On-Demand, non Cloud-based AV Scanner?

[iron7]

I'm looking for a program with context menu based file scanning capabilities, as well as thorough (incl. rootkit/boot-time scan) scanning capabilities. As noted, program must not be cloud-based, and on-demand. Any rec's?

 

[mrjimphelps]

Your best option for a thorough boot-time scan is to get a pre-Windows scanner. With this kind of scanner, you create a bootable disk with the scanning software on it, and you then boot with that disk. When you do it this way, Windows never loads, and so the a/v software can do a much more thorough scan of your hard drive / computer.

The most well-known of these pre-Windows scanners is Windows Defender Offline (WDO). This program is free. You can get it at the following web site: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17466/windows-defender-offline-help-protect-my-pc

Scroll to the bottom of the page to get the Windows 7 / 8.1 version of the software. Make sure you select the correct version of the program that matches your installed version of Windows (32-bit vs 64-bit).

I don't think WDO is the best software out there. But it is good enough to find whatever has buried itself so deeply into Windows that you can't clean your hard drive with normal a/v software.

WDO takes a while to run, so be patient.

Trend Micro has a similar program. You'll need to install Trend Micro onto a computer in order to be able to create their pre-Windows scanner. You could probably go with the Trend Micro free trial version. Trend Micro is one of the best a/v programs on the market, so I recommend going with than one rather than with WDO.

 

[iron7]

Your best option for a thorough boot-time scan is to get a pre-Windows scanner. With this kind of scanner, you create a bootable disk with the scanning software on it, and you then boot with that disk. When you do it this way, Windows never loads, and so the a/v software can do a much more thorough scan of your hard drive / computer.

The most well-known of these pre-Windows scanners is Windows Defender Offline (WDO). This program is free. You can get it at the following web site: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17466/windows-defender-offline-help-protect-my-pc

Scroll to the bottom of the page to get the Windows 7 / 8.1 version of the software. Make sure you select the correct version of the program that matches your installed version of Windows (32-bit vs 64-bit).

I don't think WDO is the best software out there. But it is good enough to find whatever has buried itself so deeply into Windows that you can't clean your hard drive with normal a/v software.

WDO takes a while to run, so be patient.

Trend Micro has a similar program. You'll need to install Trend Micro onto a computer in order to be able to create their pre-Windows scanner. You could probably go with the Trend Micro free trial version. Trend Micro is one of the best a/v programs on the market, so I recommend going with than one rather than with WDO.

Hello, do those have context menu scanning capabilities?

 

[SIW2]

MSE- Add or Remove Context Menu - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[iron7]

MSE- Add or Remove Context Menu - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hi, MSE is a different program than mrjimphelps posted, and a quick search turns up cloud-based behaviors. Am I missing something?

Thank you

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Hi, MSE is a different program than mrjimphelps posted, and a quick search turns up cloud-based behaviors. Am I missing something?

Thank you

MSE is a piece of junk. It consistantly ranks low in AV reviews. Even MS admits it is less than stellar. The only reason sso many people like it is it has a light footprint.

Malwarebytes Free would be better suited for what you are wanting. However, you should also have a full time AV program as well. I've had good luck with using Avast Free and turning off the extra bells and whistles, keeping only the AV functions.

 

[iron7]

MSE is a piece of junk. It consistantly ranks low in AV reviews. Even MS admits it is less than stellar. The only reason sso many people like it is it has a light footprint.

Malwarebytes Free would be better suited for what you are wanting. However, you should also have a full time AV program as well. I've had good luck with using Avast Free and turning off the extra bells and whistles, keeping only the AV functions.

MSE does well here:
Test antivirus software for Windows 7 - February 2018 | AV-TEST

While I appreciate you are trying to be helpful, I would refer back to the thread title. I understand the assumption that I don't know what I am doing, and need to be rebuked, but I am really just looking for a simple rec. if someone has one. Thank you.

 

[SIW2]

What do you mean by "cloud based behaviours?"

All av's will periodically need definition updates. Afaik, all av's will at least give you the option to upload a suspicious file/scan reults for further analysis. How else can they keep up to date or check for false positives?


