Understood, but as a person who did not have sons as children, it was the only logical reply.

I'm the only one using my computer so I can't blame it on anyone else. I saw something on TV called win something or another that I'd like I'd like to try but I'll have to catch the commercial again so I can get URL for it.

Really funny...........

why exactly is the thread starter downvoted ?

just because he didnt appreciate the off beat humor here ?
thats not very welcoming now is it

like i said roll with the punches

you dont have to think its funny but you dont have to respond to it either

Thank you! :D

I was thinking of getting a paid anti-virus recently (I currently just use MSE), any suggestions that aren't Norton?

That's the idea! He keeps away all the people with no sense of humor, and the forum is a better place for it.

Seriously, I've been a regular on the forums here for a while now, and tinyE generally comes across as a nice and funny guy. Perhaps his jokes can be a case of hit or miss, as with all humor, but I haven't seen him being excessively rude or mean to anyone, much less to new members. ( Unless they deserve it. And believe me, some ask for it. )

On the other hand, based on your posts here, you come across as a drama queen. Bringing up old, minor arguments between you and tinyE ( apparently based on a simple misunderstanding ) and turning them into novel length posts certainly doesn't help with that impression. OK, so you don't like the guy, we get it. Ignore him, block him if you must, and just let it be.
I think it's because he doesn't like porn.

Seriously, what a weirdo.

I strongly suggest <span class="bold">ESET NOD32 Antivirus</span>.  It's reliable, lightweight, very effective and user-friendly, and the updates are regular and quick.  You can download the antivirus from ESET's website and activate it as a 30 days trial.  If you like it, simply buy the commercial version and replace the trial key with the commercial one.  There's no need to uninstall and reinstall the software.

Norton and McAfee are notorious for their marketing.  They try to force you to adopt their antiviruses by installing trial versions on every laptops and branded PC's, but they're quite bad and easily defeated by many malwares.

What's nice about Avira - The rescue disk comes preinstalled with the latest definitions. This allows someone to disinfect a system without it being connected to the Internet and also without the system's OS being booted. I don't recall an option to check for updates, but this would defeat the purpose, I think.'

Note: I apologize as I mixed up 2 things. Firstly, Norton Bootable Recovery Tool is actually only usable with those with a Norton license key.

HOWEVER, the Norton Power Eraser is free to all. This one does download the latest definitions, but the scan doesn't take too long, so my guess is it won't be good for a routine virus scan. This tool is only an emergency option.

The website warns that it can be aggressive, although it does have an UNDO feature should the results of the Power Erasure turn out to be undesired.

(I'll update my original post about the Bootable Recovery Tool)
LOL, I knew a guy who blamed the web browser history & cookies on a virus that forced all those specific fetish sites to keep popping up.

I'd like it to have the best of both worlds: the rescue disc includes the latest definitions (for the day you downloaded and burned it), but on top of that it would have the option to check for the latest virus definitions online after booting with it. I think the Kaspersky rescue disc did have an updated virus definitions on the image, not sure how often they update it.

After all, sometimes new virus definitions seem to come several times a week, so your burned rescue disc would become outdated quite fast, without the option to check for the latest definitions when you actually use it.

EDIT: Not sure if Kapersky still maintains it or not. Many months ago i got the impression somewhere that Kaspersky doesn't maintain it anymore (a bit like GOG doesn't maintain the legacy GOG Downloader anymore, but isn't blocking its usage either), but I don't see any indication of that on their page though:

http://support.kaspersky.com/4162

It seems though the CD image has been dated to October 2014, so the included virus definitions are probably quite old. So, it is a good idea to have the PC to be scanned be connected to internet (either with a LAN cable in which case it connects automatically when you boot with the rescue disc, or if using protected WiFi, you need to connect it after you have booted).

The reason I started looking for these bootable virus scanners is because when the Security Sphere 2013 malware hit one of my computers years ago, it made pretty much all virus scanners non-functional (including Avira which was installed already, it somehow prevented it from working anymore). Maybe I was able to run Malwarebytes in safe mode or something, but it couldn't get rid of the problem anyway.

So yeah, I want a secondary scanner that can be booted up on its own, preferably to a non-Windows environment. Just to make sure those malwares can't affect it at least directly. I guess I'll keep the Kaspersky Rescue Disc available. Maybe I'll check the Avira one also, just in case.

That's another 216MB.

I recently scanned my PC with the Kaspersky and Avira Rescue Discs. Both are several months old, but both updated (I didn't look too close at the definition date after the update on Kaspersky).
The updates on Kaspersky are "huge" and take a while to download. Scanning the SSD is slow, too (takes at least an hour).
Avira's disk updates in a few seconds after starting a scan and is definately faster (scan takes about 25 minutes).
The only downside on Avira's solution is in my optinion (or I am blind... ahem) that you cannot see if the update was successfull until the scan is done and you can check the report.
Funny thing: Avira starts the scan at 20% (update is 0-20%) and finishes at 80% (80-100% is desinfection).

Thanks for the info on whether Avira updates or not. I do know that if you download the recent .iso version, the definitions are fairly recent. I couldn't remember if you had the option to use the Internet to download more.

Also, as much as I wanted Avira to work, the last time I used it, it seemed to freeze at about halfway through but didn't have the time to wait for more than an hour. Also, I did notice that 0-20% flew by quite quickly, and I assumed it was perhaps some of the RAM or other high target areas that are quick to scan.


So Luciendar84 confirmed that Avira does indeed allow you to download definitions. I'd give it a test run.

I also prefer a bootable antivirus, but I think it even more safe if the boot-up and scan were done with the computer unplugged from the Internet. I once had to disinfect a PC that had a virus that was incredibly resilient unless there was no Internet connection. Then it became completely dormant as if to remain undetected.

Ideally, I like to use several different antivirus to disinfect a PC, but rarely do I have the chance to do that. Several times, the user just wanted it done in a short time, or they were completely OK with a full format and restore to factory settings.