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Checking Sophos Anti-Virus is up to date on remote and detached computers

You have to check locally that Sophos Anti-Virus is up to date on remote and detached Windows 2000/XP/2003, Windows NT, Windows 95/98/Me or Mac OS X computers.

What to do

Check the software versions available from Sophos

Check and record details of the latest versions of virus identity (IDE) and Virus data files available from Sophos.

Check software versions on your computer

Check which versions of the IDE and virus data files are installed on your computer and confirm that these correspond to the latest versions available from Sophos.

At a Windows 2000/XP/2003 computer:

  1. Right-click the blue Sophos shield in the system tray, and select 'Open Sophos Anti-Virus'.
  2. In the 'Help and information' panel, click 'View product information'. The 'Product information' panel displays the 'Virus data' version and lists the number of IDE files that are installed and their names.
  3. Compare your software details with those available at Sophos, as described in Confirm your software is the latest version, below.

At a Windows 95/98/Me or Windows NT computer:

  1. Right-click the blue Sophos shield in the system tray, and select 'Open Sophos Anti-Virus'
  2. On the top toolbar, click Help|About Sophos Anti-Virus. The 'Virus data' version number is displayed.
  3. Open the folder to which Sophos Anti-Virus was installed (the default is C:\Program Files\Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus). Check which IDE files are listed in this folder.
  4. Compare your software details with those available at Sophos, as described in Confirm your software is the latest version, below.

At a Mac OS X computer:

  1. In the System tray in the top right-hand corner of the screen, click on the blue Sophos shield.
  2. Select Sophos Anti-Virus|About Sophos Anti-Virus.
  3. The 'Virus data' version number is displayed in the opening window.
  4. At the bottom of the window, click 'Details'. The current IDE files are listed in this window .
  5. Compare your software details with those available at Sophos, as described in Confirm your software is the latest version, below.

Confirm your software is the latest version

  1. Check that the 'Virus data' version number displayed on your computer is the same as that listed by Sophos, as described in Check the software versions available from Sophos, above.
  2. Check the list of IDEs displayed on your computer, and ensure that the two IDE names that you recorded above can be seen in the list. If those files are not listed on your computer, you must download the latest set of IDE files.

For further information on how to protect these computers and to ensure that Sophos Anti-Virus software is up to date, refer to the Sophos Anti-Virus start-up guide.

If you need more information or guidance, then please contact technical support.