Determining what to sweep

The Webroot software offers several types of preconfigured and customizable sweeps. See the following table to help determine what type of sweep you should perform.

 

Sweep recommendations
To thoroughly sweep all areas of the computer:	Perform a Full sweep, which checks all internal drives and any drives directly attached to your computer. This sweep takes longer than a Quick sweep, but is more thorough. The areas swept during a Full sweep are preconfigured and cannot be changed (see Reviewing options for Full and Quick sweeps). We recommend that you set a schedule for performing a Full sweep weekly, as described in Scheduling sweeps. We also recommend that you run a Full sweep immediately if you suspect that spyware or a virus has downloaded to your computer. Your system might be compromised if you notice slow or erratic performance, numerous pop-up ads, unexplained changes to your browser, or other suspicious activity. See Running a sweep.
To quickly sweep only potential problem areas of the computer:	Perform a Quick sweep, which checks only the locations where spyware and other unwanted programs are commonly found. This type of sweep is less thorough than a Full sweep, but maximizes use of your computer’s processing power to make the sweep as fast as possible. The areas swept during a Quick sweep are preconfigured and cannot be changed (see Reviewing options for Full and Quick sweeps). We recommend that you run a Quick sweep (or a Full sweep) after you perform potentially unsafe Internet activity, such as downloading free software or accidentally clicking on a pop-up advertisement. Spyware commonly piggybacks on free downloads and can install on your computer without your knowledge. Spyware can even get installed in a “drive-by download” as you surf an infected Web site. See Running a sweep.
To sweep selected areas of the computer:	Perform a Custom sweep, which lets you focus on specific drives, areas of the computer, or file types. The Webroot software saves these settings for future Custom sweeps. You might want to perform a Custom sweep in a variety of situations; for example, you could use the Custom sweep options to limit the sweep only to your C: drive and to skip certain file types that you know are safe. See Configuring Custom sweep options and then follow the instructions in Running a sweep.
To sweep a single file or folder:	From Windows Explorer, you can right-click on a specific file or folder to start a sweep from the pop-up menu. This method of sweeping is useful if you downloaded a file and want to quickly scan it for threats. To run a sweep from Windows Explorer, see Running a sweep.