For most of us, scanning our home network for viruses is a daunting task. The internet offers seemingly endless pages of guides, tips, and tricks on doing this process. But which ones are the best? Which should you follow?
We’ve created this guide to help answer these questions and more! It will give you in-depth instructions on what to do to scan your home network for viruses successfully. In the end, you’ll have a detailed understanding of what to do while scanning. You’ll also have a list of all the tools that we use while scanning.
Why scan your home network?
For most people, it’s simply because they never have before. Maybe you’re a beginner and don’t know where to start. Or perhaps you need a refresher course on how this process works. No matter your reason, reading our guide will help lead you in the right direction!
What is scanning your home network for viruses?
Scanning your home network for viruses is a process. It can be a difficult one, but it’s essential if you want to keep your home network safe. It’s vital to keep this process regularly. Thus, the data security and integrity keep safe. Reading our guide will be immensely helpful if you’re new to this process or simply need a refresher course!
In short, scanning your home network for viruses is the process of looking for malicious software. This software can come in the form of worms, backdoors, Trojans, and many others. To get rid of these threats, you need to run scans on your devices regularly.
Steps to scan your home network
You’ll need to follow a series of steps to complete this process. If you’re looking for a simple guide, then these are the steps you’ll need to take:
Step 1: Backup your computer(s)/device(s)
The first thing that we recommend doing is backing up all of your devices and computers. We do this by plugging in our external hard drives and backing everything up to those drives. This includes photos, programs, and anything else that we want to keep safe. After backing up, we unplug those drives and plug them into another computer. We then repeat this process by backing up those devices as well.
Before you back up your computers or device(s), ensure that your computer(s) aren’t on public networks:
- If they are, then you’ll want to make sure you change any of the default settings for these networks first.
- If not, someone may gain access to some of the information on your devices by tapping into the network and stealing it!
Any device you want to back up will require its external hard drive (or two). You’ll also be backing up your favorite photos, music, games, etc. Keep in mind that you can back up all of these to one drive if they are on the same network.
Step 2: Install a virus scanner
When it comes to installing a virus scanner on your devices, there are plenty out there to choose from! We recommend Norton Security because it is the best in the business. If you’re too lazy to install anything, then AVG is also a great option. Regardless of which one you choose, make sure that you’re using the latest version! The last thing you want is for your device to be infected with malware right before you scan with your scanner.
After downloading your virus scanner software, ACCEPT THE EULA. This will allow the program to do its job correctly and ensure that it doesn’t interfere with other programs on your computer or device!
Step 3: Scan
Next up is scanning! It’s up to your device how often it scans, but it is usually good enough within five minutes. This is important because it will give you a more reliable scan. If your device scans more often, then it might miss a few viruses.
- Start by going to your virus scanner’s settings and turning on the built-in firewall. This will be very helpful later on when scanning for malware!
- Make sure that you scan your entire home network for viruses before continuing to the next steps!
- After turning on the firewall, start up your virus scanner.
- You’ll be prompted to choose which devices you want to be scanned.
- Choose the devices connected to the same network as you are (If they’re not, then there’s no need to scan them).
- Now select the hardware option and click Connect.
- Your device should show up in order. If not, you’ll need to look for it under the “Show all devices” option. If this still doesn’t work, then you’ll need to reset your modem/router by unplugging it and plugging it back in after 30 seconds.
Step 4: Delete any threats found.
After uninstalling your virus scanner and rebooting your device(s), go back and scan again. If the virus scanner found any threats, then delete them! This is a crucial step and should not be missed. Sometimes, these threats can go away on their own; this is because they’re simply files that were left behind after an app was installed/uninstalled without them. If you’re unsure about what to do, it’s best not to take any risks and delete them.
After getting rid of the threats, make sure to reboot your computer(s)/device(s) again. This will help your device(s) run much faster and ensure that you don’t miss any viruses/threats!
Step 5: Repeat the process (optional)
If you want, repeat the process above. This is just a recommendation and should only be done if you feel it is necessary! The reason we recommend doing this is that if you’re connected to a public network, then there may be more malware floating around that hasn’t infected your devices yet.
Conclusion
If you have read this guide, you have a strong foundation of knowledge on scanning your home network for viruses. You’ll also have some tools that will help you scan your home network for malware. Feel free to try out these tools on your system today! Just follow the steps outlined in our guide and see what type of results you get!
