Free Antivirus Rescue CDs and DVDs

Scan Your System for Malware from a Bootable Rescue CD

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Free Antivirus Rescue CDs and DVDs

This page lists free antivirus rescue CDs and DVDs, that you can boot to and scan your existing system for viruses, spyware and other malware. They are useful if your system has become hopelessly riddled with such malware so that you cannot install an antivirus or anti-spyware tool anymore, or that it interferes with the antivirus software's ability to clean the system. In such a case, the best recourse is to boot from a rescue CD so that your antivirus software is running on a clean system. From that clean system, it will be able to detect and remove viruses without interference from the infection.

The rescue CDs/DVDs listed here are usually provided in the form of an ISO file. This is basically an image of a CD or DVD that contains an operating system like a cut-down version of one of the "Live CD" versions of Linux along with the antivirus software itself. You can't do much when you boot to that system, except to scan for viruses and malware. To use the ISO file, you will need to burn the file to a CD or DVD with a CD and DVD writing software. The ISO has to be written as a "disk image" (the exact words used depends on the software you use), and not as a data file. For example, in Nero Burning ROM, select the option "Burn Image" from the "Recorder" menu. Once this is done, put it in your computer drive and boot from it. (You may have to set your computer to boot from the CD from the BIOS setup screen first.)

Note that the rescue CDs are designed for you to recover from an infected system. They are not designed to protect you from infection. For that, you will need a decent antivirus program. If you can't afford a commercial antivirus program, you can find some free ones on the Free Antivirus Software and Free Online Virus Scans page.

In addition, not all antivirus rescue disks are listed here. Certain antivirus software, like the commercial Kaspersky Anti-Virus, will create an up-to-date rescue disk for you from within the antivirus program.

Incidentally, there's no point downloading a rescue CD today in anticipation that you may get infected in the future. Viruses change and "mutate" rapidly. Your rescue CD will be outdated by the time you need it, and won't contain the virus definitions you need to combat your infection. It's best to just bookmark this page and download the CD only when you actually need it. Otherwise you'll just be wasting time (the files are very large).

Disclaimer

The information provided on this page comes without any warranty whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book, document or service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other standard disclaimers also apply.