Finding viruses or malware on your computer is never a pleasant experience, but why does antivirus software quarantine them instead of completely removing them from your computer? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answers to a curious reader’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
Photo courtesy of Connor Tarter (Flickr).
The Question
SuperUser reader Sardar_Usama wants to know why antivirus software quarantines viruses and malware instead of deleting them?:
Why does antivirus software quarantine viruses and malware instead of deleting them?
The Answer
SuperUser contributors Julie Pelletier and Mokubai have the answer for us. First up, Julie Pelletier:
Followed by the answer from Mokubai:
Keeping a backup of the items identified as threatening in case of a false positive. Although not very common, I have seen cases of false positives on many different legitimate application files and drivers. Having the items in quarantine may allow for them to be better (further) investigated. The fact that a particular virus or malware matches a known signature does not mean that it is exactly the same, but may actually have other unique characteristics.
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
