Get a second opinion – run another scan
You shouldn’t install multiple antivirus programs on your computer because they can often interfere with one another. However, running several portable programs like Safety Scanner shouldn’t be a problem because they won’t be constantly keeping watch on what each other is up to. It’s an effective way of getting a second opinion if you have doubts about the results delivered by Safety Scanner.
One recommended tool to try is Norton Power Eraser, which like Safety Scanner is available in both 32bit and 64bit versions at www.snipca. com/43822. For Windows 10 and 11 computers, select the ‘Windows 7 SP1 or newer’ option.
Launch the program from your Downloads folder, click Yes when asked if you’re happy for it to make changes to your system, then decide what kind of scan you want to carry out. A ‘Full System Scan’ took less than two minutes on our test computer, which had around 50GB on its hard drive. You can also scan specific files and folders, or look for unwanted software,
Once you’ve made your selection, click ‘Run now’ and wait for it to complete. Ideally, you want to see a No Threats Found banner at the end of the process but, if you get this and still suspect something is wrong, you can report it to Norton by clicking a link on the results screen.
If you dig into Power Eraser’s settings by clicking the cog at the top right of the interface, you’ll find an option to Include Rootkit Scan, which isn’t enabled by default. A rootkit is a piece of malicious code that gives hackers unauthorised access to just about every function of your computer.
Click the slider to activate it (see screenshot), then click Apply, followed by ‘Run now’. Power Eraser will warn you that it’s going to reboot your computer. Save and close any other files, then allow it to reboot and, when it returns, click Yes to allow the program to make changes to your system. It now will run through the same process as it did for the quick scan, but additionally check your system for rootkits.