Cloud antivirus software does most of its processing elsewhere on the Internet rather than on your computer's hard drive.

As far as I know, MSE downloads definition updsates and does the processing locally on your hard drive - it may then ask if you want to upload something to MS. Not compulsory afaik.
Under Settings>Maps put a dot in "I don't want to join MAPS"
Under Settings>Advanced make sure "Send file samples automatically when further analysis is required" is unticked.

Hi, MSE is a different program than mrjimphelps posted, and a quick search turns up cloud-based behaviors. Am I missing something?

Thank you

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

MSE does well here:
Test antivirus software for Windows 7 - February 2018 | AV-TEST

While I appreciate you are trying to be helpful, I would refer back to the thread title. I understand the assumption that I don't know what I am doing, and need to be rebuked, but I am really just looking for a simple rec. if someone has one. Thank you.

MSE ranked well in the review you linked but not so well in others. In this one, it wasn't even ranked but a blurb appears at the very top saying not to rely on MS security tools.

This one rated Windows Defender, the supposedly better (according to MS) successor to MSE for Win 8 &10 as "meh".

MSE doesn't even make the list on other AV reviews. Defender, which is for Win 8 and Win 10, only rats slightly better than MSE used to.

Besides, MSE is a full time AV, not an on demand scanner, even though you can do manual scans with it. For an on demand scanner only, Malwarebytes free is your best bet.

Also, all AV programs and AV scanners rely on virus definitions downloaded via the internet. It's the only way they can reasonably accurately identify viruses and other malware and those definitions need to be frequently updated.

 

[iron7]

What do you mean by "cloud based behaviours?"

All av's will periodically need definition updates. Afaik, all av's will at least give you the option to upload a suspicious file/scan reults for further analysis. How else can they keep up to date or check for false positives?


Cloud antivirus software does most of its processing elsewhere on the Internet rather than on your computer's hard drive.

As far as I know, MSE downloads definition updsates and does the processing locally on your hard drive - it may then ask if you want to upload something to MS. Not compulsory afaik.
Under Settings>Maps put a dot in "I don't want to join MAPS"
Under Settings>Advanced make sure "Send file samples automatically when further analysis is required" is unticked.

It's the uploading aspect I want to avoid. I haven't tried a bunch of AVs, but good to know it's always an option in your experience (it's not always so apparent in the gui reviews I've seen).

 

[iron7]

MSE ranked well in the review you linked but not so well in others. In this one, it wasn't even ranked but a blurb appears at the very top saying not to rely on MS security tools.

This one rated Windows Defender, the supposedly better (according to MS) successor to MSE for Win 8 &10 as "meh".

MSE doesn't even make the list on other AV reviews. Defender, which is for Win 8 and Win 10, only rats slightly better than MSE used to.

Besides, MSE is a full time AV, not an on demand scanner, even though you can do manual scans with it. For an on demand scanner only, Malwarebytes free is your best bet.

Also, all AV programs and AV scanners rely on virus definitions downloaded via the internet. It's the only way they can reasonably accurately identify viruses and other malware and those definitions need to be frequently updated.

Malwarebytes doesn't market their free (OD) program as an AV replacement and it doesn't incorporate virus signatures. The paid version is a good program, but I'm not looking for an active product.

Also, yes the MSE discussion is tangential, and you may have a point, but still the review I posted is from a very reputable tester afaik.

Open to recommendations for good on-demand AV scanners that don't automatically upload user files.

 

[mrjimphelps]

When you said "thorough (incl. rootkit/boot-time scan) scanning capabilities", I was advising what would be the best for that type of scan. For thorough scanning, there's nothing better than a scan which runs outside of Windows, so that it can thoroughly scan every aspect of Windows. That's why I recommended your using a pre-Windows scanner.

However, for normal anti-virus usage, you should get something other than a pre-Windows scanner. A pre-Windows scanner is good only for a thorough scan and clean of your hard drive; it is not good for actively monitoring things while you are surfing the web or performing other normal tasks.

Trend Micro offers both products, as well as a free manual scanner called House Call; and Trend Micro is highly-rated, good quality software. So I recommend that you go with Trend Micro for all of your anti-virus needs.