Scanning for viruses

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Kithogue wrote:

When I try scanning for viruses, Sophos appears to shut itself down and the information box tells me my last scan was performed on 12/09/12.  My on-access scanning option also turns itself off, even when I have saved the changes in my preferences.  Is it possible I already have a virus or some kind of malware in my computer?

Thanks.

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It's possible, but it is far more likely that your prefrerences files have become corrupt, or some malformed file on the system is causing the issue.

Try running the uninstaller, then go into ~/Library/Preferences/ (hold down option and select Library from the Finder's Go menu) and search for sophos.  Delete the files that are there.

Do the same thing in /Library/Preferences (but don't delete your kerberos file)

Then delete /Library/Sophos Anti-Virus/ (the folder).

Finally, download the latest version of the installer (currently Sophos Anti-Virus 8.0.8) and install.

If this version still quits during a manual scan, pay attention to what file was being scanned when it quit -- it's possible you have a problem file that is not being handled correctly.  However, the on-access issue should be gone.  If it isn't, there is a possibility that some other software (malicious or non-malicious) may be interfering with the scanner.

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Kithogue wrote:

When I try scanning for viruses, Sophos appears to shut itself down and the information box tells me my last scan was performed on 12/09/12.  My on-access scanning option also turns itself off, even when I have saved the changes in my preferences.  Is it possible I already have a virus or some kind of malware in my computer?

Thanks.

---

It's possible, but it is far more likely that your prefrerences files have become corrupt, or some malformed file on the system is causing the issue.

Try running the uninstaller, then go into ~/Library/Preferences/ (hold down option and select Library from the Finder's Go menu) and search for sophos.  Delete the files that are there.

Do the same thing in /Library/Preferences (but don't delete your kerberos file)

Then delete /Library/Sophos Anti-Virus/ (the folder).

Finally, download the latest version of the installer (currently Sophos Anti-Virus 8.0.8) and install.

If this version still quits during a manual scan, pay attention to what file was being scanned when it quit -- it's possible you have a problem file that is not being handled correctly.  However, the on-access issue should be gone.  If it isn't, there is a possibility that some other software (malicious or non-malicious) may be interfering with the scanner.