OfficeScan Antivirus Update

(email message sent to UW IT Customers, 3/14/07)

Information Technology will enhance the settings for Trend OfficeScan’s antivirus updates beginning Thursday, March 15, at 9 a.m.

For Most Users:

Many computers that are connected to the UW network, that are already registered in the OfficeScan database, and have their firewall configured correctly should update automatically. Nothing needs to be done for these computers to be updated. In fact, the addition of the scheduled updates should be transparent to most computers.

For Some Users:

There will be cases where user intervention will help because the computer isn’t receiving updates automatically or isn’t connected to the network all the time. To update your computer’s OfficeScan settings do the following:

• Ensure your computer is connected to the UW campus network.
• Right-click on the OfficeScan icon in the System Tray (lower right hand of the screen by the clock), and click on “Update Now!”
• Double-check to make sure OfficeScan has been updated (Instructions are at OfficeScan Desktop Antivirus Protection FAQ. If it has not been updated, this can generally be remedied by restarting your computer.

If you do not connect your computer directly to the UW network , please see the OfficeScan Desktop Antivirus Protection FAQ for details on receiving updates using various connection types.

If you aren’t sure whether you should reboot or manually update, it doesn’t hurt to go ahead with either of these actions.

More information:

It was discovered that some UW computers using UW’s OfficeScan antivirus software weren’t updating correctly or with the expected frequency that they should have been to ensure protection against viruses and other malicious software. While most computers already communicate with the servers appropriately, this additional configuration change will provide added frequency of updates. This change will enable your computer to run scheduled updates every 4 hours as long as it is connected to the UW network, increasing the security of your system. Other Internet connection types and updates, including the need for VPN connections, are explained in the FAQ.

If your computer is not connected to the network errors will not be displayed. The next time you do connect your computer to the UW network it is recommended that you choose Update Now! as described above or follow the instructions for non-UW network connections in the FAQ.

You can manually disable and enable Scheduled Updates. However, if there are changes made to the server your OfficeScan software will automatically re-enable Scheduled Updates so that the systems can receive important security updates.

Please review the OfficeScan Desktop Antivirus Protection FAQ for more information.

– Information Technology