SaferPC.info

Where can I scan my system for viruses for free?

Online:

Symantec Security Check (Norton AntiVirus) - http://security1.norton.com/ us/vc_scan.asp
Trend Micro's "HouseCall" - http://housecall.antivirus.com/
McAfee AntiVirus - http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp

Real-time:

Many AntiVirus publishers provide older "real-time" versions as a free download as well. Though these are "working" antivirus products, this is not generally a good idea because it may give you a false sense of security. Even if you have a *current* antivirus package installed the viruses that you may receive will probably not be detected by it. There are literally *dozens* of new viruses discovered *every day*. Most of the viruses circulating today are the one's that utilize new exploits, or new implementations of older exploits that the older scanners are not capable of detecting.

Other tools and information:

Network Associates Technology "AVERT Stinger" - Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations. http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) includes a "top threats" listing of the most prevalent viruses in the wild, as well as a virus encyclopedia listing over 50,000 variations of viruses, a "virus calendar" which identifies trigger dates so you determine what virus "got you" after your system won't boot, how to identify whether a message telling you about a virus is a hoax, a joke, or real (did anyone here delete "aol.exe" when that joke went around?), they also have a newsletter that provides you with a monthly discussion about current and future threats... Well, would it suffice to say that I usually go here first? http://www.sarc.com/
CERT - The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute's Internet Security division - http://www.cert.org/
The SANS (System Administration, Networking, and Security) Institute - http://www.sans.org/
Security Intelligence resource at SANS Institute - http://www.incidents.org/
The National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) - http://www.nipc.gov/
Gibson Research Corporation (GRC) - http://grc.com/

Free Virus Removal Tools:

What Antivirus Programs are Available?