AntiVirus Scanner without active protection?

A

Al Shades

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
314
I'm looking for a small app that I can install to scan my system for malware.

I do not want "active protection" of any sort.

I don't want new entries appearing in my services configuration.
I don't want any new background processes.
I don't want email, boot sector, memory, etc protection.

I just want a scanner that runs when I tell it to and closes when I'm done.

They don't seem to make anti-virus software like this anymore. Every app I've come across has been loaded with garbage that clogs up your system. You can't even terminate most of these apps without uninstalling them. Not even AdAware works the way it used to.

I've tried AVG, Avast, Norton, NOD32, Kaspersky, and others whose names I've forgotten.

I use Anti-Malware now but that's it. I'm looking for a bona-fide virus scanner of the same sort, but maybe there aren't any?
 
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Clamwin stinks. It's overrated just because it's open source. Just use an online virus scanner. Kaspersky, NOD32, blah blah blah, all the major ones offer this service free. The best offline scanner is probably Dr. Web Cure-It at http://www.freedrweb.com/ . You do have to redownload the entire program each time to get the updated definitions though.
 
If we sum up your case:
You don't want a Antivirus program.
The "online scanner" option is as close as you can get to your strange request.
 
Use a portable antivirus app and run it on demand, simple. To be honest, all the major products have on-demand capability instead of real-time, you just have to RTFM and learn something.

Some people... just can't please 'em, I swear... :D
 
altcon said:
If we sum up your case:
You don't want a Antivirus program.
The "online scanner" option is as close as you can get to your strange request.
Click to expand...

Well you see, I used to use AdAwareSE 2003 as my "antivirus" program, that is, until people told me it wasn't a "real" antivirus.

So you can see how I ended up where I am.
There was once a time when virus scanners scanned for viruses...and nothing more.

Perhaps that was before your time.

Joe Average said:
Use a portable antivirus app and run it on demand, simple. To be honest, all the major products have on-demand capability instead of real-time, you just have to RTFM and learn something.

Some people... just can't please 'em, I swear... :D
Click to expand...

This is what I had suspected, and feared.
Unfortunately, RTFM only goes so far. I just tried installing the latest versions of Avast and AVG. Both completely obliterated my system. It took half a dozen forced reboots (manual, couldn't even access taskman) to delete them.

I've dealt with viruses that were easier to get rid of than those two apps.
And consumed less resources, too.
 
The only ones that did this that I know of personally are old and out dated. When I had free AV, I used to have AVG active and Avira as a on-demand.....but I believe none are on-demand scanners only anymore. There's just too much crap out there on the net now to screw you.
 
Because of the fact that viruses aren't the only threat to Windows based PCs nowadays, having only a dedicated client for each specific purpose is a bit stupid, to be honest. I've tested every single app that's out there that people recommend over and over and twice on Sundays and honestly, none of 'em ever have lived up to the hype except NOD32 and that for me was v2.7. v3 and v4 are simply not in the same league as that old workhorse v2.7 is, hence I still have it on a USB stick as an on-demand scanner (self-made portable version, you could say) that I manually update before use.

But as I noted in another thread, my AV/malware app of choice now is Microsoft Security Essentials, until it gives me a reason to not use it.
 
just install it and kill the automatic bootup in services.msc or msconfig. i use kaspersky and do not let it boot or update after every restart. i just turn it on like once every two weeks to update and do a scan
 
Al Shades said:
I just tried installing the latest versions of Avast and AVG. Both completely obliterated my system. It took half a dozen forced reboots (manual, couldn't even access taskman) to delete them.

I've dealt with viruses that were easier to get rid of than those two apps.
And consumed less resources, too.
Click to expand...

Please describe "obliterated my system."
 
Al Shades said:
This is what I had suspected, and feared.
Unfortunately, RTFM only goes so far. I just tried installing the latest versions of Avast and AVG. Both completely obliterated my system. It took half a dozen forced reboots (manual, couldn't even access taskman) to delete them.

