Is it even possible?

[abhijit]

I am not familiar with this.

Is it possible to boot your desktop using a Linux CD and then scan your windows partition for viruses?

If yes, what are the tools available?

[DeanMc]

I would imagine so, I have also heard of usb drives with a virus scanner on them!

[ntg]

You need to boot from a Linux distro that has NTFS drivers. At that point you can download a Linux virus scanner (the distro creates a memory disk in which you can temporarily download stuff) and use that. I know that Clam can scan Windows documents for viruses but I've no idea how it handles executables and dll libraries (if at all).

[RobDog888]

Thread Moved

[gep13]

Hey,

You might want to take a look at the following:

http://njlinux.blogspot.com/2008/01/virus-scan-windows-using-linux-live-cd.html

Hope that helps!!

Gary

[abhijit]

Hey,

You might want to take a look at the following:

http://njlinux.blogspot.com/2008/01/virus-scan-windows-using-linux-live-cd.html

Hope that helps!!

Gary

Thanks for the link. Blogspot.com is a forbidden domain. I will take a look at it later.

[gep13]

Ah, that is a problem :)

Definitely worth a look though, seem to step through everything that you would need.

Gary

[ckennedy79]

It's possible. I used to do tech support for a company that virus scanned this way.

[abhijit]

It's possible. I used to do tech support for a company that virus scanned this way.

What tools did you use?

[ckennedy79]

What tools did you use?

To be honest it was 10 years ago and I don't really recall exactly what was on the CD. I just know that this is how it was done.

[gep13]

abhijit did you ever look at the link I provided?

Gary

[Nicelydone]

Um knoppix STD is a bootable version of linux with a ton of utilities built in. That and a USB drive and you can boot any virus scan you want. Provided its supported by linux. Virus removal is a little different.

[abhijit]

abhijit did you ever look at the link I provided?

Gary

Gary,
That link was definitely worth a "dekko". Thanks for the link.

[gep13]

Ok, I have to ask...

What's a "dekko" :)

[abhijit]

Ok, I have to ask...

What's a "dekko" :)



The colloquial meaning for that word in Hindi is "look". It has now been adapted by a number of leading publications in India. I also found a reference on urban dictionary. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dekko)

[gep13]

Ah, that makes sense :)

[agmorgan]

Thats a little complicated with the command lines.
Get an Ubuntu CD, it will recognise your NT discs.
Click on them so that they are mounted.
Use an online scanner to scan the mounted drive
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1036122

[gep13]

Hey,

If I really thought there was a problem with a drive, I think I would always want to run a more thorough scan locally on a machine. I assume you would have to upload each file to the online scanner, surely that would take quite a while?!?

Gary

[agmorgan]

There are (at least) two different types of online scanners.
The first is, as you mention, a service that scans files you upload.
The second is a webpage with an ActiveX control or a Java applet that contains the virusscanner, which then scans your entire drive.
e.g.
http://www.bitdefender.com/scanner/online/free.html

[gep13]

Hey,

Ah, ok, that makes a bit more sense.

Personally though, I wouldn't want to give an outside party that much access to my machine, but good to know that it is there in case I ever need it for something.

Gary

[ckennedy79]

Hey,

Ah, ok, that makes a bit more sense.

Personally though, I wouldn't want to give an outside party that much access to my machine, but good to know that it is there in case I ever need it for something.

Gary

I used to like the online one from TrendMicro back in my computer tech days, ewido used to be good too but I'm not sure it's around anymore.

[gep13]

TrendMicro is a package that I have used in the past, the thick client version that is, wasn't aware of an online version.

Gary