On-Demand only

[Dex]

Now that Avast v5 needs to be running in the background to scan selected
files from the context menu, can anyone recommend another scanner that
will work purely on-demand only, this includes services loaded at
startup.

Already have Avira v10, but it lacks scanning inside a lot of .exe files.

Using XP Pro SP3.

 

[Sir_George]

I use Avira AV and have never had, nor heard of anyone else having, a
problem scanning "exe" extensions. I am currently using the Premium (paid)
version 10.0.0.597.

I am using Windows 7 as the operating system, but had no problems with XP
Pro SP3 prior to upgrading.

What "exe" files are locked when trying to scan with Avira?

 

[Dex]

I use Avira AV and have never had, nor heard of anyone else having, a
problem scanning "exe" extensions. I am currently using the Premium
(paid) version 10.0.0.597.

I am using Windows 7 as the operating system, but had no problems with
XP Pro SP3 prior to upgrading.

What "exe" files are locked when trying to scan with Avira?

They're not locked. Avira sees them as one file, Avast unpacks them to
scan what's inside.

 

[Dex]

They're not locked. Avira sees them as one file, Avast unpacks them to
scan what's inside.

As an example, XP Service pack 3, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

Avast scans 22,346 files, Avira scans... 1 file. So malware could be
embedded in it and Avira will pass it.

 

[gufus]

From: Dex
Subj: Re: On-Demand onlySat, 27 Mar 2010 15:17:50 +0000

Hello, Dex!

You wrote on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:17:50 +0000:

D> Dex wrote:
??>> Sir_George wrote:
??>>> I use Avira AV and have never had, nor heard of anyone else having, a
??>>> problem scanning "exe" extensions. I am currently using the Premium
??>>> (paid) version 10.0.0.597.
??>>>
??>>> I am using Windows 7 as the operating system, but had no problems
??>>> with XP Pro SP3 prior to upgrading.
??>>>
??>>> What "exe" files are locked when trying to scan with Avira?
??>>>
??>> They're not locked. Avira sees them as one file, Avast unpacks them to
??>> scan what's inside.

D> As an example, XP Service pack 3, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

Start of the scan: Saturday, March 27, 2010 10:13

Starting the file scan:

Begin scan in 'C:\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe'
C:\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe
[WARNING] The file could not be opened!


End of the scan: Saturday, March 27, 2010 10:13
Used time: 00:00 Minute(s)

The scan has been done completely.

0 Scanned directories
1 Files were scanned
0 Viruses and/or unwanted programs were found
0 Files were classified as suspicious
0 files were deleted
0 Viruses and unwanted programs were repaired
0 Files were moved to quarantine
0 Files were renamed
1 Files cannot be scanned
0 Files not concerned
0 Archives were scanned
1 Warnings
0 Notes

 

[Dex]

That might be the report, but Avira has caught plenty of stuff inside
.exe files.

Simply not true.

I'm sure it would catch plenty of stuff in .rar and .zip files without
unpacking them too, but I'd rather have a scanner capable of unpacking
simple executable files. Even WinRAR will unpack SP3-x86-ENU.exe

Avast was my main scanner, had it added to my download manager so
anything downloaded was automatically scanned, but now with v5 the only
way it'll work is with it running in the background, so I have to
install the executable Sandboxed so Avira can 'look inside'.

Or start Avast before downloading anything. Just looking for a on-demand
replacement for Avast.

 

[gufus]

From: WaIIy
Subj: Re: On-Demand onlySat, 27 Mar 2010 12:22:28 -0400

Hello, WaIIy!

You wrote on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:22:28 -0400:

??>> Dex wrote:
??>>> Sir_George wrote:
??>>>> I use Avira AV and have never had, nor heard of anyone else having,
??>>>> a problem scanning "exe" extensions. I am currently using the
??>>>> Premium (paid) version 10.0.0.597.
??>>>>
??>>>> I am using Windows 7 as the operating system, but had no problems
??>>>> with XP Pro SP3 prior to upgrading.
??>>>>
??>>>> What "exe" files are locked when trying to scan with Avira?
??>>>>
??>>> They're not locked. Avira sees them as one file, Avast unpacks them
??>>> to scan what's inside.
??>>
??>> As an example, XP Service pack 3, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe
??>>
??>> Avast scans 22,346 files, Avira scans... 1 file. So malware could be
??>> embedded in it and Avira will pass it.

