On-demand scanners

On-demand Scanner Guide​

Introduction
Some people may want to install more than 1 anti-virus program because no single anti-virus program can detect all viruses. A good combination of anti-virus programs can enhance overall detection rates.

It's not a good idea to install additional anti-virus programs, even if you have disabled its real-time protection. They may still cause conflicts (eg loaded driver conflicts). However a few anti-virus programs allow you to select what modules to install. Simply install the module of on-demand scan (don't install real-time on-access protection) The producer will take care of the rest, and you are fine.

Some anti-virus producers also offer standalone on-demand scanners for user to download and install. they are also great to backup your on-access real-time (resident) anti-virus programs. More protection, very low risks of conflicts.

List of standalone on-demand scanners
Here's a list of on-demand scanners for you to install in your computer:
Standalone installer:
* Bitdefender 8 http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html (good detection rate, scan and cure, free)
* MicroWorld eScan http://www.mwti.net/products/mwav/mwav.asp (use KAV engine, good detection rate, but scan only, free)
* ArcaMicroScan http://www.arcabit.com/download_product.html?product=ArcaMicroScan (above-average detection rate, scan and cure, free)
* Dr. Web http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/?lng=en (above-average detection rate, scan and cure, free)
* McAfee AVERT Stinger http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ (watered-down version, limited malware database, not useful; scan and cure, free)
* ClamAV, ClamWin, ClamWin Portable (so-so detection rate, currently this anti-virus program has on-demand scan only, freeware & open source)
** http://www.clamwin.com/
** http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable
* Any more to add?

Installer with module selection:
* Avira Antivir http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html (good detection rate, but may have many false positives, free for personal use)
* Command AntiVirus http://www.authentium.com/support/updates.asp (shareware)
* Any more to add?

PS: What combination of anti-virus programs do you think is the best and enough to protect you against known and unknown threats?



Standalone on-demand scanner(st) VS online scanner(onl)

• Both will occupy your disk space anyway
• st: scan faster
• st: more flexible (configuration, scan options)
• st: more handy (can scan right on the spot)
• st: most of them offer both scan and cure/removal; onl: few offer both scan and cure/removal. Most are scan only
• st: very low chance of getting conflicts; onl: probably slightly lower than "st"
• st: hardly use more than 1 scan engine; onl: some websites offer scanning individual files with multiple engines
• Any more to add?

st = Standalone on-demand scanner
onl = online scanner

PS: Ouch! My comparison looks like too biased.
More inputs are welcome.


Malware (real-threat) on-demand scan report
Is it a good idea to add additional on-demand scanners to back up your current resident anti-virus program?
This malware (real-threat) on-demand scan report may answer your question:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=839371&postcount=33

 

Yes, there's a few more listed on nod32sse.com:
http://nod32sse.com/scanners.php

Suggers

 

Hmm... but they are online scanners, not standalone on-demand scanners.

I wonder most of them don't offer a standalone on-demand scanner for us to donwload.

After all, thanks for your help.

 

Sorry, I misinterpreted your post.

Suggers

 

what if u dont install the realtime protection?

antivir can u let u do that, so it functions only as an ondemand scanner.

 

When I held a license for F-Prot 3.xx, I used to use it as an on-board backup scanner. You can install just the modules that you want, in my case it was the updater and scanner. It never interfered with any of my primary AV programs including NOD32 and various iterations of AVP/KAV. I'm uncertain whether or not this line will be phased out with the new release looming, but it did work well for me.

 

Good point.

It is not just the real-time protection which will cause conflicts. For example the driver module may crash with your anti-virus program. So even if you disable it, you may still get conflicts.

However if an anti-virus allows you not to install the module of real-time protection (not many will allow you to do so), I think it may take the case into consideration (it may be used in conjunction with other anti-virus program), so the producer will configure it so it will not conflict with others.

In short, yes, it should be safe to do so in this case.

Thanks for your mention.

 

Never mind.
Good link after all.

