So what good is one? These types of antimalware tools are great when you think you might have some kind of virus or other malware but the antivirus program you’re using now hasn’t caught it. Sometimes, a really nasty piece of malware will prevent your installed antivirus program from running properly, in which case one of these tools can come in handy. Below is a complete list of the very best free on-demand virus scanners available. Many of these programs even come in a portable version, meaning no installation required! You can perform a threat scan to detect infections in locations malware normally hides, such as in the memory, registry, and file system. A custom scan can be launched as well, which scans any or all hard drives and folders with the option to include memory objects, startup items, the registry, archives, and rootkits. Malwarebytes can also detect potentially unwanted programs (PUP) and modifications (PUM), start scans from the context menu in File Explorer, and exclude files/folders from scans. We also like that it clearly shows which features are premium before you try to use them (lots of software doesn’t do this). It works in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. Some advanced settings are available, like scanning just cookies and including/excluding particular folders from a scan. You can also use the free version to scan only the files running in memory, called a Critical Point Scan, which is useful if you think a piece of malware is currently running. This also gives you a quick view of potentially unwanted programs installed on your PC, and a dead-simple method to remove them. There’s a section of the program to show the applications that start up with Windows, as well as SUPERDelete, which lets you remove files that won’t properly delete, and the ability to only scan files that were modified within a certain period of time. Other useful tools and features are included as well, like a startup manager, ignoring large files, ignoring System Restore files, and scanning inside ZIP archives. Something you might find annoying is that some of the options are only available in the Professional version, like email alerts and scheduled scans, but it’s not easily decipherable as to which features are or aren’t. Clicking these areas will show an ad to download the full version. You can use this program in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. There aren’t any ads, so you don’t have to deal with a cluttered interface, and it’s easy to understand where you need to go to edit settings, access quarantined files, etc. EEK runs in Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows Server 2016 and newer. You can create a custom scan to just search in particular directories and/or hard drives, or a complete scan that searches through everything. You can see the long list of threats it can find from the included Threat List. Stinger can be set up to repair, report, rename, or remove malware. If you know the hash of files you don’t want to be scanned, it lets you build a list of them so that the program skips over them. The download size is around 20 MB and doesn’t require installation, enabling Stinger to run from a flash drive or external hard drive. It can scan just the system memory to find viruses that are currently running, or scan the entire file system (or specific files/folders) for malicious items. Scheduled scans are supported as well as Window Shell integration, email alerts, file exclusions, and Microsoft Outlook email scanning. You can scan boot sectors, the memory, the Windows folder, temporary files, system restore points, rootkits, or custom files and folders. Useful settings let you toggle tasks like to interrupt scanning when you switch to battery power (for laptops), or to automatically apply actions to threats. While this program is portable, meaning you don’t have to install anything to your computer, the download size is relatively large at over 200 MB. It checks for spyware, adware, keyloggers, and similar potentially malicious items running in the system memory. It can also scan an individual folder or whole disk drive. You have the option to just scan without repairing any files and to include scanning archive files. Updates can be performed because the program installs itself to a temporary location while you use it. However, this is also a downfall because it means you have to run the setup file again if you wish to use the program in the future, given that all the files were unloaded to a seemingly undisclosed location on your computer. Something else a bit bothersome about this program is that it displays an advertisement every time you close it. The file is over 200 MB, so downloading MWAV may take some time. You can run a quick scan to check only critical areas where viruses may be resting, a full scan to check every file and folder on your PC, or a custom scan to couple a quick scan with a scan of any other folder of your choosing. There are a few scan options on the start page, so you can full a full system scan, a specific scan against certain files or a particular folder, or an ‘unwanted application scan’ to identify apps Norton suggests you remove. Rootkit scanning is supported, too, but you have to enable it in the settings. There are some advanced options, but they’re not your usual ones. These let you automatically upload suspicious files to the Scan Cloud, compress files before upload, scan for tracking cookies, and auto-create a restore point before removing files. There’s not a pause button in this scanner, but the scan is thorough, and the program lets you remove any viruses it finds when it’s finished. It has to be installed to be used, but it’s a small setup file. It works with Windows 7 and newer. The program automatically updates when you open it so as to stay current with recent releases and definition updates. You can run a quick scan, full scan, or custom scan to select specific folders and drives. Trend Micro HouseCall is completely portable and just a few megabytes in size, making it ideal to place on a portable drive. The program can scan system memory, hidden startup objects, boot sectors, archives, whole hard drives, and specific folders. There are also settings that let you scan certain file types only and skip files that are taking too long to scan. It can be used as a portable antivirus program that doesn’t require installation. It scans inside archives, searches for fake antivirus software, identifies rootkits, and detects malicious items running in system memory. There’s also a Forensics section to scan running files to find anything that looks suspicious and could possibly be malicious. Options are available to exclude files and folders from a scan and to delete or restore quarantined items that it has found. The download size is around 300 MB. It’s so large because the program isn’t installed to your computer but instead ran as a portable app. If you choose a custom scan, you can scan in the memory, critical areas and boot sector, hidden registry objects and services, and/or hidden files and folders. You can even choose to disable the virus scan so you can check for malicious items in the memory only, for example, instead of searching through the whole computer. Advanced settings are available such as scanning in archives, excluding large files from a scan, scanning for suspicious MBR modifications, and enabling the creation of restore points before running a scan. Comodo Cleaning Essentials also includes Autorun Analyzer, which is used for viewing all the programs, drivers, scheduled tasks, and other things that launch when Windows starts. Also available is KillSwitch, which lets you shut down running programs, processes, and network connections. If you can’t get into Windows to start a scan, try Comodo Rescue Disk. It scans the registry, system memory, and other common locations where malware could be hiding. You can also scan individual files and folders, shut down all running processes, unlock files, and submit suspicious files to Panda for analysis. The download is relatively small but you do have to install it. There are absolutely zero custom settings in F-Secure Online Scanner. If it finds a virus, it’s removed without question and doesn’t prompt you to decide to keep it. The scan types include full, quick, or custom, the latter of which lets you check for threats on a drive, in a folder, or in specific files. When a scan is finished, the results can be sent to your email. This is a great idea if an IT professional requested the scan, so they can review the results.
