Many of us, these days, prefer to use a second opinion malware scanner on our Windows computer, just to be doubly safe, even though we may be having an antivirus software installed on it. We have already seen a list of standalone on-demand Antivirus Scanners for Windows. Today we will check out eScan Anti-Virus Toolkit.
Second opinion malware scanner
If in doubt, one can always visit online antivirus scanners to scan our computers, or if its a single file, get it scanned with an online malware scanner using multiple antivirus engines. But if you are looking to have a standalone on-demand antivirus scanner installed locally, you may check out eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit.
eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) is a free software that lets you scan and remove detected viruses, spyware, adware, rootkits and any other malware that may have infected your computer. It is a portable tool that requires no installation. You can run it from your computer, USB drive or any external drive, as it co-exists well with all security software.
This utility scans computer completely, removes detected malware, including illegal dialers, and provides reports. It even detects and eliminates background illegal sniffers or tools like Spyware, Adware, Keyloggers etc. eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) also lets you see the network activity.
The UI may look a bit dull, but it is functional and easy-to-understand. eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit offers various scan options. You can scan the memory, installed services, registry or particular folders.
You can select to scan for spyware as well as archives. The tool lets you simply Scan or Scan and Clean. The scan was executed in a reasonable period of time.
The best part is that it gets updated on a daily basis with the latest updates. Updates to the scan engines also take place without requiring you to uninstall the existing version. Simply click on the Update button to update the tool.
If you wish, you can add eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit to the your startups, so that it scans and clean your computer every time you start using it.
eScan Anti-Virus Toolkit MWAV free download
Download it here. It works with Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server – both 32-bit & 64-bit OS. Do note that they require you to give your email and other details first.
I was going to download and see, but company’s link first requires plain email signup, then has only links to a 189MB installer manager for this, as it looks like the whole program MAY (but not necessarily is) be free for home and personal use; the site terms are confusing, but indeed my browser showed an escan installer file of 189MB…so I didn’t try it.
But I went and read West Coast Labs and AV Comparatives specs Ii had available; both organizations as of February and March 2014 represented that whereas escan has shortcomings as a firewall and anti-phishing utility, it does very well in the antivirus department…which is the point of the second-opinion story. There are malware which can detect even Comodo and Kaspersky drivers, then use different code to get around even them, as well as block popular AVs from running; the maker of escan is MicroWorld Technologies in Mumbai, India, so some users in other global regions might benefit from Western malware makers not adding it to their “evade” list of common Western target protections
So you’ve got a good tip in escan, and I hope people don’t stay away just because of download size or that they might not know escan. For those to whom download bandwidth is dear, and should have at least some kind of antivirus utility, it seems Tweaking.com now has both installer/portable versions of Windows Repair All In One featuring link to download a free version of Malwarebytes to scan an infected unit (Malwarebytes includes ‘chameleon’ shortcuts masked as random file names so malware can’t see it to stop it, no driver issues on portable); once malware is removed, Windows Repair All In One attempts to regain PC internet use as well as repair files damaged by malware…degree of results can vary.
Thanks for reminding me – I meant to, but forgot to mention they they require you to submit email and other details. Updated post.
No problem, and I’ve no intent of usurping this forum or topic, but a few more things some might like to know (I have unlimited bandwidth so I don’t mind taking notion to download and try if it helps people).
1. Escan site offers no-installer link at its download page, but it’s still 189MB.
2. There’s no way to choose install location; it auto-extracts itself to C: disk “Downloads” file (or wherever you tell it to download), auto-sets a desktop icon for itself, then asks you to update, for an initial 109MB more space (not more than one-time problem if you have large USB space to save it in/run it from).
3. I know that per AV Comparatives last September, Escan caught 99.4% of their test viruses, but with 28 out of 100 clean files also blocked (false positives), which AV Comparatives calls “high” rate. There is no quarantine feature, just scan-and-clean, so be extremely careful in use and create restore point just in case.
4. Escan is known to use BitDefender, Kaspersky, or both engine(s), so it’s quality signature base, though no heuristic scan so update every run. Doesn’t add itself to context menu, but one can set folder and subdirectories scan via GUI.
5. I gave Escan a quick test via the three HTTP and three HTTPS EICAR virus test files; Escan found all six in nothing flat, but its “clean” function is only to rename each file by leaving them with their names and adding further extension “.mwt” to files. This neutralized test files, and renaming back did not reactivate them; so in case of false positives getting removed, keep a record of things renamed to “.mwt” so at least you’ll know what files need replacing, if possible.
