How to check a disk for viruses. USB Disk Security – protect your computer from viruses from USB flash drives

Viruses are the main problem faced by personal computer users. A huge number of different programs have been developed to combat this infection. But users do not always consider it necessary to take care of this problem in advance. It is not uncommon to resort to using it only when the computer is infected. This is exactly the situation we will consider in this article. So, how to check your computer for viruses?

Checking a Single File

The most simple situation- you have suspicions about one or more files. In this case, it is best to resort to using online services to scan files for viruses. One of best services This type of site is VirusTotal.com. It allows you to check a file for viruses using dozens of different antivirus programs.

In order to check the file, you need to go to VirusTotal.com, click on the “Select file” button and specify suspicious file. After this you need to run the scan.

If such a file has already been scanned for viruses, you will see a corresponding warning.

Here you can view the latest analysis of the file or re-check the file again.

How to scan your entire computer for viruses

If you need to check your computer for viruses in full, then you cannot do without using antiviruses. Free anti-virus scanners Dr.Web CureIt are great for one-time scanning of your computer for viruses! and Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool.

As an example, let's look at the process of checking for viruses using the Dr.Web CureIt! program. Dr.Web CureIt! available for download on the website. The program does not require installation and is immediately ready to use.

When starting, the program will prompt you to select one of the operating modes: Mode enhanced protection or regular. In enhanced protection mode, you will not be able to perform any actions on your computer until you complete the virus scan. To continue working in enhanced protection mode, click “OK”; to switch to normal mode, click “Cancel”.

After launch, the program prompts you to immediately begin scanning or select objects to scan.

If you need to quickly scan your operating system for viruses, then feel free to click on the “Start scanning” button. If you want to scan a specific folder for viruses, then you need to click on the “Select objects to scan” link.

Dr.Web CureIt! It uses Dr.Web anti-virus databases, so this scan detects any possible virus threats.

How to check your computer for viruses from a boot disk

There are situations when, due to virus infection, the computer does not work stably. Sometimes this leads to the fact that it is simply impossible to scan for viruses. To solve such problems, use special boot disks with antiviruses. Using a boot disk, you can boot your computer bypassing the infected operating system and run a virus scan.

Many antivirus companies provide such disks for free. For example: , .

For example, let's look at working with the Kaspersky Rescue Disk. Given boot disk can be downloaded from the official website in . After this, the disk image must be written to physical media, that is, to a CD. After burning, the boot disk with antivirus is ready for use.

During the boot process from Kaspersky Rescue Disk, you need to select a language (Russian is supported), and also select an operating mode (graphic or text).

The graphical operating mode has a simple and intuitive interface. Understanding Kaspersky Rescue Disk will not be difficult even for inexperienced users. You can run a virus scan using a shortcut on your desktop or using a special menu in the lower left corner of the screen.

USB Disk Security- This free application to ensure complete protection against all kinds of malware, distributed via removable USB media. The application works with external hard drives, memory cards, digital cameras, flash drives, as well as other devices that can be connected via a USB connector. At the core work Disk Security is a special threat detection technology; Like an antivirus program, the utility is able to work in hidden mode, only making its existence known only if malware is detected.

Basically, a personal computer is infected with viruses at the time of use. global network Internet, a little less often this happens during the installation of a dubious or unverified program. An infected file can also enter a PC through the most ordinary flash drive.

When an infected flash drive is connected to a personal computer, malicious software penetrates the hard drive, and most importantly, this happens so quickly that installed anti-virus programs do not always have time to react in time. Especially for such cases, it is necessary to use programs that can easily cope with this type of threat. Today Disk Security is one of the best programs to protect against infected files distributed via USB drives.

When viruses are detected, the application, depending on the settings, will delete or block them, thereby preventing them from launching automatically. In addition, the utility is able to restore the system after it has been infected with malware, clean the hard drive of temporary files, prohibit copying files from the computer’s hard drive, check URLs, complete blocking of USB ports, startup control, forced scanning of hard drives.

The program is equipped with a convenient and simple user interface in Russian. The control panel is located on the left side of the working window, consisting of seven main points. The following sections deserve special attention: data protection, scanning and USB shield.

