Recommended offline on-demand virus scanners

I have never run full anti-virus on my Windows XP systems. Instead I use various anti-malware tools to manually perform scans every few weeks. This approach, combined with Windows updates and general care about what web-sites I visit and what files I download has kept me 99% free of problems.

The remaining 1% has occurred when I download files that I know may contain malware, but still decide the risk is worth it. When on 2 occasions in 10 years I did get caught doing this, I realised that being able to easily scan them would most likely have avoided getting infected.

I don't need, or want, to run a "stay resident" anti-virus. Also, the online scanners such as Kaspersky etc limit uploads to small files, so these are not always useful.

In summary I would like to simply be able to download a file and then manually initiate an on demand anti-virus scan, on the downloaded file only.

I'm sure some/most Anti-Virus do both, however once again I don't really want to pay for or need the stay resident part.

Any recommendations (commercial or free)?

UPDATE:

This is not an exact duplicate, nor a possible duplicate. I searched for and read other questions on anti-virus here at SuperUser and found none that answered my question.

I am specifically asking about anti-virus scanners that run ON-DEMAND locally on the computer, not online scanners.

Solution 1:

I use ESET NOD32 - it feels extremely lightweight, and is certainly very fast... perfect for on-demand checking.

Solution 2:

Clamwin does what you're looking for and it's FOSS as well. It allows you to simply scan the files you want instead of having resident scanning in the background.

• High detection rates for viruses and spyware;
• Scanning Scheduler;
• Automatic downloads of regularly updated Virus Database.
• Standalone virus scanner and right-click menu integration to Microsoft Windows Explorer;
• Addin to Microsoft Outlook to remove virus-infected attachments automatically.

Solution 3:

Some other free (at least for personnal use), offline, on-demand (and portable) scanners:

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

SpyBot - Search & Destroy

DrWeb Cure It

AVZ

Solution 4:

I personally use the free version of AVG, for the same reason. Also this fall, Windows' is releasing their free version which so far sounds better than most of the others out there that cost money. I would use AVG for now, and look to switch to Microsoft's this Fall if you want. (And no this is a real full version, no pop-ups or limitations that I have really found, just make sure to turn off the link-checker or your Google slows down, though it may be off by default now).

Here is the download page: http://free.avg.com/download