A second look at online virus-scan services

Some longtime PC users have never bothered with antivirus software, see no need for such programs, and have never encountered a virus. Some of these people even use Windows.

The cold, hard reality of the computer world dictates that most of us require multiple layers of protection from malware. Last week, I described how I removed dozens of Trojans and viruses from the family PC. The free program I used, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, is intended to be used in conjunction with a real-time antivirus program. Based on several comments, this point wasn't clear in the original post.

One of the "Five simple PC security tips" I wrote about last June was to use antivirus software. The two freebies I cited in that post are Avast Home Edition and Avira AntiVir.

Another commenter suggested I write about online virus-scan services. I did that very thing back in May 2008 in "Your one-stop shop for online virus scans." I was glad to see that most of the services I linked to in that post are still available and still free. Unfortunately, you now have to register to view the results of Virus Bulletin's most recent tests of antivirus apps.

More disappointing was that the PC Flank scanning service I described appears to have gone belly up last month. When I returned to the site, Norton Safe Search identified it as dangerous. According to discussions on various forums, such as one on DSLReports.com, PC Flank went dark sometime this summer.

Still, nearly every major antivirus vendor offers a free online malware scan. It's best to stick with well-known brands in this regard because the scanner will access many sensitive areas of your PC. Some such scans are more intrusive than others, and most will detect but not necessarily remove malware.

Maybe if I didn't have to use Windows I wouldn't have to bother with all this security stuff—maybe. But I do have to use Windows, and I do have to use the Internet, so taking precautions is just part of the workday. Fortunately, if you do it right, it doesn't have to be a big part of it.

[inachu1]

I scanned a clients computer with 7 tools and all of those 7 said the pc was clean of virs/malware/spyware.

So I used f-secure and it found 8 infctions and cleaned them all.
Fastfoward 5 months and now f-secure does a shabby job along with the 7.
The requirements to keep changing tools has become more relevant than ever.

For a company only to rely on a one software tool package is a very bad idea unless you just reimage the computer but that represents a lot of downtime.

[upoint]

2 months ago my Windows XP-based computer was infected by virus again. I had to reinstalled the whole system. I had some programs backup in my portable disk drive. Before I reinstalled, I scanned the portable disk drive with AVG Free and also Norton AV. No virus reported. After installing, I realized that my computer was infected again. That was the second time both AVG Free and Norton AV betrayed me. I quickly purchased Kaspersky AV. And Kaspersky managed to detect and remove the viruses in the portable disk drive. Over the years, I have tried many AV programs including Microtrend's PC-cillin. So far I find Kaspersky the best.

[Forked_Tongue]

Formating a hard drive isn't enough, what needs to happen is when you format an infected drive you also need to format the boot sector as well (which window's formatting doesn't do). This can done by using a "live" linux distribution and using the command line or using the seagate tools and doing a low level format. Whenever I work on someone else's infected computer this the precaution I always do after backing up their hard drive (which I do under linux to keep my system clean) and the repartition it back to ntfs (then under my windows machine I format the entire disk and compress the file system so it increases the storage). Kaspersky is a great AV, I normally use Avast Home on my systems and Eset on my home server.

[rdc1253]

"Maybe if I didn't have to use Windows I wouldn't have to bother with all this security stuff?maybe." You take a reasonably informative article and then editorialize it with this crap. I am not an MS fanboy or anything but I get tired of reading this kind of crap. Just once can't we dispense with this garbage.

[tikoro]

I'm sorry you feel that "color" in writing is garbage". Perhaps you should go read some whitesheets or EULAs. Then you'll get that distinctly black and white text information you're looking for rather than railing on some guy because he states the higher probability of not needing to bother with so much security stuff if he used an alternative to windows.

[Ruchir9897]

Well,I was using free AVs like AVG and I found that free versions particularly AVG are just showpieces.They did not detect anything,but my Kaspersky Internet Sec. 2010 has saved me tons of times.KIS 2010 is unbelievable and you will never buy only AV or other Int. Sec.,Norton,but KIS 2010 til death,my challenge.
Thx

[Jack-Bxp]

Regarding another persons comment "i am not an ms fanboy ect" - well if you're not a fanboy then what's the problem with saying that windows is a pain in the ass, because of all the security measures we must take ? Even if it's no hassle finding free anti virus software ect, these programs still strip us of the performance we'd get without them. Maybe microsoft should give us performance stats on windows 7 - taking into account the fact that we all need to install security software on it. I actually agree with Dennis here, in the work environment we are all forced to use windows, so his comment about that is very valid to most of our experiences. Personally i'd prefer to use the OS of my choice at work, as would most people - but normally it's not an option.

[nnina]

How about VirusTotal.com?

[shakethebabyass]

For online Scanning I recommend Housecall from TrendMicro. They seem to always show better results for me.
Malwarebytes is what I recommend to anyone who ask me about an infection also.

I praise ZoneAlarm as my actual defense.

[rfbogle]

Sorry Guys', quit messing around with all the lightweights and get something that actually works...I did! You don't need this for malware, that for viruses, another for scanning special docs/programs.... I've tried 'em all it seems and nothing comes close to Zone Alarm. Period! And, we haven't even mentioned Firewalls.

No, I don't work for CheckPoint...I'm retired, navigating in e-space almost daily, I work and learn from my own stupidity!

I also come across these "specials" all the time...**"After a complete scan of your system, we found 392 incidences of malware/spyware, trojans and viruses...However, we can only remove 7 of them with our basic edition"**. What? If I purchase their "pro-edition" at this introductory price of $___) ....

Get Real Mr. Snake Oil Salesman.

[pk_1q]

i was see ing how can i get this can you give it to me think you !!!!