This article explains several ways to tell if your antivirus software is working properly. Instructions apply to Windows operating system only.
How to check if your antivirus software is working perfectly on your Windows computer?
The EICAR test file is the easiest way to check if your antivirus software is working. It is a virus simulator developed by the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research and the Computer Antivirus Research Organization. EICAR is a non-viral string of code that most antivirus software includes in their signature definition files specifically for testing purposes. Therefore, antivirus applications react to this file as if it were a virus.
You can create one yourself with a text editor, or you can download one from the EICAR website. To create an EICAR test file, copy and paste the following line into a blank file with a text editor such as Notepad:
Save the file as EICAR.COM. If your active protection is working properly, the simple act of saving the file should trigger a warning. Some antivirus programs will quarantine the file immediately after saving it.
