Is this true?

I hope someone can weigh in on this. My friend who used to work fixing laptop and PCs once told me that for my antivirus to catch all the virus it was necessary for me to turn off the internet before starting the scan. I've always wonder if this is still a effective or not? He said that this is done so they don't have the chance to ''hide''. How true is this?

 

I also repair laptops and PC's. If you're really that security conscious then it might make a slight difference but it's not really something I would be too concerned over. The best way to scan your computer for viruses would be to reset it first and then do a scan. This way, if any malicious software is already running and is attempting to hide the reboot will stop it from running and allow it to be detected. However, many viruses also add a registry entry to allow them to run on startup or when certain applications are accessed so a scan is the first thing you should do.

 

I don't personally know anyone who fixed laptop or desktop, and have never heard of that before. I will give his advice some weight since it makes sense a little. And I will also take @sparkster 's advice into consideration.

 

What about scanning in safe mode with no internet connection? I used to be able to do that, but this new antivirus doesn't seem to be able to do that so well. I will give it a try though, I'm still not even 100% sure how to do the safe mode thing on Windows 8 (I haven't done it yet, not even once).

 

I have also heard that starting your PC in safe mode without internet connection can make things even more easier, specially when dealing with malware. But I am not 100% sure about that one either, my friend often said that it was important to cut the internet connection if you wanted to catch a really pesky bug... otherwise the thing would just find a way to hide That was his explanation.

 

Choose the restart option and press the shift key at the same time

 

Thank you so very much, but does this work for Windows 8.1 or is this for Windows 10? I ask because I once asked about this in another forum, but they sent me a link to a site with a long list of instructions Then I thought... oh well, I'm not in dire need to accomplish this... lol.

 

Give it a try it should work

 

Yes, scanning in safe mode is an even better option. Programs that are set to run on startup don't automatically load when Windows loads up in safe mode. This can help prevent viruses from trying to hide themselves. There are, however, more malicious viruses out there which can override this.