I got my home PC going now, but have around ten flash drives (used on library computers over the years) that I need to download their contents. I've been researching anti-malware specifically for USB drives, and now its a choice between Bitdefender USB Immunizer or McShield. So I'm stuck, and could use some help deciding which to go with.
I would question if you need anything. Your regular antivirus will scan any files you copy, and may even give you the option to scan the flash drives when you insert them.
I agree with @roger_m If I were in your situation I would just disable autorun on my computer. Maybe I would use Immunizer just to write unchangeable Autorun.inf file to those drives, but probably wouldn't have it installed all the time.
dont waste time and money on such special tools. any active AV perform this by default (read above). if you dare, try sandboxie licenced and force the usb drive letter in a box. disable autorun, maybe scan with malwarebytes free on demand.
The problem with that is I'm not at all sure Avira Free Antivirus is all that reliable for flash drives. Last time I looked, a lot of components were disabled until I buy the paid version, which is not going to happen. I do not mind buying apps, but rentware (apps you have to pay for year after year) irritates me.
So far as I can tell, both Bitdefender and McShield are freeware. I'll admit its getting ever more hard to tell which apps are really free, as more and more software developers become more and more deceptive. I will be downloading the free version of Sandboxie within a few months I think.
Any idea if Avira Free 15.0.32.12 will do this? I have yet to successfully track down and disable the 'autorun' thingie in XP Pro, so as far as I know, if I plug in a flash drive it will be on automatic, and anything in the USB drive will be in my PC.
It doesn't need to be. You can do a context menu scan on your flash drive. Or you could just copy the contents to your hard drive. They will be scanned when copying, if not as soon as you open the flash drive in Explorer.
The problem with these methods is the USB drive has to be plugged in to do so. If employing, it is imperative that auto run be disabled.
But, shouldn't you get a prompt from Windows asking you what you want to do with the drive, rather than it automatically launching anything?
Yes. See below. Problem is people tend to "auto" answer yes to these type of prompts: http://www.phdcc.com/shellrun/autorun.htm
Many thanks for the link. Nearly an hour searching on both Microsoft site and Google failed to find it, and don't know how long I spent combing through XP Pro looking for the 'autorun' that wasn't there. Anyway, what happens if I disable it, then stick in a flash drive or Puppy Linux CD? What is the process, without the 'autorun', to get things going?
I've had autorun disabled on XP for ages. If I need to run something, I go to My Computer > Open whatever CD/DVD/USB drive is plugged in > Navigate to the appropriate executable, double click it and run it manually. If I'm not sure in the case of a CD or DVD, I'll sometimes Right Click the drive and use "explore" so I can take a look at things first.
Hold SHift key down when inserting an unknown usb flash to prevent autorun from running. Then examine the contents and scan.
