How to ALSO search USB hard drive.

[FrankPan]

I am not connected to a network. I run Windows XP Pro SP2 on my home computer. Recently I added an external, USB-connected, hard drive and set it to fully back up my internal hard drive once every night.

I want Spypot S&D to scan BOTH drives for malware. I cannot find from the program's settings how to assure that both the internal drive and the external one are scanned each time the program runs.

By default, are all connected drives scanned for malware?
If not, how can I set the program to do so?

Thank you.

 

[md usa spybot fan]

There are no settings within Spybot to scan an external drive. If fact unlike anti-virus programs and some other anti-spyware programs, Spybot does not do an in-depth scan of every file on the primary drive. For a brief description of how Spybot scans see:

• Why is Spybot-S&D so fast?
  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/faq/1.html

There is a special scan for Spyware installers (files not installed yet) that can be limited to specific directories (actually it should be limited) which can be located on either internal or external drives. To activate this feature go into Spybot > Mode > Advanced mode > Settings > Directories and add directories. There is more on what this feature scans for here:

• Why does Spybot-S&D find so many Spyware installers / how is that Download directories setting used?
  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/faq/15.html

 

[FrankPan]

Thank you.

Thank you for the prompt and clear reply.