I've dealt with viruses that were easier to get rid of than those two apps.
And consumed less resources, too.
Click to expand...

How did you obliterate your system? Pretty hard to do even with half a brain, you install the AV program, reboot and it works. I never encountered any of the issues you described installing those two AV programs on any system. Maybe your system is completely F'd up from malware?
 
Vermillion said:
Please describe "obliterated my system."
Click to expand...

It locked up so badly that nothing short of hitting the switch on the case could get it out.

It was actually NOD32 and Avast that did it, not AVG. Although, I've used AVG in the past and it's pretty much the same deal in terms of clutter.

Crashes like that don't happen to my system. Taskman can always get me out of any jam, but not this time.

There isn't any malware on here. But if there was, and it couldn't be removed manually, and I considered it troublesome enough, then I'd just wipe the disc and then install a fresh OS image made with Acronis. I'm not sure why more people don't do this instead of installing intrusive software that cripples performance.

It may have locked up on my system because I have nearly everything non-essential disabled, but that's just speculation.
 
Al Shades said:
It locked up so badly that nothing short of hitting the switch on the case could get it out.

It was actually NOD32 and Avast that did it, not AVG. Although, I've used AVG in the past and it's pretty much the same deal in terms of clutter.

Crashes like that don't happen to my system. Taskman can always get me out of any jam, but not this time.

There isn't any malware on here. But if there was, and it couldn't be removed manually, and I considered it troublesome enough, then I'd just wipe the disc and then install a fresh OS image made with Acronis. I'm not sure why more people don't do this instead of installing intrusive software that cripples performance.

It may have locked up on my system because I have nearly everything non-essential disabled, but that's just speculation.
Click to expand...

Personally I think you have something bigger happening then AV "obliterating" the system. Do you vLite/nLite your system?

Also, please leave the "installing intrusive software that cripples performance" crap alone as it is incredibly wrong because AV does NOT cripple a system's performance unless you're stupid and do a full scan when you're in the middle of something.
 
Just about all antivirus brands have the ability to turn off the real time file system protection. Just look at the control panel.

If a few different brands are locking up your system when they have it enabled....well..there's a problem with your system, and I would go on using it without AV protection because I think it's the AV program causing the problem.
 
Avira/Avast/NOD32 never had a problem with any of them "crippling" a system. Avast can be a tiny bit heavier at times, but the other 2 I can not even tell they are there.

It wouldnt surprise me if you had a virus blocking them and screwing up the install :p
 
To the OP (and to Al Shades):

Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, install it, have it scan your system, then uninstall it until you want to use it again.

Edit: good point, don't bother uninstalling it because it's not active unless you run it.
 
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I've seen cases where Avast, Avira or Nod didn't run very well on a particular system, but nothing crippling. I'm personally running an x64 Win7 system where either Outpost or NOD are slowing me down, I'll figure it out when I have to reinstall the retail version of 7.

That being said, I once encountered someone who was moaning about Avira locking up his system, turned out he was using a P2 with 64mb of ram...
 
I use Avast without active scanning on Vista and have no issues. You just select not to install that module when you first install it. Select not to install email scanner and browser scanner too and then you have a free on demand scanner that is much better than ClamWin.
 
Wow, this thread is full of fail, but at least it's mainly posted by just on user. Anyway, those apps won't "obliterate" your system. You also don't seem to have the basic understanding about malware and why you should have a real-time scanner, or why your previous solution wasn't even an AV scanner. The best advice/solution? Run a good free AV program like Avira, and then back it up with an on demand scanner, like Malwarebytes. Both are free.
 
DeaconFrost said:
Wow, this thread is full of fail, but at least it's mainly posted by just on user. Anyway, those apps won't "obliterate" your system. You also don't seem to have the basic understanding about malware and why you should have a real-time scanner, or why your previous solution wasn't even an AV scanner. The best advice/solution? Run a good free AV program like Avira, and then back it up with an on demand scanner, like Malwarebytes. Both are free.
Click to expand...

QFT
 
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