| CyberDefenseGuide A How-To Guide To Internet Security and Windows Repair |
| Internet Security | Windows Repair |
| Remotescan Remote Virus Removal and Security Maintenance Service Remotescan |
| Antivirus Scanners |
All programs listed here are free for personal use, some have extra features if you pay for them, but any security holes are covered
by the other freeware listed. Nothing here requires registration. For the security-conscious (all of you I hope), make sure the security code
(MD5 serial number), where present, on each download page is the same as that of the downloaded file (rightclick the file and select
Properties/Digital Signatures/Details/Advanced/Serial Number). If you have any problems installing any of the antivirus tools,
rename the tool to a random name like gfjdh.exe so it won't be detected and prevented from installing properly by active viruses.
During antivirus scans you should be aware that there are elements of Windows and other legitimate programs that may be detected
(a 'False Positive'). For example your firewall and antivirus programs will usually have entries in the scan results indicating hidden activity.
This is because they use similar operational techniques to malware in order to hide themselves from malware and protect themselves against
hacking. Select programs in the scan results that you trust and then either click Ignore, add to Exclusions or set as Trusted.
Using all of the following scanners may seem like overkill but it gets you closer to 100% virus-free and will save you some effort tracking
down remaining malware manually. Each antivirus company makes their own list of viruses and because they don't share them with eachother
one scanner may find viruses that other scanners miss. Given the number of scanners available, a common sense approach is to scan your pc
with all of them once and then pick two or three you find easiest to use and schedule them to run scans on a weekly basis, and install all the
security solutions described on this site to prevent new malware from getting onto your clean system.
To get the most from these scanners make sure you update them to the latest version before you scan your pc with them.
They will usually prompt you to connect to the internet and download updates, make sure you allow it through your firewall if you get a popup
warning. If not then the program will usually have a button or menu called Update, Check for Updates, AutoUpdate or something similar to click
in order to start the update process. Where there is the option, you can set it to automatically update itself. The only drawback can sometimes be
performance problems where other programs slow down while the antivirus program updates itself. To avoid this you can schedule the update
process with most of these scanners to a time that is more convenient.
For professional-level maintenance I recommend running every scan twice in Safe Mode and Normal Mode to catch malware that can
defend itself. Also, some problems only reveal themselves once other problems have been removed.
a-squared Free
Avira AntiVir
Avast! Free Antivirus
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
BitDefender Free Edition
ClamAV
Comodo Antivirus
F-Secure EasyClean
Microsoft Security Essentials
Norman Malware Cleaner
nProtect GameGuard Personal
nProtect Antivirus 2007
Panda ActiveScan online scanner
Sophos Security Scan (requires registration)
Sophos Aurora Malware Removal Tool
TrendMicro HouseCall
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