comp/net virus protection

[classicman]

That MAY all be true, but what would tell me if I have never been infected? There is no way to prove that is there? or is there?
I have Spyware Doctor and VirusScan - they update like every week or so.(don't really pay attention, but it is frequent. I know that much. I get and read the report when they run a scan. IT tells me what was found/stopped killed.... I run it again after the bad stuff was removed till I get a clean report. What else can I do here?

[tw]

Originally Posted by classicman

That MAY all be true, but what would tell me if I have never been infected? There is no way to prove that is there? or is there?

If it reports what was found and removed, then you know an infection existed. If it reports it stopped contamination or found something suspicious, again, then you know the anti-virus software did something. I don't know of any anti-virus software that would fail to report such actions.

I often hear how good the anti-virus software is. But I never really hear why they know.

Some reports insist that 30% of computers are infected by Conficker. If true and if anti-virus software is so effective, then some here should have reported anti-virus software either stopping or removing that worm.

I have observed anti-virus software updating typically about once a day. Microsoft updates are available every Tuesday if there is anything to update.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by tw

If it reports what was found and removed, then you know an infection existed. If it reports it stopped contamination or found something suspicious, again, then you know the anti-virus software did something. I don't know of any anti-virus software that would fail to report such actions.

I guess what I was asking is this. How do I know an infection exists if my software doesn't detect it?