Most antivirus software has the ability to schedule a scan to run automatically so you don’t need to think about doing it yourself. But far too many of these never actually run, leaving the computer unchecked for viruses.

The reason for this? Most of the virus scanners schedule the scan for the middle of the night, when you wouldn’t normally be using your computer.

If you turn your computer off at night, the scan may never actually take place.

Some of the programs will run the scan after you turn the computer on again, even if it missed the scheduled time. But many of them don’t - they just wait until the next scheduled scan, which of course doesn’t happen again if the computer is off.

If you don’t leave your computer on 24 hours a day, make sure you check to see what time your virus scan is scheduled to run. If it’s set for a time that your computer is more than likely turned off, change it to a time when it’s probably on but you’re not likely to be using it (during dinnertime, for example).

If you use an antivirus program that doesn’t let you change the scheduled scan and it’s set for a time that your computer is more than likely going to be off, you have two options.

First, get a new antivirus program. There are lots of good ones, so if you’re not happy with the features on the one you use, you can always replace it.

Second, leave your computer on overnight once a week. It won’t get scanned every day, but a weekly scan is better than no scan at all.