The last section is responsible for displaying a full report on all detected threats. You also need to take into account that the utility by default automatically removes any malicious application. So, in order to avoid deleting important documents, it is better to disable this option, for example, after deleting the boot file, your USB drive will not be able to start. After disabling, Disk Security will act as follows - it will automatically move the infected file to quarantine or simply mark it.

In addition to tools for automatically checking flash media, the “Scanning” section is equipped with a vaccination function. Vaccination can be carried out both on removable media and on the actual personal computer. In this case, a special file is created on a flash drive or hard drive that prohibits some malicious applications. If desired, vaccination can be turned off.

The “Data Protection” section is able to provide devices with higher protection; for example, you can set a ban on moving data from the computer to a memory card or even block access to the PC through USB port. To close access, you will need to restart the computer, only after this the settings will take effect.

Key features of USB Disk Security:

• Perform a more thorough scan external drives. If malware is detected, it is either deleted or quarantined.
• The presence of a resident anti-virus scanner that is triggered when a new USB drive is connected. Without making changes to the settings, infected files will be automatically deleted.
• If necessary, you can perform a complete shutdown automatic start on PC.
• When using the utility, you can view the content without the risk of infecting your personal computer.
• Sites are scanned for infected applications. The following services are used during the scan: Trend Micro, McAfee, VirusTotal, Symantec and Google.
• Search service linkzb.com provides the opportunity safe use Internet.
• The application is able to prevent unauthorized USB connection media to PC.
• Blocking the copying of unauthorized data to USB is done by using the Access Control tool.
• Using a system for cleaning temporary files, if the virus is located in temporary directories, it will be deleted immediately.
• You can set a password in the program settings.
• Full control over applications included in startup.
• Availability of a built-in system for restoring important directories in the registry that were affected by malware.
• You can download Disk Security completely free of charge.
• Works on Windows XP, 7 and 8.
• Automatically checks for updates.
• The application does not need to update the virus database, since it does not work like a standard anti-virus program.
• Due to its small size, the utility can be installed even on a weak personal computer.
• Seems to be fully compatible with many modern antivirus programs.
• Using a multilingual interface, a total of 12 languages ​​are available.

USB Disk Security is a simple and effective program to use to provide complete protection against malware distributed through removable media.

To the operating system Windows included programs that allow you to format floppy disks, check floppy and hard drives for errors, defragment disks and many other operations.

Formatting – is the process of dividing a disk into sectors and tracks 1.

Disk check for the presence of various types of errors and failures is provided by a special program that performs both checking the disk and correcting software errors. At the end of the work, the program reports the total volume of the disk, how much memory is occupied by programs, and whether there are bad sectors on the disk.

Running the disk check program:

p.k.m. on disk → Properties → Service→ press the button Execute check

As your computer operates, the contents of files are moved to different areas of disk space. Typically, files are not stored in one location on the disk. They are divided into parts and are located in different areas of the disk. This method of storing information significantly increases the time it takes to access it and makes it difficult to work with large files.

Disk defragmentation – moves files on disk so that all parts of one file are stored in adjacent areas. Using a defragmentation program can improve your computer's performance when working with disks.

Running the disk defragmenter program:

p.k.m. on disk → Properties → Service→ press the button Defragmentation

button on Taskbars →All programs → Standard → Service→ Defragmentation

When working intensively on a computer, even with a large hard drive, two problems constantly arise. The first is the possibility of damage or loss of information on a magnetic disk due to physical damage to the disk, accidental destruction of objects, or the presence of any viruses. The second is the continuous growth of the amount of information that needs to be stored on disk.

2. Check disks for viruses

Computer virus is a program that can create copies of itself (not necessarily completely identical to the original) and embed them in files, system areas of the computer, computer networks, etc. At the same time, the copies retain the ability to be further distributed.

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the causes of viruses

This requires the user of a personal computer to have knowledge about the nature of viruses, methods of infection by viruses and protection against them.

Currently, more than 5,000 software viruses are known

There are several classifications, according to one of them viruses can be classified as follows:

Figure 2. One of the classifications of viruses

Infected disk – this is a disk in the boot sector of which there is a virus program.

Infected program is a program that contains a virus program embedded in it.

After running a program containing a virus, it becomes possible to infect other files.

