Simple virus scanners without all the real-time stuff?

Hi. I'm wanting to get a virus scanner for my XP SP3 computer, but the only thing I want is an on-demand one. If I haven't specifically opened the virus scanner, I don't want it loaded in the background doing anything at all.

Well, so far I haven't had much luck finding one
Is there anything like this about any more, or do they all want to integrate with the OS, run in the background and monitor everything in real time these days?

Thanks for any help!

 

I can think of Kaspersky SOS (Kaspersky Second Optinion Solution) .
It is business product , howver , and I am not sure how much it costs

Read about it here:
http://support.kaspersky.com/sos6?level=2

There are user guides and download link , as well.

 

Actually, most web based scanners would fulfill this role, as would Dr Web's CureIt. The only downside on CureIt is the need for a fresh download to update, but it is demand only, nothing running as a matter of course.

Blue

 

Yeah, the web based scanners are what I've been using at the moment. The problem is I'd like to be able to scan the whole hard drive occasionally for peace of mind, so I need something I can run locally.

Thanks for the CureIt suggestion. I hadn't heard of it, and it looks like it might be what I'm looking for.

 

You might want to try command-line scanners. It takes a bit of knowledge (and reading the help file), but they sound perfect for what you need. Oh and most AV programs have the option to disable real-time, and you can disable their services and startup if you don't want it running in the background too.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/T3-Command-Line-Scanner.shtml
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Avira-AntiVir-Command-Line-Scanner.shtml
http://www.sophos.com/support/knowledgebase/article/13386.html
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Norton-Security-Scan.shtml

 

I recently started periodically (~once a month) using AV Rescue CD's(Bootable Anti-Malware CD's with Linux for an OS). The two that I use are:

AVIRA Rescue CD:
http://www.free-av.com/en/products/12/avira_antivir_rescue_system.html

Kaspersky Rescue Disk:
http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk/

It is my understanding that if you scan for malware with an AV Rescue CD that it is easy to detect and remove Windows Rootkits. Also malware should be easier to remove with a Rescue CD.

 

How often is the Kaspersky Rescue Disk updated?

 

Clamwin?

 

'Hitman Pro' brother!
http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro

The free version has unlimited scanning but removes malware for free for 30 days (which you can activate when you want). The year long licence is cheap, the scanning engine uses various scanners such as Nod, Avira, a-squared etc to check suspect files, and there is no service running in the background once it is shutdown.

Doesn't have 'right-click' scan as yet, but soon will. Total system scan should only take a few minutes or less.

 

you can try bitdefender free av....http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-Free-Edition.html

 

AntiVir Free can be set up to work on demand with nothing loaded when not in use. The ability to scan via right mouse click is also available. This is what I use when I'm not running the premium version.

 

I think that the Kaspersky ISO Image is updated monthly. However, you can update to the most current malware signatures while you are running from the Live CD.

AVIRA is updated daily. AVIRA also has an update feature so that the malware signatures can be updated while the Live CD is running, if needed.

 

Most products offer custom installs so you would just install the ondemand componants and update it manually before you scan.
Kaspersky,drweb and avast offer this option as do others.

 

I second that,it's a great option.

 

O Ho!!

I just read the "How it works" page from their site, and I am going to uninstall all modules of Avira and put this on today!!

 

Here is a pretty decent on demand AV for free
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-Free-Edition.html

 

the only problem is that it has multiple services running all the time.

 

as has been mentioned in this thread, most products can be installed without the real-time component. further, most can be configured after the fact to turn the real-time component off.

i would suggest getting to know your tools better before deciding what parts of them you don't need.

 

AVZ Antiviral Toolkit is another possibility. It does not install. You make a folder and download the zip file to that folder. Then you unzip the file and run the executable. Then run the update to update the malware signatures. AVZ Antiviral Toolkit is many ways is a 'bit' "Geeky", but for basic scanning it is not difficult. I always run a scan with "Report Only" selected. If any suspect files are detected, I upload them to VirusTotal for analysis.

http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVZ/

More Information on AVZ Antiviral Toolkit:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=205443

 

I suggest you take a look at Hitman Pro 3.5.

Hitman Pro 3.5 is an on-demand behavioral scanner that scans a whole PC in just 2-3 minutes and combines the detection of the following respected products:

• G Data AntiVirus 2010 (BitDefender and Avast! engines)
• NOD32 Antivirus 4.0
• Avira AntiVir
• Prevx 3.0 (direct link with Prevx cloud)
• a-squared Anti-Malware (a-squared and Ikarus engines)

Note: The above software is not installed on your computer but is consulted through cloud computing.

There is no other software that combines 7 anti-malware vendors in one single executable of 4.5 MB.
Supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 2003, 2008 and Windows 7. 32-bit and 64-bit versions available.

 

Only issues I had with BD free was the running process(es) in the background. I once disabled the running processes and what was in quarantine was able to phone home. I made a post about this in the BD forum but it went unanswered.

 

Ya = useful +++
or
the web scanners as listed.

 

Hitman Pro is always using the latest definitions of each scanner it is using.

But Hitman Pro is not rescanning a file each and every time it is found (this would cause to much strain on the servers and our fiber internet connections).

The Scan Cloud was updated 3 weeks ago to reprocess files on a daily basis in case of false positives. After a day or 2 the file should no longer appear as false positive.

But, you can also speed up that process by flagging the file as false positive in Hitman Pro 3.5.1. This can be done by expanding the drowdown list at the end of each row listed in the view.

You can expand the row in Hitman Pro's listview (click the arrow in front of the row). The responsible scanners are then listed.

 

I did notice improvements with files that were being previously uploaded to the cloud are now not being rescanned again.

Good to see Hitman has a scan on bootup setting (by default - which can be unchecked). Very useful feature.

 

Perhaps the file was first detected more than 2 months ago. The mentioned rescan feature only works on files that are detected in the last 60 days. After that period we assume that our scan partners have resolved false positives.

Since the feature was introduced 3 weeks ago, it could also be possible that some false positives could be older than 60 days (ramp up period) and hence, these will not be rescanned. In this case you must use the Report false positive feature in Hitman Pro.

Which file is it anyway? I can have a look into the Scan Cloud and find out what's going on.