List of Free Online Anti-Virus Tools
Posted on | March 9, 2008 | 19 Comments
Some Anti-virus vendors offer Online Scanners on their website. These tools often requires you to download a small plugin which enables your browser to utilize their online Anti-virus offerings.
Good thing about online AV scanners is they give you a real world benchmark on how it scans and detect viruses in the wild. This a good determining factor if you are looking for an Anti-virus solution for your home computer.
Here are the list of Online Anti-Virus Scanners I found around the web:
Trend Micro HouseCall: This is one of the first online AV scanners that was offered to the public. I still remember that I was still a sophomore in college when I first heard about it. Internet shops around the campus was using this tool to scan floppy disks and CDs from their customers that want to copy or print a document.
Make sense to me since its free after all and offers removal plus you don’t need to install anything that could affect overall PC performance. Trend Micro’s solutions offer both Active X and Java for the service to work. Currently, they have two versions available for the public – version 6.5 and the new 6.6. The only difference between the two is that the newest version is compatible with Windows Vista.
Kaspersky Online Scanner: This one of my favorite Online AV scanners next to Trend Micro’s HouseCall. It scans for trojans, dialers and other potentially dangerous software such as remote access utilities, prank programs and jokes. You also have the option to scan a single file or a specific directory. Best of all, you also have the option to scan your emails specifically files with *.PST; *.MSG; *.OST; *.MDB; *.DBX; *.EML; *.MBS extensions.
BitDefender Online Scanner: This tool checks your entire computer for viruses and other threats by default. However you do have the option to scan a specific file or folder. It will scan boot sectors and files with heuristic detection. It will automatically try to disinfect an infected file but you need to take a note that if disinfection fails, the infected files will be deleted without prompt.
CA – Virus Scanner: An online AV solution from CA labs. Their online scanning tool is kind of mediocre compared to other online scanners out there. You do have the option to set a specific folder to scan and also gives you an option to remove the infected file. For some strange reason, the scanner just keeps on giving out errors but when I try it again, it works. I might be seeing Vista compatibility issues here but I’m not sure though.
F-Secure Online Virus Scanner: The scanning tool automatically gives you a full system scan for virus, rootkits and malware. It can also scan archives files with an extension of .zip but you need to enable this option under “Custom Scan”. Take note that it can’t remove a infection if its detected inside the archive.
ESET Online Scanner: This scanning tool is from the makers of NOD32, one of leading Anti-virus solution provider. It can scan files inside archives files, runtime packed executables and email messages with heuristic detection algorithms available from ESET Threat Lab.
Ewido Networks Anti-Spyware: An online anti-spyware scanner that is a predecessor to AVG Anti-Virus. Its a bit out dated in my opinion since its still using AVG’s Anti-Virus 7.5 engine (newest is version 8). It can scan cookies, registry and memory in addition to the standard files and folder scanning found in most scanners.
Symantec Security Check: An online scanner from Symantec makers of Norton Anti-Virus. A limited online scanner which only detects infections but doesn’t have an option to clean or delete an infected file.
McAfee Online AV Scanner: McAfee is also one of the first to provide Online Anti-virus scanners to the public. Unfortunately, their offering is also limited like the one from Symantec.
Panda ActiveScan: is an online AV scanner offered by PandaSecurity makers on the Panda Anti-virus. Its also the same AV engine being use by PCPitstop and Infected or Not online AV scanner. Unfortunately, its not working on my system.
Most of these online scanners only works under Internet Explorer and requires you to download and install an Active X component. Online scanners offer free virus scans and are also an excellent option if you need a second opinion or haven’t had a chance to update your desktop Anti-virus. However, online scanners doesn’t replace and shouldn’t be use as a substitute from a real-time protection you get from an Anti-virus software that you install on your computer.
So, what’s your favorite online Anti-virus scanner on the list?
