Anti-Virus Software

Using anti-virus software not only protects your computer but prevents it from being used to infect other machines, saving you and others you may or may not know a lot of time, money, and significant headaches. 

Installing anti-virus software on your computer takes only a few minutes and is the smart thing to do! Note that you may not be able to connect to the university network without proper anti-virus software installed and running (see Network Access Requirements).

For University-Owned Computers

Technology Services provides managed anti-virus software to protect university-owned computers.  We deploy Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection for Windows operating systems and Sophos Endpoint Protection for Macintosh operating systems.  For any questions or additional information, please contact the Technology Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu.

For Personal Computers

Technology Services recommends the following free anti-virus software for use on your personal computer.  Remember, you may need to first uninstall existing anti-virus software already on your personal computer before installing new anti-virus software.

For Windows Operating Systems

Microsoft Security Essentials (XP, Vista, and 7)*

*Windows 8 has built-in anti-virus protection with Windows Defender

For Macintosh Operating Systems

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition (Macintosh OS 10.4 or higher)

Changing Anti-Virus Software

If you are installing a new anti-virus product, you will need to uninstall your old program first. For many products, you can simply uninstall the old program, but McAfee and Norton products require special steps for proper removal.

McAfee

Removal of McAfee virus scan depends on the version you have. A general rule of thumb is that if you got your copy of the software from the University of Puget Sound, you have the enterprise edition. If you got it anywhere else, you probably have the home edition.

Home Edition

Download and run the McAfee removal tool, and then you are done. You may proceed to install your new anti-virus software. 

Enterprise Edition

Please contact the Technology Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu for assistance with removing the Enterprise edition.

Norton

Norton can be removed quickly and easily using the Norton Removal Tool. Download and run the tool and that's all you need to do.

For assistance, contact the Technology Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu.