Free Virus Scan
"My computer has been acting strangely... at times it's very slow and I'm getting lots of popups. I'm afraid I have a virus, and the anti-virus software that came with my computer has expired. Can you recommend a good (and preferably free) virus scanner?"

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Anti-Virus on the Cheap
For some odd reason, I have this image of George Foreman in my mind, saying "I'm not gonna pay a lotta money for this virus scanner!" But I have good news for you... I just saved a load of money on my, oh wait... wrong commercial. There *are* some excellent free virus scanners, and some can even be run online.
I recommend Trend Micro's Housecall for starters, which will scan your computer for viruses directly from the web. They also offer a free online spyware scanner. This site is trustworthy and uses an ActiveX applet to do the scanning. If you have trouble starting the scan, your security settings may be too high. Follow the instructions on the site to modify your settings and things should work fine.
Use an Offline Virus Scanner
For maximum protection, I recommend that you also install a good anti-virus program on your computer, which will scan your system at startup and continuously thereafter. McAfee virus protection is now included with AOL membership, and Road Runner offers their users the EZ-Armor package at no charge. If your ISP isn't offering any freebies, check out the free AVG package from Grisoft at http://free.grisoft.com .
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Posted by Bob Rankin on August 11, 2005 05:33 PM
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Free Virus Scan (Posted: August 11, 2005 05:33 PM)
Printed from: http://askbobrankin.com/free_virus_scan.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved





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Most recent comments on "Free Virus Scan"
(See all 20 comments for this article.)Posted by:
stevesnell
24 Aug 2005
Thanks for the info! It is nice to know there are still people who are for good and fun things in life. The internet has been abused and I am always on the side of Law and order. Some of the attitudes of the punks on websites are incredible. People just want to have fun on line and you guys are very helpful. Thanks.
Posted by:
VeeKay
10 Sep 2005
Avast! is the best antivirus, because it uses few resources, has an excellent detection rate, its virusdefs are updated almost daily, and it is free ! What more can you ask for. Combine this with ZoneAlarm/Kerio/Sygate firewall, throw in Spybot/Ad-Aware/MS-AntiSpyware/HijackThis/SpywareBlaster, and you got a very well defended system ! Who says freeware cannot be good ?
Posted by:
earamosrico
21 Mar 2006
What do you say about kaspersky antivirus? It does a great job detecting any virus, its virus defintions are being updated every one-three hours. The only con is that you need a spyware-detector program besides it. But still, a good choice, so, what do you think?
Posted by:
Chris Ray
07 May 2006
I have been provided with a company laptop. I travel a lot and spend time on sites that wouldn't impress my employer. I was wondering if my employer can see where I am surfing with some kind of proxy. Any time I type in a wrong address it directs me to my company website. I have every kind of cleaner on here I can think of, but I was wondering if my employer could see what I am seeing or typing. I use Firefox and always clear out my entire computer. I have ran lots of scans and nothing shows up. I do know that my computer was extensively 'configured' before it was sent to me. Am I safe? What can I do?
EDITOR'S NOTE: While travelling, you are probably using a wireless connection or local dialup, not your company's network. So unless there is some kind of keylogger or other spyware-type program running on your PC, it's highly doubtful that your employer can "see" what's happening on it. If you connect to your employer's network, however, any internet traffic can be monitored.
Posted by:
jeetendra
11 Dec 2006
Dear Sir, I came across your great website and it seems to me you are one of the authorities about anti virus tools and information. I am artistic coordinator for one of the non profit organization here in Canada. The computer I currently use has Windows 2000 server in it. Because of that i can't use most of the anti virus free software like AVG, AVAST etc. Because their software allows free use for home user version only. Would you have any
information about free software which I can use to protect my windows 2000 server? I can't change operating system for two reasons. (1) I don't have expertise to do that and (2) I have lots of data related to my organization, which i can't afford to loose. Also, I can't afford to pay any money as our organization doesn't make any.
Also, I use firefox as browser (explorer doesn't work and I don't know why). Most online scanner doesn't support firefox accept TREND MICRO. But trendmicro scan doesn't seem to be working on my computer. Would you kindly suggest me if there is another tool out which has compatibility with firefox and probably better than TREND MICRO? Thank you so much.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Anyone have experience with Win 2000 and free anti-virus?
Posted by:
James
15 Feb 2008
oh my gosh! i just had a virus the other day.. it was a really bad trojan. I found out that some trojans, if u want to get rid of them, all you have to do is put ur computer on admin and make another log in acount for the computer.. but first download windows defender. Its as easy as that! But this may not work will all trojans.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I would not count on that strategy to get rid of ANY problem.
Posted by:
colly
19 Jun 2009
i also had a virus mon my pc when scanned the pc with a USB attached all the info frm the USB was deleted,but i think that actually marked the high poerfomance of the anti-virus.and all thanks to your site it definety makes moy world safer
Posted by:
Neeraj
04 Aug 2009
My 2 cents for a couple of unanswered Qs:
@Chris Ray: When I read the first sentence of your post, I thought, "Gosh! That's me!". But to answer your question, No! Your employer / Company doesn't / can't see where you go on the 'Net. The reason(s) your browser gets redirected to your company's home page when you mistype an address is / maybe really quite simple: are you using Internet Explorer as your primary browser? have you checked what the home page has been set to? Secondly, check under 'Internet Options' in the Control Panel. Go to the Connections tab, then click on the 'LAN' button at the bottom. In the LAN settings dialog box, see if 'Use automatic configuration script' &/or the check box under 'Proxy Server' are checked. If they are, which I anticipate, since you mention your laptop being "extensively" configured before being issued to you, then that's the cause. Another trick your Company's IT dept. may have likely done is configure your laptop to be on your Company's domain - are you required to type in user name & password every time you boot your laptop / log on to windows? can you seamlessly browse your Company's network viz. when you visit their office?
Posted by:
Neeraj
04 Aug 2009
@jeetendra: your query begs a few questions of it's own: are you running a licensed copy of Win 2k Server? Since you don't have the 'expertise' to change the O/S who did you get to install it for your org, in the first place?
Because the bad news, dear friend, is there are no free anti-virus programs for 'Server' class operating systems, not even Win NT. This is quite obvious, because the general assumption by all these vendors is, 'who runs server class OS at home? Nobody! who can afford server class OS license? they can afford to pay for antivirus protection!'
You are not alone is this problem, atleast one other has been similarly cornered in Canada. Good news is, their question was answered. I excerpt here section most relevant to you:
AVG Server Edition
Up to 2 licenses = $38.00 USD
Up to 10 licenses = $126.00 USD
"This version is aimed at protection of Windows NT/2000 servers and MS
Exchange 5.0/5.5/2000, Lotus Domino, Tiny Mail and Mail602 email
servers. AVG checks all mail on arrival to user mailboxes or public
directories. AVG in EXS monitors changes to individual mailboxes and
public directories."
Original url: http://www.grisoft.com
Exact url: http://esd.element5.com/product.html?productid=502847&language=English&stylefrom=502792
--
F-Prot Antivirus for Windows
10 licenses = $40 USD (download) + US $30 (for a cd to be shipped)
Original url: http://www.f-prot.com
Exact url: https://encrypted.f-prot.com/cgi-bin/buy
To read the entire article in detail go here http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=31468
Please note, this reply is dated 2002 so info may not still be valid or accurate. But now you have a starting point to research further.
All the best.
Posted by:
Flatwoodsflyer
24 Sep 2009
Bob; I got a virus that really is bad,called Antivirus Pro, I could not get rid of it short of reformatting my computer, I have Avast , it could not do anything against this virus, even the Geeks site tool couldn`t get rid of it, bad news this virus is, have you heard of it ? thanks : Ken
EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, this malware and variants of it have been around for a couple years. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can remove it.