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If your anti-virus software detects viruses or other malware, you often have the option to move the malware to quarantine. We’ll explain what this means and what you need to bear in mind.
Virus found: delete or move to quarantine?
- If your antivirus programme detects a virus or other malicious file, you can usually delete the file straight away. This removes the malware and, hopefully, your system will be clean again.
- Sometimes, however, the virus scan is a little too cautious and detects a virus even though the file is quite harmless or even absolutely essential. A file with an unusual structure is often enough for it to be deemed dangerous. Quarantine is there for such files.
Moving a virus to quarantine: what happens
- If the name and file path of the virus mean nothing to you, you cannot be sure yourself whether it really is a virus. If you are not an expert in this field, you should always have any detections moved to quarantine.
- Quarantine is a secure area created and monitored by your anti-virus software. The suspected virus is moved to quarantine, but cannot cause any damage from there, as the file is no longer granted any permissions. The file is, so to speak, in a virtual prison.
Viruses in quarantine: when to delete or release them?
- From now on, you are the warden of this virtual prison. You can delete the file at any time, but you can also release it again. The latter should only be done if it turns out that the file was necessary for Windows or another programme.
- As potential viruses in quarantine cannot cause any damage, ideally you should never delete the detected files. However, if no noticeable issues arise after several days or weeks, you can delete the file without any major concerns.
Virus in quarantine: check the authenticity of the threat
- If you want to be on the safe side, take a look at the detailed report. There you will find both the file name and its location. If you are unable to make sense of the information yourself, use a search engine such as Google.
- If you want to be extra sure, you can scan your computer using independent software. The free virus scanner Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is considered extremely reliable in both detecting and removing viruses.
