Computers have become more vulnerable to virus threats due to the growth of the Internet, and you may unknowingly be downloading a virus while visiting a website or saving files from the Internet onto your computer. It is best to use precautions and check a download for viruses using online virus scanners even before you access the file from the Internet. You can also install anti-virus programs to protect your system against computer viruses while downloading a file or after the download has been completed.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Virus Total URL Scan

  1. 1
    Visit the Virus Total Homepage.
  2. 2
    Click on the "Submit a URL" tab and enter the address of the website where you are about to download the file from.
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  3. 3
    Hit the "Submit URL" button. Virus Scan will check the website for viruses and let you know whether it is safe for downloading files from there or not.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

Virus Total File Scan

  1. 1
    Go to the Virus Total website.
  2. 2
    Press the Browse button in the "Upload a file" tab.
  3. 3
    Browse to the file that you have downloaded and select it.
  4. 4
    Press the "Send file" button. Virus Total will check the download for viruses and let you know of any threats that were detected.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Jotti's Malware Scan

  1. 1
    Open the Jotti website on your computer.
  2. 2
    Use the Browse button to select the download that you want to scan for viruses.
  3. 3
    Hit the "Submit file" link. Jotti will scan the file and display a status message to let you know if any viruses were detected.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Anti-virus Program

  1. 1
    Open your existing anti-virus program.
  2. 2
    Open the Scan option.
  3. 3
    Depending on what program you have, perform a Custom Scan.
  4. 4
    Select the downloaded file as the file to be scanned.
  5. 5
    Start the scan.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I scan my iPad for viruses?
    UK_Gamer05
    UK_Gamer05
    Community Answer
    Download any antivirus from the app store, as long as it has good reviews. Install it, and follow its instructions for use.
  • Question
    How do I check AVG antivirus for a download file?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    If you are trying to scan a downloaded file, look for a custom scan option, then select downloads or whatever folder/drive you downloaded it in.
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Warnings

  • Some programs that are designed to check a download for viruses can slow down your computer due to heavy CPU usage. Online virus scanners are a better option when you don't want to install heavy software on your computer system.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽


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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 65,667 times.
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Co-authors: 8
Updated: November 5, 2020
Views: 65,667
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