Disk boot sectors often become infected and executable files, with extensions:

EXE,COM,SYS or VAT

When a computer is infected with a virus, it is very important to detect it promptly. Antivirus programs 1 can help us with this, such as: NOD32 ,DrWEB,Kaspersky etc.

Checking the media for viruses:

press p.k.m. by the media icon (disk, flash media, etc.) → select the anti-virus program installed on the computer → carry out a scan, if viruses are detected, we treat them or delete them.

Every storage medium can become a haven for malware. As a result, you may lose valuable data and risk infecting your other devices. Therefore, it is better to get rid of all this as soon as possible. We will look further at how you can check and remove viruses from your drive.

Let's start by looking at the signs of viruses on a removable drive. The main ones are:

• files appeared with the name "autorun";
• files appeared with the extension ".tmp";
• suspicious folders appeared, for example, "TEMP" or "RECYCLER";
• The flash drive stopped opening;
• the drive cannot be removed;
• files have disappeared or turned into shortcuts.

In general, the media becomes slower to be detected by the computer, it takes longer for information to be copied onto it, and sometimes errors may occur. In most cases, it would be a good idea to check the computer to which the flash drive is connected.

To combat malware, it is best to use antivirus software. These can be either powerful combination products or simple, highly targeted utilities. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the best options.

Method 1: Avast! Free Antivirus

Today this antivirus is considered one of the most popular in the world, and for our purposes it is perfect. To use to clean a USB drive, do the following:

You can also scan media via context menu. To do this, follow a number of simple steps:
Right-click on the flash drive and select "Scan".


By default, Avasta is configured to automatically detect viruses on connected devices. The status of this function can be checked using the following path:

Settings / Components / Screen Settings file system/ Scan on connection

Method 2: ESET NOD32 Smart Security

And this is an option with less load on the system, so it is often installed on laptops and tablets. To scan a removable drive for viruses using , do the following:

You can set up automatic scanning when you connect a flash drive. To do this, follow the path

Settings / Additional settings/ Virus protection / Removable media

Method 3: Kaspersky Free

The free version of this antivirus will help you quickly scan any media. Instructions for using it to complete our task are as follows:

Don't forget to set up automatic scanning. To do this, go to settings and click "Examination". Here you can set the antivirus action when connecting a flash drive to a PC.


For reliable operation of each antivirus, do not forget about virus database updates. Usually they happen automatically, but inexperienced users can cancel them or turn them off completely. This is not recommended at all.

Method 4: Malwarebytes

One of best utilities to detect viruses on computers and portable devices. Instructions for use are as follows:

You can go the other way by simply right-clicking on the flash drive in "Computer" and selecting "Scan Malwarebytes".

The free antivirus scanner ESET Online Scanner is designed to scan your computer for viruses online. Antivirus program performs a one-time virus scan to search for and neutralize malicious and potentially unwanted software.

ESET Online Scanner - what is this program? ESET Online Scanner - an online virus scanner to scan your computer for viruses and neutralize detected threats. For the application to work, a constant connection to the Internet is required, since the computer is scanned using anti-virus databases located in the cloud on a remote ESET server.

The application is not intended to permanently protect your computer from malware. ESET Online Scanner is a one-time scan of your computer. When using ESET Online Scanner there are no conflicts with the antivirus installed on your computer.

The principle of using the scanner is as follows: launch the utility, perform a one-time scan and neutralize threats, remove the utility from the computer; for the next scan you will need to download the latest version of the anti-virus utility.

Key features of ESET Online Scanner:

• Effectively detect all types of threats
• Removing malware
• Testing without installation on a computer
• Scan the entire computer or scan a specific area

The free ESET Online Scanner program works in Russian. ESET Online Scanner can be downloaded from the official website of the manufacturer, a well-known developer of antivirus software, the Slovak company ESET Software.

Eset Online Scanner download

ESET Online Scanner does not require installation on your computer; the application works in 32 and 64-bit versions of the operating system Windows systems. Just run the downloaded file, after checking this file can be deleted.

Immediately after launching Eset Online Scanner, in the “Terms of Use” window you must accept the terms of the license agreement, click on the “I accept” button.

