David M Williams
Sunday, 15 March 2009 12:52
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Over the page I’ll tell you some ready-made CDs you can download and burn to disk. However, if you’re Linux savvy, you might like to make your own setup on a bootable USB memory stick. Begin with a base system like Ubuntu or Fedora.
Although Ubuntu 9.04 – Jaunty Jackelope – will be released next month, you might like to go with last year’s Ubuntu 8.04 – Hardy Heron – because it is an “LTS” release. This means it has “Long Term Support” from Canonical – the boffins behind Ubuntu. You are assured you can get help for it for three years at least.
Once you have a working, bootable Linux USB stick, install some useful anti-virus applications. Some well-known Windows anti-virus programs have Linux equivalents, like AVG and Avast. Download these from the vendor website – just like you would if using Windows – and you can then run them from your Linux system.
AVG and Avast will be familiar to Windows users, but you might like to try a mainstay of the Linux world, ClamAV which can be downloaded using the Linux package manager. One feature of ClamAV is that it can scan for known “potentially unwanted applications” or PUAs that are not viruses but are possibly harmful depending on context.
I’m sure you get where this is going; you will have a Linux USB stick which can boot on a computer and then run a full virus scan over the fixed hard disk without being subject to any nasties itself.
This is a better option than relying on a boot-time scan from the Windows versions of those same programs. Firstly, you’d need to ensure they were installed on the corrupted computer. Secondly, you need to be certain they haven’t been damaged by the virus and malware infestation.
Additionally, while using your Linux USB stick you can perform other tasks even while the virus scan is running. You might examine the hard drive with another tool, or look up information on the Web, or document your findings thus far. None of this is possible with boot-time scans that effectively lock you out of using the computer until the scan has completed and the system loads properly.
Let me now tell you two great ready-made invaluable Linux discs you can download right now.
