It is important to protect your own PC from viruses - especially if you use it to access information held at the University (emails, etc.). Failing to do this puts not only your own computer at risk, but also information and systems at the University.

Protection for your own PC

If you use a staff or student PC at the University, it will already have Sophos anti-virus software installed. This software is regularly updated to ensure that University PCs are protected.

If you use a PC at home, then you will need to make sure that you take steps to protect it from viruses. To do this, you must ensure that your PC is up-to-date with the latest security patches installed for your operating system; and you must make sure that you have adequate anti-virus protection installed. More information and advice is provided below.

One of the most common reasons for computers becoming infected is that they do not have the latest security updates installed. To prevent this from happening, you should make sure that your operating system is up-to-date. If you use Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 then automatic updates should be turned on by default and periodically you will receive a notification advising you there are new updates to install. You can also check for updates manually by selecting the Windows Update option from the start menu. You should regularly check for any updates for applications that you have installed - especially if you use alternative web browsers (such as Firefox) or email programs. In some cases applications will periodically check themselves; but for some you must check manually from the support site for the application. You should refer to the online help for each application concerned for more information.

Sophos Anti Virus for home users. 

Support for the current version of Sophos Anti Virus supplied to home users by the University expired at the end of March 2011. The growth in the quality and availability of free anti-virus products since the introduction of the Sophos for home use service means we have now changed our advice for home users and now suggest the use of other products instead of supplying a product ourselves. This means you are not tied to using a University licensed product on your own machine and can install the product on more than one computer at home (something which is not the case for the University Sophos licence).

If you have an existing anti-virus product, whether free or paid for, which you are happy with, then you should continue to use that. Otherwise, for PC users, we suggest that you use Microsoft Security Essentials. This has the significant advantage of being provided by Microsoft, supported on multiple versions of Windows (XP through 7), with updates delivered through the same mechanism (Windows Update) used for Windows itself.

If you are a Mac user, Sophos have a home user edition of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac, which we suggest you use.

Obtaining Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials is free to use. 

To download the software visit http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ and click download, then ‘save as’ to store the installation file on your PC. 

Installing the software

You should first uninstall any other anti-virus software on your PC before proceeding. Existing users of Sophos for home use, should visit Uninstalling Sophos Anti-Virus from your PC or Mac for more information on uninstalling Sophos. 

Once you have uninstalled your previous anti-virus software run the installation file for Microsoft Security Essentials and follow the wizard to install the software on your PC. For more help installing and using Microsoft Security Essentials please see the Installation Video or the Help and Support guides provided by Microsoft.  

Anti-Virus for Mac Users

Although the University will no longer provide a Sophos for home use service to Mac Users, Sophos now provide a free version of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition. Full details on how to access this service are available from the Sophos site.