Normally McAfee should be running at all times on your computer. There will be an icon in the TRAY on the right end of your win9x TASK BAR. But in case it's not there, and to simplify this discussion, here's one way to start it. You must be logged into COP1 for this to work.
Press the START button on the left end of your win9x TASK BAR. Choose RUN and type "mcafeew" without the quotes. This will cause the program to run.
Choose the TOOLS menu, then the SCHEDULER option. Double click on AUTO UPDATE. Push the RUN NOW button. This will cause the program to download the latest virus defnition files from the McAfee website. You should get a message telling you it was successful. You may or may not be forced to restart your computer, but it couldn't hurt. Once restart is complete, run McAfee again and choose HELP then ABOUT to be sure you have new virus definition files. The date should be within the past week.
Don't waste your time scanning unless you have updated your virus definition files within the past week as explained above.
Run the program as explained above. Type in the name of the file or folder you want to scan in the box marked SCAN IN and press the SCAN NOW button.
If you do find a virus, the scanner will give you some advice. Remain calm. Read, understand, and follow the directions. Usually you have to press the CLEAN button. The scanner will tell you if you succeeded in cleaning the virus. Scan a second time to verify that you actually did remove the virus from your file.
Also be sure to do the following:
Normally McAfee VShield starts when you boot your computer. It runs in the TRAY and checks every file you open, includung programs, MS Word documents, and Winpmail messages. Make sure it is configured to scan all files. To do that, run the task scheduler, highlight the VSHIELD task and press the CONFIGURE button. On the DETECTION tab, make sure all these options are checked.