How to test your antivirus software

WARNING: This web page contains links to files that contain a harmless test file which virus detectors are programmed to treat as a virus. If you receive alerts from your anti-virus software, do not be alarmed. Read on, to discover what is happening.


Creating a test virus :

Have you ever wondered if your anti-virus software is really working? Would you like to see what happens when it detects a virus? Here's a safe way to test your computer's virus protection that doesn't require you to have a real virus.

First, open Notepad. Then copy and paste into it the text on the line below. (It should all be on one line.)

X5O!P%@AP[4PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Then select File, Save, select All Files for the file type, then save the file as eicar.com.

Your anti-virus software may prevent you from saving the file as eicar.com, which is a sign that it is working effectively. If it doesn't raise an alert, try scanning the folder where you saved eicar.com. To see what happens if you try to run a file containing a virus, double-click eicar.com to open it.

Explanation :

The file eicar.com you have created is completely safe. It is not a virus. It is a standard test file developed by the European Institute for Computer Anti-virus Research (EICAR). All anti-virus products are programmed to detect this file as if it was a real virus. Therefore you can safely use it to test whether your anti-virus software works, without fear of infecting your computer.

If your anti-virus product should fail to prevent you from running the file, it will simply display the text "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE" in a DOS box. No harm will have been done, but you should probably consider using a better anti-virus product, because if it had been a real virus, your computer would by now be infected!


(This is way is to show you that there are effective antivirus software and in the other hand there are many which are not more than money and effort waste)