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Comment from Merna B on 2009-05-26

2009-05-26T14:24:47Z

Like Howiem (May 19, 2009, post), I also thought smart-ip.net no longer had the online virus scan as I received a 404 page not found when going to the link. However, the link in ipodboy's post (July 22, 2008) works if one deletes the period which was apparently mistakenly underlined and thus included in the link. Try http://smart-ip.net/en/tools/virus-scan without the period at the end.

(I discovered this by checking "Tools" and then "Scan file for viruses" under "Tools" at the home page -- http://smart-ip.net/en/ -- and then comparing what I had found with what I had tried previously.)

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Comment from Brian Hall on 2009-05-19

2009-05-20T05:51:12Z

Great article on "exe's" ~being able to tell if they are "safe" or not..Leo,could you expand,explain how to set up a "sandbox"-so that us newbie geeks can quickly,and safely check downloaded programs/apps...before they are "run",or opened,and installed to the hdd,thus preventing infected files from wreaking havoc on us.I understand that a "sandbox" thoroughly filters a application/program-sort of like running the app. through a sieve...is this accurate?? Would appreciate any feedback.Keep up the GeeK~~Brianisbeecube@yahoo

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Comment from 1101doc on 2009-05-19

2009-05-19T21:45:32Z

I use free Returnil to "screen" all applications (.exe's) before I run them "for real." By turning on Returnil everything that happpens thereafter happens only in memory. Nothing can be written to the C:\ drive.

I run or install the application, see what happens, and if I like it enough I then reboot (to turn off Returnil) and run or install the program on my hard drive.

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Comment from sirpaul1 on 2009-05-19

2009-05-19T18:29:13Z

I use Avira and it's notified me when a file might contain a virus before it's opened. It's worked on .exe and zip files. Now I didn't open any of them to check, but a beep and a virus screen and came up asking me what I wanted to do with this file. Never had a .com or .bat beep yet.

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Comment from howiem on 2009-05-19

2009-05-19T17:31:31Z

I forgot to mention...you can always do a web search for the name of the .exe program, like abcd.exe and add a comma followed by virus, spyware, rogue, malware to see if anything bad about the program turns up in the search results.

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Comment from howiem on 2009-05-19

2009-05-19T17:28:09Z

I have been using a program called Sandboxie www.sandboxie.com for years. I generally test all new programs in a sandbox, but especially those I have the slightest doubts about. It takes just a second or two to set up a test sandbox, and scan with AV/AS programs. (I also use Jotti and virustotal from time to time). Even if I install a program with malware in the sandbox, I can just delete the sandbox and there is no impact on my operating system. In fact I run almost every program sandboxed. might add that there are ways to get data out of the sandbox, unlike virtual machines. I was last infected using DOS in 1987.

BTW, the web page mentioned above, http://smart-ip.net/en/tools/virus-scan, appears to no longer provide anti-virus services.

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Comment from ipodboy on 2008-07-22

2008-07-22T09:56:36Z

Hey, i read your article and I have few questions. Why do people care so much about scanning viruses if you can actually scan downloaded files before you download them. I've been using this nice tool for a while and I like it a lot - http://smart-ip.net/en/tools/virus-scan.
It does scan files really quick and I haven't got any viruses since I deleted Norton application from my PC :)
Agree, you have to be online all the time to do the scan but it doesn't require any updates.

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Comment from Michael Horowitz on 2006-08-15

2006-08-16T05:17:00Z

At virustotal.com a single file is scanned by about 18 different antivirus products.

Also look into siteadvisor.com, a browser plugin that rates web sites as to their safey. Their green approval rating isn't a perfect guarantee, but if they say a site is bad, that's good enough for me. Their testing procedures are impressive.

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Comment from Lou Gascon on 2006-05-20

2006-05-20T16:55:59Z

The Question: Someone's pointing me to a downloadable program as solution for a problem I'm having. I'm really hesitant to download and run unknown EXE files. Is there any way I can scan it with some program or otherwise ascertain if it's clean or riddled with subtle spyware, viruses, or what ever else could be bad?

I sympathise ~ until recently I used Vexira AV, and an integral part of their program was a facility on the right click menu to scan the file clicked upon...
This was great for First line of defence stuff, simply because the exe or other was scanned before it was opened...
Sadly, I have moved on and I'm now using Prevx1 which replaces all and offers "just that" A First line of Defence to anything that wishes to run... whooo, now anything that moves gets to be cautioned and can't run until my specific say-so, and sometimes, if Prevx have it in their DB, not at all unless I request special permission from their DB staff... wow
But, to address the question: I now use Jotti's malware scan 2.99-TRANSITION_TO_3.00-R1 at
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
Just add the PC nav to the browse button, and off it jollywell jotts and returns info from about 10 AV engines - oui ou pas - yes or no - nix or nacht ooops sorry, me germans not very well - but yes, Jotti's search is in the German domain - Thanx Jotti

Thanx Leo

and viewers of Leo's Lunchtime leaflets & Letters ~ try it before you open that file

bon chance
Lou

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Comment from Dan U on 2006-05-19

2006-05-19T20:03:55Z

"....download it from the XYZ corp website."

One point. A fair number of devs will have their programs hosted by a download site such as tucows. A link to a thirdparty site from the author's website can be as trusted.

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