In addition to the free Microsoft Security Essentials software for protection from viruses and spyware, and free Windows Defender Offline to remove malicious unwanted programs, Microsoft also offers a free portable and downloadable anti-virus software called Microsoft Safety Scanner. Unlike Microsoft Security Essentials program, this software does not check for the existence of a genuine Windows installation on a computer before installing itself. This software is useful removing viruses, spyware, and other malicious programs.
Microsoft Safety Scanner can be especially useful when you’re not in a position to connect to the Internet to download the latest updates to your anti-virus software. Another advantage with this software is that it is regularly updated with the latest virus definitions and anti-malware definitions, so much so that this software will expire after 10 days only! No, I’m not referring to any trial period for this software. Since this software is absolutely free, there is no question of there being any trial period. However, the actual life period of this software after download is only 10 days, after which it will expire. After that, if you still need this software to scan for viruses on computer, you can again download it from Microsoft site and there is no limit on subsequent downloads. Perhaps the main motive behind keeping the 10 days’ expiry period appears to be to ensure that you download the updated version again.
Since Microsoft Safety Scanner is a portable software, there is no need to install it. You can simply download the program’s EXE file and run it directly. You can even copy it on a USB drive and run it from there.
However, Microsoft states that: “The Microsoft Safety Scanner is not a replacement for using an antivirus software program that provides ongoing protection.” This means that this program should be used in addition to the other anti-virus software that provide you real-time protection against viruses and malware. Use this program to scan and remove viruses and malware when other programs are not able to do the job, for example when you cannot connect to the Internet for getting the latest updates to your anti-virus software. [Also see: Stop Microsoft Security Essentials from launching at Startup.]
You can use this software to run a full-computer scan or a customized scan for selected files and folders. Also see this Microsoft Support page to troubleshoot errors when you run this software.
Download: Microsoft Safety Scanner is available for download from its official site. The download size is about 66 MB. It works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, and is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. If you’re not sure which version you need, see: Is my computer running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows?