Best "portable" anti-virus software for Win XP?

[Mark R]

I've got real trouble at work with viruses and malware infestation on my (actually shared, in one of the labs that I use) work PCs. I keep calling IT, and they periodically send a tech over to clean them, but they just get reinfected a day or so later.

It's getting to the point where I can't e-mail work to people at other sites, because the attachments get deleted due to virus infection. I eventually resorted to sneakernetting documents out and sending them from home - but my USB drives would get infected each time (although at home, Kaspersky catches everything and cleans it). However, there is the additional problem that the virus keeps the files open on the USB stick, so that you can't "safely remove" the stick. So I've had data corruption on the stick a few times.

There is anti-virus software on the work PCs, but it seems ineffectual (Sophos 7) which I think is quite old and doesn't seem to pick up the newer malware.

So, essentially, I'm looking for someway to disinfect a PC before I use it, so that I can send out attachments where needed, use USB sticks for presentations, etc.

 

[lxskllr]

That's a half-assed way to go about it. IT needs to do their job, clean up the computers, and lock things down so they don't get reinfected. I dunno about about "portable" A/V. I don't think there's much around in that regard. Most temporary A/V are launched off bootable media.

 

[mechBgon]

Wow Yeah, IT is clearly not getting things handled. Would they be ok with you exercising Admin-level privileges on these systems?

 

[wayliff]

There are certainly issues with the IT team at your work but to answer the question...

The only portable AV, I know about, is ClamWin (http://www.clamwin.com/).
For what I've read, it is not that good but it is another layer of security that could be used.

ClamWin portable
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable

I know longer trust Spybot S&D but there's a portable version of it...
http://portableapps.com/apps/security/spybot_portable

 

[mechBgon]

If it doesn't violate policies to do this, then Kaspersky also has a stand-alone scanner yonder: http://www.kaspersky.com/virus-removal-tools It doesn't update, so you must re-download it prior to each run in order to have up-to-date definitions. It'll need Admin privileges, but from the trouble you described, it sounds like they're free for the taking

It has an options panel, so if you're going through this much trouble you might as well click the gear icon, and give it the full-meal deal, like this:

In the bigger picture, someone should tell the management about this, in case it bothers them to have their intellectual property at the mercy of malware authors.

 

[Loop2kil]

DrWeb Cureit is portable...not sure exactly how thorough it is though.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'd give that machine a good cleaning with an AVG boot CD.

When you're booted from C:, most viruses will reinfect quickly because the AV software can't mess with infected system files while the computer is running. (Some viruses also prevent AV software from working right.)

 

[thewhat]

In addition to portable Clam AV (which is so so) there's Microsoft Safety Scanner and there are many bootable AV CDs from Kaspersky, Avast, AVG... which are better than cleaning Windows from within Windows (save from reinstalling/restoring Windows completely, which is the best thing to do).

But I agree with what others have said, the IT should be doing a better job maintaining that work PC. Starting by replacing Sophos with something decent, setting up a guest account, disabling autoplay..

 

[mechBgon]

Hey Mark R, is there a pattern to the malware Kaspersky's finding? Same things every time? If so, what's the name of the malware (Conficker, for example)?

The bootable CD is a great idea too, Avira has one that can update its definitions before scanning: http://www.avira.com/en/support-download-avira-antivir-rescue-system

Disabling AutoPlay never hurts, there's a Fix-It here for that (scroll down most of the way): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715