W> That might be the report, but Avira has caught plenty of stuff inside
W> .exe files.

So... who's RIGHT?

 

[gufus]

From: Dex
Subj: Re: On-Demand onlySat, 27 Mar 2010 16:52:39 +0000

Hello, Dex!

You wrote on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:52:39 +0000:

??>> Simply not true.

D> I'm sure it would catch plenty of stuff in .rar and .zip files without
D> unpacking them too, but I'd rather have a scanner capable of unpacking
D> simple executable files. Even WinRAR will unpack SP3-x86-ENU.exe

So setup Avira with WinRAR


Configuration settings for the scan:
Jobname.............................: ShlExt
Configuration file..................: C:\windows\winrarscan.avp
Logging.............................: low
Primary action......................: delete
Secondary action....................: ignore
Scan master boot sector.............: on
Scan boot sector....................: on
Boot sectors........................: C:,
Process scan........................: off
Scan registry.......................: off
Search for rootkits.................: off
Integrity checking of system files..: off
Scan all files......................: Intelligent file selection
Scan archives.......................: on
Recursion depth.....................: 20
Smart extensions....................: on
Macro heuristic.....................: on
File heuristic......................: medium
Skipped files.......................: pagefile.sys,

Start of the scan: Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:07

Starting the file scan:

Begin scan in 'C:\DOCUME~1\KEVINK~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\Rar$VR15.484'


End of the scan: Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:14
Used time: 07:03 Minute(s)

The scan has been done completely.

114 Scanned directories
21924 Files were scanned
0 Viruses and/or unwanted programs were found
0 Files were classified as suspicious
0 files were deleted
0 Viruses and unwanted programs were repaired
0 Files were moved to quarantine
0 Files were renamed
0 Files cannot be scanned
21924 Files not concerned
3412 Archives were scanned
0 Warnings
0 Notes

 

[gufus]

From: Dex
Subj: Re: On-Demand onlySat, 27 Mar 2010 16:52:39 +0000

Hello, Dex!

You wrote on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:52:39 +0000:


D> I'm sure it would catch plenty of stuff in .rar and .zip files without
D> unpacking them too, but I'd rather have a scanner capable of unpacking
D> simple executable files. Even WinRAR will unpack SP3-x86-ENU.exe

BTY

Change for your personal needs.

WinRAR:
-- cut here --
executable path: C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Premium\avscan.exe
parameters: /CFG="C:\filescan.avp" /PATH="%f"
--cut here--

NOTE: Make the file "filescan.avp" READ-ONLY

filescan.avp:
-- cut here --
[CFG]
GuiMode=1
ExitMode=1

[SEARCH]
Parameter=0x00300432

[CONTROLCENTER]
ProfileName=ShlExt

[SCANNER]
-- cut here--

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dex" <[email protected]>


| As an example, XP Service pack 3, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

| Avast scans 22,346 files, Avira scans... 1 file. So malware could be
| embedded in it and Avira will pass it.

Yes, you are right and this can be an installer package.

However, when the installer unpacks the files they will be scanned.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dex" <[email protected]>


| I'm sure it would catch plenty of stuff in .rar and .zip files without
| unpacking them too, but I'd rather have a scanner capable of unpacking
| simple executable files. Even WinRAR will unpack SP3-x86-ENU.exe

| Avast was my main scanner, had it added to my download manager so
| anything downloaded was automatically scanned, but now with v5 the only
| way it'll work is with it running in the background, so I have to
| install the executable Sandboxed so Avira can 'look inside'.

| Or start Avast before downloading anything. Just looking for a on-demand
| replacement for Avast.

How about my Multi AV Scanning Tool which provides scanners from; Sophos, McAfee, Trend
Micro and Kaspersky. The Kaspersky mdule is VERY good at scanning inside packaged
installers.

 

[Dex]

From: "Dex" <[email protected]>



| As an example, XP Service pack 3, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

| Avast scans 22,346 files, Avira scans... 1 file. So malware could be
| embedded in it and Avira will pass it.

Yes, you are right and this can be an installer package.

However, when the installer unpacks the files they will be scanned.

Not here. Both Avira and Avast are on-demand, nothing resident, all
services and start-ups disables and turned off... Well Avast v4 was.

I will only use scanners in on-demand mode only, right click and scan.
Simply because no matter what they say, they always turn your 2.5GHz CPU
into a 80O MHz one.