Deleting Viruses from Quarantine (Mac OS; Windows)

How to Delete Files from Norton's Quarantine

Norton AntiVirus provides a Quarantine section to hold and segregate virus-infected files it is unable to repair with the current set of virus definitions. Follow these instructions to permanently delete files from Quarantine.

Notes:

• If Norton cannot quarantine a risk, it leaves the risk alone.
• You will need your Administrator password to use the Quarantine function.

To permanently delete files from the Quarantine:

1. From the Applications folder, open Norton AntiVirus.
2. From the Tools menu, select Quarantine. The Quarantine window appears.
3. To permanently remove the infected file or group of files from your computer, highlight the files and click the Delete button.
4. You can select the other options, but do so cautiously:
• Repair: Select this option only if you have downloaded new virus definitions since the infected file was added to Quarantine. New virus definitions may be able to repair the file.
• Restore: First know that restoring a file does not repair it. Only restore a file once you have confirmed that the file does not contain a virus.

5. To exit Norton AntiVirus, select Quit from the File menu or press the ⌘-Q keys.

How to Delete Files from Symantec's Quarantine

When Symantec Endpoint detects a security risk, it tries to clean the infected virus from the file. When it cannot clean the file, it moves the infected file to quarantine. In quarantine, the risk cannot spread: quarantine holds and segregates virus-infected files until further action is taken on the files.

Note: If Symantec cannot quarantine a risk, it leaves the risk alone.

To permanently delete files from the Quarantine:

1. Open Symantec Endpoint by right-clicking the yellow Shield icon that's located in the Windows' system tray which is on the far right end of your task bar. Then, click Open Symantec Endpoint Protection.
   
   
2. In the left sidebar, click View Quarantine.


3. Select the file you want to delete, then click Delete.


4. You can configure Symantec Endpoint to automatically purge quarantined files from your computer:
   1. Click the Purge Options button located at the bottom of the window. (If you don't have the Quarantine window visible, click View quarantine in the left sidebar).
   2. In the Purge Options dialog box, select the Quarantined Items tab.
   3. Identify the unit of time and /or file size for deleting quarantined files. The default unit time is 30 days and the default file size is 50 megabytes.
   4. Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.
   5. Click the close box in the upper-right window to quit the program.