A little worrisome in re false positives, but Escan caught all EICAR tests just sitting there…even Comodo CIS usually misses one or two on scans (but immediately stops and cleans every one of them when you attempt to open). Thanks for letting me relate my experience with a security product, hope this helps people, and have a great week!
You are in no way usurping the topic. 🙂 In fact your inputs are great, and I am sure other readers will find them very useful.
Then one last clean-up: I did some checking with MicroWorld and otherwise, and it seems their relevant free version DOES have heuristic and other scanning tech built into it. I also found it has a function which places itself over Winsock, in effort to filter TCP content for malware; in all, it’s fairly similar to the BitDefender Free suite version, and a good option for one needing resident AV only…just be sure to use a restore point or at least note all file names it cleaned.
As to use as second opinion re resident AV/suite: MicroWorld says it can be used with other AV present, but exception occurred…though it looked like Escan auto-extracted itself to “C:” ‘Downloads’ and ran from there, it put files in “C:” temp areas, program data, program files, and registry (which made clean uninstalling fun as no uninstaller if downloaded via non-installer link); and in so doing it stomped on some Comodo CIS drivers causing Defense+ to lock and become over-protective of certain app/internet functions (a known Defense+ habit, had to reinstall). If others can’t contain a “portable” install to USB, they could find MicroWorld files on HDD and panic, or see resident AV go goofy. Does have a nag screen to upgrade when closing, so loose portable install could be “since it’s there anyway and working $o well…”.
Again, hope this helps people put more light than mud on the topic. Cheers!
This will work at Window XP??
It will work. But you need to have enough space in C Drive. It will create “Fbackup” directory in C drive. if you are ignore this folder, it will occupies your drive. so please delete inside dump files every day or two.
Be care full. Escan antivirus will create “FBackup” folder in “C” drive. Please delete inside data regularly, other wise it will eat your entire Cdrive space.
Thanks for this input. 🙂
are this freeware ?
E-SCAN ANTIVIRUS NON E’ FREE.SAREBBE OPPORTUNO PRECISARE,SUBITO, QUANDO SONO FREE, O SI PAGANO. GRAZIE DR. ADAMO ADAMAS KADMON
Thank you for taking time to comment in reply to me; I have nothing whatsoever to do with The Windows Club, other than read/sometimes talk, But it’s always great to know there are still companies that participate in product discussions.
I think eScan is a terrific product, but I was a little confused about the “portable” version. Other than that I agree that eScan would be a superb resident antivirus for those in need of one; but if installed as resident second opinion alongside another resident AV, driver conflicts et al might occur…as it could with any mix of any resident AVs.
For me, eScan’s ability to detect virus “samples”, together with TCP Winsock filtering, was extremely impressive; apart from the installer confusion, there is no reason anyone should shy away from eScan, or think twice about using it if they need a resident AV…FP’s are common in antimalware but, as you say, many are not technically savvy and may need to know to keep an eye on whatever ANY clean-only utility removes.
Thanks again for taking time, and may you too have a great week!
I just thought of sharing my views on this discussion….I do agree with Mr. DAN that eScan is a fantastic product and I have been using this in our corporate network of 250 computers for more than 2 years now.
We appreciate the features which eScan as a product has incorporated in their product to name few
eScan Remote Support, Inventory Management, Safe mode protection, Patch Management and many more. Their support is excellent which is available round the clock and also before purchasing the product of we ask for a webinar to understand the technology and the features of the product as an end customer they do provide it without any hesitance……GREAT TEAM
Recently we have also installed eScan Android for Tablets for our Sr. Management Team,which is again a feature rich product but the concern is that it does not have a Single Management Console through which we can manage our entire network and tablets.
eScan is a ” VALUE FOR MONEY” as a solution
Hi All, Yes Dan you are correct, you cannot have two scanners on the system, one..both scanning engines will clash when trying to deal with a virus or malware in general and this could cause your system to crash , two.. every file you access will; be scanned twice and this could make your system very very slow. so you need just one resident scanner on the system.
@ Kiran Kumar,, yes eScan does create fbackup folder and here you have an option to decide and configure how much space you need to dedicate ( in MB ) on your hard disk for the fbackup folder. you can check the file antivirus /settings section. Also the fbackup folder is always generated on the disk which has the maximum free space ….Yes this product works on XP also right upto the latest Win 8.1. And this product has a 30 day fully functional trial period after which you can contact us to get a license as a good rate . the MWAV scanner is a freeware and can be downloaded from our website http://www.escanav.com … We have products for Android, Linux and Mac if anyone wishes to protect these systems also ..