It’s a shame that this is such a big part of the job, but it’s inevitable. You know that time is coming when you’ll require the assistance of portable antivirus and/or anti-malware tool. Should Spybot fubar your PC’s registry, you’ll have a backup to restore to, safe and sound. And Spybot has a unique feature that will help you back up your registry before you begin the scan. This anti-malware tool does a great job of finding and removing malicious software–all from your flash drive. Spybot – Search & Destroy Portable ( Figure E) is the portable version of the massively popular full Spybot Search & Destroy. Figure D 5: Spybot – Search & Destroy Portable If you already use the full version of VIPRE, you can still run this tool if your machine becomes so infected, VIPRE won’t run. You double-click the executable and a command window opens with the scanner running (and running at blazing speeds). VIPRE is run in safe mode and does not depend upon a GUI tool for use. VIPRE Rescue ( Figure D) is that tool you use when your machine is severely infected. This is my go-to portable virus scanning software. ClamWin doesn’t offer a real-time scanner, but that’s not an issue for a portable version.

ClamWin has a high detection rate, has frequently updated definitions, and provides an easy-to-use graphical interface. 1: ClamWin PortableĬlamWin Portable ( Figure A) is very much like its big brother: It’s free, open source, and does a great job of disinfecting machines. All these tools are portable and work like champs. I’ve found five such tools that could certainly get you out of a serious pinch.

When that time comes, you’ll be glad you have one (or more) tools on your USB drive to help you out.

When their machines get infected, you could wind up fighting a losing battle–unless you have the right tools.īut sometimes the antivirus tools installed on the machine just aren’t enough. When they do these things, their machines get infected. End users will open files, install cutesy apps, and go to sites they shouldn’t go to. Let’s face it: One of the primary Windows admin tasks is keeping machines free of infection.

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