On-demand scan only? (no services in the background)

[glocal]

I installed the Home version on a friend's PC and it works fine so far. I however need an AV app that only runs on-demand (no services, no startup apps, nothing, not even an auto-updater). I mean, every time I want to check a file, I will scan it manually through the context menu, and I will run the updater through Win Scheduled Tasks. Can Avast do this? It becomes amazingly difficult to find an AV app that does just that. So, before I even install Avast, can someone confirm this is possible? I am fed up with installing/uninstalling AV apps for two days. Even BitDefender that claims otherwise runs several services in the background and you can't stop them if you want the product to work. Before people tell me how good resident protection is for me, trust me, I know what I am doing

[LorenzoC]

You could try this: http://www.clamwin.com/

[glocal]

Thanks for the tip. I considered that but it seems to have a very bad reputation for low detection rates. With v8 (a compulsory upgrade) AVG also now switches to compulsory bloatedness

[DavidR]

avast is designed as an on-access scanner so you would have to do some serious hacking to stop it running, add to that the latest version also comes with self-defence so you would also have to disable that before you should do anything else.

Even if the services were set to manual there are registry entries, that load low level drivers.

So I would have to ask why you are even considering crippling avast ?
The resources aren't that bad if that is the concern.

[glocal]

Modern apps have this funny habit of assuming what is good for us and simply because there are plenty of resources they choose to run in the background constantly without asking -- some of them even refuse to go away. In my experience from a number of machines, a modern pc's speed typically is reduced to a crawl because of the combined effect of these apps. Of course all of these mean well, arguably, but I am the administrator. Personally, I only allow code (inc services) that is *absolutely* necessary to run in the background, and an on-access AV app is not in that category. No wonder my main PC is one of the oldest, yet most responsive systems I know, even compared to lightweight Linux setups. I find it an obscene waste of resources that every single file has to be scanned even when you know your system is 100% clean and offline.

Frankly I don't understand why developers don't wish to accommodate this. It wouldn't cost them anything to attract more users by changing their app slightly. On-demand only could come with various warnings for novice users. I can't complain about Avast of course. It's a free product. After all if you didn't like it, even if it was paid-for, you could go elsewhere. That's what I am doing anyway.

[igor]

You have to realize that most of the users are not interested in such a configuration. Statistically speaking, those few (tens? hundreds?) who are, compared to the tens of milions who aren't... don't really justify the effort. If it were really a tiny change, then maybe... but it's often not that easy as you imagine.

You could achieve what you want with avast! (Professional; in avast! Home there's no ashUpd.exe file, as far as I remember, so I don't know how to handle the scheduled updates) - but it won't be exactly simple. (You'd have to disable the self-defence first, then remove the services... and some features, such as moving the files to Chest, would not be available, as they require the server to be running). Because of that, you may get some warning when starting the scanner.

And, because of UAC, things are more likely to be shifted the opposite direction in the future (that the scanning itself will be provided by a service and the scanners will be just "clients" - so you won't be able to scan anything without the services running).

[glocal]

I think you underestimate the number of people who would go for that feature. Look at the number of users opting for ClamWin, which does only on-demand scanning. Imagine how much more popular it would be if it didn't have a bad reputation for low detection rate. You may also look at the AVG forum and the current v8 'First Impressions' thread.

I am not in the development team, but seriously I don't think it would take much effort to do what AV apps have been doing for years and ClamWin still does: ie use a simple database and a scanner on demand.

Anyway, I am not the developer, so it's not up to me. For now, I installed ClamWin -- it's GPL too.

[Lisandro]

Modern apps have this funny habit of assuming what is good for us and simply because there are plenty of resources they choose to run in the background constantly without asking -- some of them even refuse to go away.

Try Symantec ones

Personally, I only allow code (inc services) that is *absolutely* necessary to run in the background, and an on-access AV app is not in that category.

I have to disagree. Politely I hope, but AV couldn't be on that category.

every single file has to be scanned even when you know your system is 100% clean and offline.

Just configure avast to not doing so. avast is very configurable.

[jimi]

I strongly second the OPs sentiments.

I came here looking for an on-demand only scanner. A good one. I too am now looking at Clamwin but feel it just isn't as good. I have ESET Smart Security for all my personal computers but wish to have a second, on-demand, scanner when desired. I'd even pay (a little  ).

Why is this so hard to find?

 

[Vladimyr]

I strongly second the OPs sentiments.

I came here looking for an on-demand only scanner. A good one. I too am now looking at Clamwin but feel it just isn't as good. I have ESET Smart Security for all my personal computers but wish to have a second, on-demand, scanner when desired. I'd even pay (a little  ).

Why is this so hard to find?

There's BitDefender Free 10 and 8 if they are still supported? (Actually, even though they are on-demand only, I'm not sure that they don't load a service!)

F-Secure and Kaspersky Online Virus Scanners.

Alongside what igor said about UAC, MS is continually narrowing the parameters of third-party software that Windows will tolerate with minimal disruption and conflict. There is very little (and diminishing) incentive for any security software organization to develop and go to market with a product, the effectiveness of which is entirely dependent on the user.  So in the end, whether there is or isn't significant demand for an entirely user-initiated AV scanner doesn't really matter.

[Tarq57]

Why is this so hard to find?

Maybe it's related to demand. It seems to be a fairly small percentage that want this.

[mevcit]

Avira Antivir can be used as an on-demand scanner (actually it is not designed as an on-demand scanner, but it can be used in that way), and in my opinion Avast and Avira are the best choices as on-demand scanners because they have very good detection rates (also they are good enough for resident protection). Both Avast and Antivir services can be set to manual.

Here you can get a 6-month license of Antivir Premium for free (it is a promotion), this version includes ad/spy signatures as distinct from the free version: https://license.avira.com/de/promotion-a8ydzq3fgnsu051rwq81

jimi, I strongly suggest you not to use ESET products. NOD32 has low detection rates, and especially it sucks at detecting the malwares which mostly infect computers by flash disks. The database is weak. I suggest you to replace ESS with Avast and a firewall such as Zone Alarm Free, PC Tools Free, Online Armor Free... Also you should use Avira for on-demand usage.

[normishmael]

Maybe Dr Web Cureit?
But you do have to be online to update the application each time.

[solcroft]

avast! in its current state can be set up entirely as an on-demand scanner if you wish. Turn off self-protection, and then use a tool like SREng (www.kztechs.com) to cut away everything avast! loads into memory: startup processes, services, and drivers. Works like a charm - even the drivers can be disabled, leaving no chance of conflicts if you decide to install another resident AV.

As igor mentioned, however, the Virus Chest won't be available if you do this. Also take note that I've only tried this under XP, possible snafus involved when running under Vista.

[Snagglegrain]

I run Avira AntiVir Personal (free) on-demand along with my favorite, avast! on-access.  During Avira install, don't load the Guard.  Set the scheduling service to manual and download updates manually by running preupd.exe found in the Avira folder after install.  It works great.  Good luck.