Antivirus Software: Uninstall

Technology at Simmons College supports two web browsers for Windows: Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Firefox. Please use Internet Explorer when going through this web site to make sure the Microsoft tools work, and that each step matches the screenshots.

Already have antivirus software?

You are not required to use the Simmons antivirus product (Sophos AntiVirus), but we recommend that you do.  If you are relying on the antivirus software that came installed on your computer, be aware that it is likely to expire within a year of your purchase. If you purchased antivirus software separately (i.e. you have a CD with the software on it, and installed it yourself), you may choose to continue to use your own antivirus software; just be sure you have configured it to download updates at least once a week, and to scan your computer daily.  If you are sure that you do not want to install the Simmons antivirus software, please go to the next step on this Disinfect & Protect web site and install Windows Defender.

Prepare to install the free Simmons antivirus software by uninstalling any other antivirus software

Please note: as indicated in the Terms of Use, faculty, staff and students of Simmons College may only install the antivirus software that Simmons provides on one computer. If you have more than one computer, please purchase and install separate antivirus software for that computer.

IMPORTANT: You must uninstall any other antivirus software on your computer before you install the free antivirus software provided to Simmons students by Simmons College. If your computer has more than one antivirus package installed at the same time, you will encounter serious problems when their scans interfere with one another.

Common virus scanner products include Norton Antivirus, Symantec Antivirus, Mcafee VirusScan, Panda ActiveScan, and BitDefender AntiVirus. Before you install Sophos AntiVirus, you must remove any other antivirus software. If you are sure that you do not have any antivirus software already installed, please go to the next step and install Sophos.

  1. To remove software that is installed on your computer, click Start (at the lower left hand corner of your screen) and click Control Panel.
  2. If the Control Panel screen has a colored background and says "Pick a category" at the top, click Switch to classic view on the left.
  3. The Control Panel opens. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
  4. The Add or Remove Programs window opens. Select your virus-scanner product from the list. When you click on it, a button appears next to the name: click Change/Remove. If instead you see two buttons, one labeled Change, and the other labeled Remove: click Remove.
  5. A window opens with instructions to uninstall your virus-scanning software. Click Yes.
  6. Once you have uninstalled all virus scanners from your computer, restart your computer, return to this page of the Disinfect & Protect web site, and then go to the next step: installing Sophos.

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