Solved A double Stymie: Norton and Bitdefender are Non Starters.

[Mike Lynch]

I need a "Stand Alone" Version of an Anti-Virus Program, much like Acronis was years ago.
Yes, Acronis is not an Anti-Virus Program.
I used it as an example since I do not know of a "Stand Alone" Version of an Anti-Virus Program.

Acronis could be booted from the Installation CD and run as if it were a DOS based Program.
It was FAST and EFFICIENT - Aim and Shoot.

If there were a similar type of Anti-Virus, it could help me.

I want to fill every Sata or USB port on my HP Elite 8300 CMT with a Disk or Thumb Drive and scan them for Viruses.
I tried this with Norton and Bitdefender, under W7 Pro 64B but both went to La La Land.
They both started out strong but bogged down after about 18 hours into the scan.
No explanation, just scanning the same file for hours and hours.
I contacted both Norton and Bitdefender for guidance but came up empty handed.

Does any Forum Member know of an Anti-Virus Program that can run as I described, "Stand-Alone"?

 

[Clippy84]

You want the old Windows 7 Avast standalone offline installer "avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline_202010". This is freeware, freely redistributable. It will install, and then you just update the core anti-virus (if online) and you get the latest version and also the latest definitions. Or you just get the latest definitions in an offline installer, install locally and thus keep your PC offline entirely. Regrettably it's on Archive.org, which is still down. And sadly Archive.org pages are excluded from the Wayback Machine (durh...). But it is still being seeded by others, so you may have (slow) success with this...

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:ZSK7QJ4FM4C37UOB3IFQT6TKEBPEMBCL&dn=avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline_202010&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.opentrackr.org%3A1337%2Fannounce

No idea if Avast can scan multiple USB and SATA connections all at once, though. But it is very capable.

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Oh, and you will likely also want this... How to Install Avast as a Lightweight Antivirus - MajorGeeks

 

[Mike Lynch]

This quote is from a second Post I have regarding AVAST.

"An AVAST Agent had me REPAIR Avast Premium Security, completely overwriting a number of Quarantined Files that he/she/it were in the process of trying to recover. Avast claims the Files are gone forever. Then they decided to Escalate the situation to the next higher level. They also switched, for just one instance from Texting to Email. I assume they are / were hoping to obliterate any remains of the Quarantined data in hopes the O/S would use that space for the Email info sent to me. I fully expect to be told by "the next higher level", we are so sorry but! Playing by the rules and following a Level 0 (zero) Tech usually leads to a disaster, except when you ISP's Tech Support suggests you "unplug your Router and wait five minutes. This will surely overcome any issue you have with the format of the Email Messages you have on your screen. A crushing defeat at the hands of a New Hire with 1/2 hour of "On the job training".

I appreciate your feedback regarding AVAST, however at this moment in time, my confidence in any AVAST software is ZERO.