 

If your current av program detects "all in the wild virus" installing another antivirus program for backup is redundancy at its best, it is my opinion that the no one program "finds it all" reasoning for running multiple antivirus and security related programs to protect your computer is just asking for problems and people wonder why they have all sorts of conflicts and issues with their installed software and computer performance.

An antivirus and a complimentry anti-spyware program is all you really need to be safe online, coupled with good computer habits and an occasional online scan from another vendors scanner to verify your security. This has worked well for me over the years and I have never suffered any computer software issues or pc performance problems.

In my opinion, the minimalist approach to security applications has always provided me with the best protection and performance. If I encounter a problem that gets by my current protection, I identify the threat, download the necessary tools to detect/remove the problem then uninstall them. As of yet, I have not needed to do this, my current antivirus and anti-spyware programs have kept me clean, up and running.

Marc

 

Is there any point in risking conflicts when there are so many good online scanners and sites such as jottis and virus total?
ellison

 

well jottis and virus total are for scanning individual files, not your computer.

but yes u can use online scanners are good for on-demand.

 

Detect and remove a threat that wasn't detected and removed by the main scanner.
Is that the purpose of an "on-demand scanner" ?

 

The installer of F-PROT 6.X beta doesn't allow you to choose what components to install. Not sure if it will change in the final version.

The installer of Command AntiVirus allows you to choose what components to install. You can choose not to install the "Dynamic Virus Protection" and the "Schedule Scan" and install just the "Command AntiVirus Scanner" and the "Shell Extension"

 

Wai Wai: Antivir lets you install without loaded drivers, if the the drivers are on your hd but don't get loaded, there cannot be a conflict, unless another AV software blocks installing because it thinks the guard is always active just because you have the main software installed. However that is an installer problem, not something causing system instability and can usually be worked around.

 

Yes, on-demand is just backing up your resident programs.

 

Let me do some calculations :

1 resident Anti-Virus + on-demand AV
1 resident Anti-Spyware + on-demand AS
1 resident Anti-Trojan + on-demand AT
1 resident Anti-Keylogger + on-demand AK
That's 8 scanners in total.

Assuming that the resident scanners run automatically (scheduled), you still have to run 4 scanners daily on demand to remove what wasn't found by the resident scanners.

 

Ridiculous isn't it, I think so. I sit back and read in wonderment what some people go through to secure their computers.

Marc

 

What about Stinger from McAfee?
That's a standalone scanner.

 

yes, but its definitions are limited to certain malware. same goes for avast's virus cleaner iirc.

 

ClamWin

Alphalutra1

 

I think it depends on your definition of "in the wild".

I'm not aware of ANY AV program that reliably detects ALL samples that are circulating in the wild. Don't confuse this with the "in the wild" (ITW) list of viruses that some sites use for testing, as they only include a very small subset of pre-determined samples and they don't in any way reflect what users may encounter in real life in my experience.

I frequently clean machines with infections that are missed by even the very best scanners (detection rates), KAV, BitDefender and McAfee included. If you are at high risk, or are regularly cleaning infected machines, then using multiple scanners is absolutely essential.

 

here u go: http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

 

Does it offer a standalone on-demand scanner like bitdefender?

Or does it allow us to select to install on-demand scan module only in the installer?

 

Yes, at first sight it looks that way. Maybe they love to run so many scanners. It's a mistery for me.

I've seen posts where users run their on-demand scanners WEEKLY. If these on-demand scanners find one or more threats, it means that these threats had time enough to do their evil job. That doesn't make sense to me. So you have to run these on-demand scanners DAILY.
They must spend alot of time on running all these scanners and you have to wait for the scan results in order to remove possible threats, unless they are false positives of course.

 

You will hardly get conflicts from installing on-demand only scanners into your PC. They just waste your disk space, but may get handy when you wish to scan your files/folders/PC with addiitonal scanners.

They don't even hampen the performance of your computer since they are not always running behind your computer like your resident anti-virus program. Just call them when you need them. Very handy and useful.

Feel free to install as many as you wish.