Scanning recommendations

The scanning options in the following sections are set within the anti-virus and HIPS policy. When setting scanning options, consider the following:

• Use default settings when possible.
• Set scanning in Sophos Enterprise Console versus on the computer itself when possible.
• Consider the role of the computer (e.g. desktop or server).

Extensions

To access the extension options for on-access scanning, in the Anti-Virus and HIPS Policy dialog box, click Configure next to Enable on-access scanning and then go to the Extensions tab.

For scheduled scans, in the Anti-Virus and HIPS Policy dialog box, under Scheduled scanning, click Extensions and Exclusions.

• The Scan all files option is generally not needed nor recommended. Instead, select the Scan only executable and other vulnerable files option to scan for threats found by SophosLabs. Only scan all files on the advice of technical support.

Other scanning options

To access other scanning options for on-access scanning, in the Anti-Virus and HIPS Policy dialog box, click Configure next to Enable on-access scanning.

For scheduled scans, in the Anti-Virus and HIPS Policy dialog box, under Scheduled scanning, select a scan and click Edit. In the Scheduled scan settings dialog box, click Configure.

• The Scan inside archive files option makes scanning slower and is generally not required. When you attempt to access the contents of an archive file, the file is scanned automatically. Therefore, we do not recommend also selecting this option unless you use archive files extensively.
• We recommend scanning a computer's system memory for threats. System memory is used by the operating system. You can scan system memory periodically in the background while on-access scanning is enabled. You can also include system memory scanning as part of a scheduled scan. The Scan system memory option is enabled by default.