You'll also still want to allot a good chunk of time to the scans-deep examinations can take hours. (BitDefender is an exception, offering gratis removal services in addition to a free scan.) That's not necessarily a drawback if you're open to new removal software the online scans test-drive the product's efficacy. Most scans are just malware detectors that won't remove pernicious software unless you purchase the product. If you're concerned about higher-level threats, be sure to read these techniques for removing a Trojan horse. They usefully offer a second opinion while conveniently skipping the installation steps of downloaded programs, and are usually compatible with security software already installed on your PC. Online scans are best used for sniffing out low-level threats that don't impede Internet access. Some, such as F-Secure, require Internet Explorers, while others, such as Trend Micro, also support Firefox. If a threat is located, VirusDesk notifies you of. According to Kaspersky, VirusDesk online scan checks your files the way Kaspersky Antivirus does. The online scanner only supports files not exceeding 1 MB in size. With this tool you can scan website links and files for viruses.

Kaspersky updates its definitions hourly others once a day. Kaspersky VirusDesk is a free online virus scanner from Kaspersky.

Panda ActiveScan claims it detects rootkits. The most common online virus scans are hosted on security companies' Web sites and use ActiveX technology to scan your computer, flagging any files that show up in the company's spyware or virus definitions.Įxact methodologies vary from vendor to vendor, as does coverage. Many times, a site might find most, but not all of the viruses while virus scanning site might find viruses the others missed, but miss some that the other found. Nearly every security vendor offers a free virus scan on its Web site, but it's not always clear what they are, how they work, or why you might want to use them in addition to or instead of downloadable security software. Online Virus Scan If a website pulled stunts like this, then I excluded them from the list of sites offering free virus scans, so what you see below is just quality companies.

Free online virus scan