, right click on Full Scan and select Properties.

On the right hand side of the window click on the Schedule button.

Tick Enable (scheduled task runs at a specific time), user account settings are not required.

Open the Schedule tab and set the options as required.

Click Apply then OK to close the Schedule window then OK to close the Full Scan window.

Check that the Status under full scan has changed from Not Scheduled to Weekly to confirm the changes have been applied.

 Running a full Anti-Virus scan

Open the VirusScan console and ensure that the full scan settings are set as above, right click on Full Scan and select Start. You can continue to use your computer with the scan running but you may find that performance is slightly affected.