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19 Responses to “List of Free Online Anti-Virus Tools”
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March 8th, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
March 9th, 2008 @ 11:15 am
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March 9th, 2008 @ 11:56 am
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March 9th, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
Thanks for those useful links Bro!
orgl’s last blog post..Fatal1ty The 1st Cyber Sports Living Icon
March 9th, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
I think House call…
vance’s last blog post..Apple iPhone and iPod Touch SDK Released!
March 9th, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
orgl,
So, what’s your pick on the list?
No problem.
vance,
Same here.
March 9th, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
ESET’s NOD32 ofcourse! Hands-down :p
It’s the best anti-virus I’ve tried, both installed and as online scanner.
March 10th, 2008 @ 1:15 am
great list, I am sure this will come in handy
Jamaipanese’s last blog post..In Love with my Sister’s New Laptop – Dell Vostro 1000
March 11th, 2008 @ 2:56 am
March 11th, 2008 @ 6:04 am
Excellent list of choices. I’m getting ready to try out Kaspersky in May when my current Norton expires.
In fact I posted about the same thing on March 3rd. If you have time, you could check it out and read the last part about my horrible experience with Norton. I’ll never use them again!
Curt’s last blog post..GRRRRR!! Those Annoying Web Ads!
March 11th, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
@curt Norton is a good AV but its super bloatware…
Last month, somebody posted a free 1 year Kasperksy promo on Ghacks. I was able to try it out but in the end I remove it because it slowed down by Internet due to its build-in internet security thing. I was disappointed becauses its rated second best..
vance’s last blog post..WordPress 2.5 Demo Site.
March 11th, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
March 11th, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Kaspersky is the best!
Well, I’m not sure about the online version, but the desktop one is!
Michael Aulia’s last blog post..Why caching is important for your blog
March 13th, 2008 @ 12:08 am
JC John SESE Cuneta,
NOD32 is getting a lot of attention these days. I saw some shops selling it for around Php1500 only. I might give it a try sometime.
Jamaipanese,
I hope so. Thanks for dropping by.
Curt,
I agree. Norton is a bloatware. I stopped using it ater Norton 2003.I’m now using Symantec’s AntiVirus corporate edition. Same good AV engine of Norton without the bloat and yearly subscription renewal. Its a small and simple AV solution for business and enterprise customers.
vance,
I’m not really a fan of those Internet security suites (Norton Internet Security?). I rather get an AV solution or select the AV “only” option during installation.
Michael Aulia,
Their online AV offering is quite good though I still prefer Trend Micro’s Housecall and Kaspersky’s Online Scanner because of their flexibility (scanning, browser plugins, etc).
March 13th, 2008 @ 12:32 am
I use AVG Free and it is working allright.
Tom Lindstrom’s last blog post..More Problems Associated With Being Self Employed
March 13th, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
wah, where? Gotta grab those cheap NOD32 hehe :p
Personally, in terms of effectiveness and good memory usage
NOD32
Kaspersky
ClamAV (though ClamAV only scans, not clean).
I dropped Norton after discovering the three I mentioned, Norton eats up a lot of memory and always scan every file your application is using. For a pro gamer like me, it makes my game client so slow because Norton will scan every file the client opens.
JC John SESE Cuneta’s last blog post..The ASEAN Charter – Interesting Parts
March 15th, 2008 @ 6:24 pm
Never get norton 360— or any norton hehehe or mcaffe.. since their really beconing a bloatware software..
Kasperksy was a good AV according to some reviews but As I have said, the AV comes with some of its other build-in security Apps. I just wish they release a AV only app in the future..
I use AVG Pro which I also got for free last january….
vance’s last blog post..Hulu, Officially Launched!
August 3rd, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
[...] The CA Anti-virus installation file is approximately 10mb in size so it will only take a few minutes to download on a high speed Internet connection. On a side note, if you want to test out how good CA scanning is then you might check out my previous post about FREE online Anti-virus scanners. [...]
January 11th, 2010 @ 5:46 pm
I am using Kaspersky before, pity , it take up too much system resources.