is it OK to do the system scan whilst offline?

[Lucy May]

Hi, I have spybot search and destroy - 2.4 (free edition). Please could somebody tell me if it is OK to do the system scan when not connected to the internet and if it will still work the same? I have been trying this over the last few weeks, one week scanning when offline and another week when online and there doesn't seem to be a difference. The time taken is approximately the same and everything seems to work either way but I just wanted to be sure that it wouldn't miss anything if the computer was offline when scanned. Thank you for any help. Lucy

[(m/f)]

Hi, it is allright to scan either on- or offline. It does not make any difference. Sometimes it is necessary to scan offline because infections might reinstall files when being online. But this is rare.

[Lucy May]

Thank you very much for your reply. Please can I also ask you what is the difference between doing an ordinary scan and one using the 'run as administrator' option? I just wondered if it is necessary to use this option? Thank you again, Lucy

[Lucy May]

Hi, Please can someone tell me the difference between doing an ordinary system scan and one if you have clicked 'run as administrator'. Is it necessary to use the 'run as administrator' option sometimes? Thank you Lucy

[tashi]

Hello Lucy May,

Spybot - Search & Destroy might tell you that you are not authorized to perform some actions, since they require Administrator rights. You can solve this problem as follows:

1. Right-click the Spybot - Search & Destroy entry in your start menu, instead of just left-clicking to start it.
2. Choose Run as administrator from the context menu.

Hope that helps.

[Lucy May]

Hi, Thank you for your reply. Please can you tell me if there is any difference if you just do a scan the usual way or if you right click and choose the 'run as administrator option' first? I just wondered if it was beneficial to do the scan using the 'run as administrator' option or if it doesn't make a difference? Thank you Lucy

[tashi]

Hi Lucy May,

If you run a scan without issue and do not receive a message to elevate Spybot's permissions there isn't a difference.

Kind regards.

[Lucy May]

Thank you very much for your replies! Lucy