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I'm looking for a bootable (livecd) cd that will perform an antivirus scan on a computer without needing an internet connection. It should have its latest virus signatures included so I can simply download and burn it.

I've seen http://www.techmixer.com/free-bootable-antivirus-rescue-cds-download-list/ suggested in various questions asked here, but that post is from 2008.

I tried:

  • Bitdefender rescue cd
  • Trinity rescue kit (TRK)
  • Panda SafeCD

and they all require an internet connection.

Bitdefender crashed when trying to get the latest updates from a nonexisting internet connection.
TRK doesn't even have the AV engines installed, and it needs to download them to scan anything.
Panda wouldn't even let me scan since it detected that the internet connection was missing.

I then tried:

  • Avira Rescue CD (part of UBCD too), which loads/copies its vdf files, then tells me "Scanner not found!" and halts right there.
  • Dr. Web Live CD which loads and seems to scan, but won't show me any status/report afterwards so it doesn't reassure me.
  • Kaspersky Rescue CD, which seems to scan fine but the latest iso had signatures from July 2010.

So, before trying to build UBCD4Win which requires an XP CD (this is for a friend, so I'd rather not do that) and some effort, what would you suggest for a linux based livecd that has its latest signatures included, will boot, scan, and show me a report of what it found? One that has a high detection rate would be preferable, ofcourse.

Thanks in advance

(Sorry for lack of links, I had them all nicely formatted but I can't post >1 yet)

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1 Answer

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Hirens Boot CD or AVG rescue CD.

Why does it have no internet connection, if I may ask? Hooking one up while it's on a live CD won't risk the network at all, and will certainly make it a lot easier.

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Not everywhere in the world internet connection is so accessible... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship – Vi. Sep 23 '10 at 10:46
Thanks for your suggestions. I'll try AVG. Hiren's seems to include Dr.Web only. There's no internet available over there. It's not by choice. – Fanis Sep 23 '10 at 10:47
I'm aware that plenty of places don't have internet, but I was wondering if it was possible to move the computer to somewhere that does. – Trezoid Sep 23 '10 at 11:03
that's not possible, nor is bringing internet to it via say a 3G modem. In any case, thanks for reminding me about Hiren's. AVG didn't work for me but I'm hoping Hiren's will. – Fanis Sep 24 '10 at 7:06

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