Most commonly used anti-virus software will give you the option of putting a suspected virus into quarantine or to delete it. We are often asked what the difference is; there seems to be a misunderstanding of the use of both.

Put simply, no antivirus software is perfect. Many generate false-positives (meaning that it might identify something as a threat when it is not one) and using quarantine is a way of mitigating these potential errors.

If you put a virus in quarantine, the virus is not removed from your computer, but instead it is put in a location where it cannot be accessed. In the event that this file is not malicious (for example it identifies a .exe file that runs one of your basic software) you have not removed it from your hard drive. If a program on your computer acts up after the quarantine, you might need to restore the files. If you delete the file, there is no turning back.

A smart practice to follow: when your anti-virus software detects a malign file, put it in quarantine. Make sure your computer is running as usual (give it a few weeks), then delete it.