ESET Online Scanner settings

In the “Computer Scan Settings” window, you need to select one of the options for scanning your computer:

• Enable detection of potentially unwanted applications
• Disable Potentially Unwanted Application Detection

If you enable detection of potentially unwanted applications from the point of view of ESET Online Scanner, the program will find such applications when scanning. If you select this option, a more thorough scan of your computer will take place.

Keep in mind that potentially unwanted applications are not malicious. These may be the programs you need. According to the antivirus utility, potentially unwanted applications may pose a potential threat to your computer.

If detection of potentially dangerous applications is disabled, ESET Online Scanner will only detect malicious software when scanning your computer.

To configure the program's operating parameters, click on "Advanced".

Here you can enable or disable individual application settings, select objects to scan, and configure the proxy server yourself. By default, the optimal settings are selected. For example, it is better to first familiarize yourself with the detected threats in order to make a decision yourself, than to clean up threats automatically relying on the program’s opinion.

In the “Current scanning objects” setting, you are prompted to select objects to be scanned by the anti-virus utility. Click on the “Change…” button to select scan objects.

In the “Select Scan Targets” window, you can select the desired option for scanning:

• Removable media - check removable media connected to the computer
• Local drives - checking local drives
• Network drives - check network drives
• Not selected

By default, ESET Online Scanner scans the following items: RAM, boot sector, all local drives connected to the computer.

Here you can select only some drives, or specific folders or files to scan. To do this, uncheck unnecessary checkboxes next to scan objects. Next, select the files and folders located on the specific drive. After applying the changes, click on the “OK” button.

If an antivirus is installed on the computer being scanned, Eset Online Scanner will detect it. A message about this will appear in the scan settings window. Click on the "Show List" link for complete information.

In this case, ESET Online Scanner detected antivirus software on my computer: Kaspersky Internet Security.

After selecting the settings, click on the “Scan” button to start scanning your computer for viruses.

Virus scan with ESET Online Scanner

First, initialization takes place, at which time the virus signature database and other necessary components are loaded. Next, the process of scanning your computer for viruses will begin, which will take some time. You can stop the virus scan at any time by clicking the “Stop” button.

In the program window you will see an offer to download a paid ESET antivirus NOD32 Smart Security. If this offer is not relevant, ignore it.

After the scan is completed, if threats were detected on the computer, a window will open in which you will see the malware found.

If necessary, you can copy information about threats to the clipboard, or save it on your computer in text file in "TXT" format.

In my case, ESET Online Scanner detected Trojans in an archive stored on Goole Drive. These turned out to be WordPress theme files that I once tried on a test site. At one time I saved the site folder in Goole Drive, so these files are still saved in cloud storage. In the OneDrive cloud storage, the anti-virus scanner detected a threat in some keygen that was in the training course. By the way, Kaspersky Anti-Virus and other anti-virus scanners consider these files to be safe, so it is possible that this is a false alarm.

Depending on the results of the scan, you may not take any action, then all found files will be saved on your computer, select all or only some files to clear files from your computer. The files will be quarantined or deleted from your computer.

If you select “Do not clean”, a window with information about the scan results will open. In this window, you can select the “Delete application data when closing” option to delete virus data.

Check the boxes next to the detected objects, and then click on the “Clear selected” button (if only some objects are selected), or on the “Clear all” button (if all objects are selected).

The next window will display information about the results of the user's previous action with the detected files. In “Quarantine Management” you can make choices to remove detected virus threats:

• Delete application data when closing - files will be deleted when the antivirus program is closed
• Delete files from quarantine - files from quarantine will be deleted

Quarantine (an isolated, protected area on your computer) contains files detected by ESET Online Scanner. First, select the files, then click on the “Back” button, and then select an action: delete when closing the program, or delete files from quarantine.

If the user does not select the option to delete the file, the file will remain in quarantine.

If necessary, a quarantined file can be restored to your computer. To do this, select a file in quarantine, and then click on “Restore”.

After the scan is complete, exit the program, and then delete the virus scanner file from your computer. To start a new scan, download to your computer new version ESET Online Scanner applications.

Conclusions of the article

ESET Online Scanner is a free online antivirus scanner for detecting and removing malicious software from your computer. The program works without installation on the computer, the scanner scans the entire computer or a separate area, you can check in the application separate file or folder.