Is there a free anti-virus software that only scans but doesnt monitor?

i hate anti-virus software nowadays because they install those services that run all the time, i dont want real-time protection. is there a good anti-virus that just scans for viruses and thats it.
i want to have the choice to have nothing running in the background, im not into this paranoia these anti-virus companies want you to believe. and i think anti-virus programs create more problems than they solve.
i used to use AVG for more than years and never got any viruses except for the false positives and the usual cookies. why would i need something that hogs the computer all the time? i just browse the popular sites and thats it. only thing im scared off is adware and malware, and i dont know which free antimalware/adware that removes them for me without real-time protection.

 

i started thinking about AV software again, because recently i was redirected to a fake anti-virus software site thing where it scans your computer automatically, it didnt prompt me to install anything so i figure it didnt install viruses, but it asked me if i want a scan and even though i pressed the cancel button it still quickly proceeded to scan or whatever. of course i didnt wait for it to finish, i quickly closed the browser 5 seconds into it.

 

There is no cancel button on those, just one big OK button. Hope you got in time. I'd run some malware scans at this point;
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407
Regarding anti virus, I use AVG with a custom installation, declining all options except the top check box on the "tree", just anti virus only. Have found that to work well, even on systems with limited RAM. Doesn't hog the system at all this way. :wave:wave

 

At this point, the first thing to do is follow brandypeppy's advice and follolw the READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide.

Browse through the Malware Removal forum and I think you'll see that the "paranoia" is justified.

If more folks would follow these two guides, Using the internet safely and How to Protect yourself from malware!, it would lighten the load on the over worked Malware Removal experts here. Prevention is the best cure.

If you still want an anti-virus scanner only, you might try installing a-squared Free edition, although it tends to abuse the term "false positive". I haven't tried this but as I understand it, Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus can be installed without realtime protection. Another alternative you might look at is Sandboxie.

For anti-malware scanning the two best are probably Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware.

Just because a site is "popular" doesn't mean it's safe. And

Two very good reasons to have real-time protection installed. It only takes a few seconds to become infected.

 

I use PC Tools AV Free Edition. It runs one type 04 process and one type 023 NT Service. It is available here from Major Geeks. You won't find a less resource hungry AV.

 

Well, you obviously know what you're doing, up to a point. Never ever respond to an unsolicited pop-up! Kill it in task manager first! Now as to an AV using up your resources, there are some low impact freebies out there.

 

As an answer to your question in the thread title "Is there a free anti-virus software that only scans but doesnt monitor?". Yes. Here's a few I've used in the past:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/a-squared_Free_edition_d4281.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/ClamWin_Free_Antivirus_d5544.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dr.Web_CureIT_d4783.html
.... and the list could go on and on. You could install Avira's free AntiVir which does have real-time active monitoring, but simply disable the real-time monitoring. IMO, Avira has some of the best detection/removal rates of the free AV apps, and I highly recommend it. It does have a 'nag screen' that many people can't stand, but it only comes up once a day when the automatic updates are installed, and it is easily closed (and easily disabled if you simply Google "disable AntiVir nag" LOL ).

 

well i agree with you Avira is the best out there but can you choose not to install its real-time monitoring components during installation? and by that i mean no services what so ever are installed or even present?

because from my experience say with AVG is that even though one could choose to not install the email scanner and real-time protection during installation, it still installs those services and are running but are disabled by default. these services dont do anything and remain dormant but they are still there. what am looking for is a reliable anti-virus/malware remover that can be updated and does not run anything in the background and just scans only.

i know thats not what people want nowadays because of the dangers out there, but lets be honest, you guys will scream once google comes out with its own anti-virus.

Thanks to all who replied, after reading all your comments i figure im in the minority who think viruses arent really much of a threat. ive narrowed down my choices to these portable anti-viruses:

-- Dr.Web CureIT (is it reliable?)
-- Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (is this better?)
--- ClamWin Portable
--- Bitdefender Free Edition (does it install those services that only work with paid version?)



they all say these arent permanent solutions but im gonna use one of them as such and i dont know which one is reliable as Avira for example and scans for all viruses, malware, adware, spyware. as well as having the ability to be updated since im guessing thats important (sadly Dr. web doesnt do this) and it can cure files and not mess things up more. whether its a fast scanner or not i dont care as long as i choose when it scans. and it must not install any servies of any kind, just the scanner.

 

-- Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool: good luck trying to remove it after you install it. I've tried using this app 4 different times, each time about 3-4 weeks before the last, and NEVER have had any luck trying to remove it via normal methods. I always had to resort to EXTREMES to remove it, like manually deleting files via the Recovery Console or from a preinstallation environment. STAY AWAY!
--- ClamWin Portable: I'm not familiar with the portable version; the installed version is pretty good, but it is set by default to only notify you of infections, it does not remove or quarantine anything, so be sure to go to the settings and configure it as needed.
-- Dr.Web CureIT: again, pretty good; they release a new version at least once daily, sometimes 2-3 times daily; their web site is the best place to get newest release (link: http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/); the download name is a different random string of characters for each release which helps it defeat many infections that block AV tools based on file names; as you stated, it doesn't update itself, but you can download new releases daily, but I don't think any of the apps w/o real-time active protection have automatic updates, you'll probably have to manually update 'em one way or another.
--- Bitdefender Free Edition: haven't used it in about 8 months, and was never really a fan back then, no real reason that I can remember, but my memory sucks...

As to your questions about Avira: I don't know if you can leave out certain components during the install, I do know it is easy to disable the real-time protection; I haven't installed Avira in a little while, but I think there's a "custom install" option and it might have the choice to not install the active components; check it out and let us know!

 

Im leaning towards Dr Web Cureit and maybe i can try Avira granted it uninstalls easily, ill see if i can test it on a different computer. but right now i need to check if there are infections or not first, im expecting a few hopefully harmless.

its sad that there isnt a way to uninstall Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, since the it got that brand name. it was called AVL i think and then kaspersky bought it but i aint sure.

 

You might also consider the free versions of MalwareBytes and SUPERAntiSpywarel. While they are not technically anti-virus programs, and they're listed in the Anti-Spyware section here at Major Geeks, both are excellent at detecting and removing viruses, trojans, bots, worms, rootkits, and all other forms of malware. The free SUPER Antispyware does have some minor real-time protection in the form of internet home-page hijack prevention, but that's it, and it is easily disabled. SUPER-AS also has a lot of repair features that can be helpful when recovering from a malware infection. The free version of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (or MBAM) is famous for being one of the best (if not THE best) all-purpose malware scan and removal applications.

 

sorry for the late reply. does MalwareBytes Anti-Malware offer real-time protection? because i dont want it to run in the background either.

i have done a complete scan with Dr. web cureit and i got no viruses, maybe i should scan with another anti-virus just to be sure?

 

The free version of Malwarebytes only runs on demand and does not start any services.