Why safe mode when running your AV

abwsco

Just curious as to why it should be done in safe mode.

Moneysava_wannaB

some virus's can hide themselves in normal mode or make it impossible to remove them other then in safe mode

tigermatt

When you start your computer in safe mode, it doesn't load all of your start up programs and drivers like it does in Normal Windows, so viruses that can't be removed because the "program is running" can sometimes be removed, and the less running stuff means your AV can sometimes perform more in depth scans.

Running your AV for daily use in normal mode is fine but if yuo think you have a virus or something then run it in safe mode.

Often the only way to correctly remove certain persistent virus and spyware programs is to run your system in safe mode. Many forms of malicious software will protect or reinstall themselves constantly if they are allowed to start in the first place. These programs will situate themselves in one of the many autorun locations in the Windows XP registry and file structure, so when Windows is started normally, so is the offending software, running as a process in the background.

When you start the PC in safe mode, these autorun locations are not used, and no software is started automatically. This can allow virus and spyware removal programs the opportunity they need to correctly and completely remove the malicious software.

Quote from: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1643&page=2