One of the common method that virus use to spread themselves is through USB flash drives. All they need to do is create an autorun.inf file at the root of the USB flash drive and points it to a malicious executable file. When the USB flash drive is plugged in to a computer that is running Windows, double clicking the drive letter from My Computer will immediately process the autorun.inf file and launching the virus… That’s why I always advice people NOT to access the USB flash drive from My Computer. Use the shortcut key [Win + E] to open up Windows Explorer then go to the USB flash drive letter.

Another way is to scan the USB flash drive right after plugging in. It’s not perfect, but at least an updated antivirus program will protect you from most viruses. I believe most of us don’t scan our pen drive before using. The only people I know that does that is a bunch of teachers in an institute where the printers are connected to the their laptop. So whenever student wants to print a document, they’ll plug in their USB flash drive to the teacher’s laptop.

Since manually scanning USB flash drive is troublesome, I found a way to automatically scan the USB flash drive whenever it is inserted or plugged in to a Windows computer.

USBVirusScan is a small program that will launch any program you provide as a command line parameter each time a USB stick is inserted. The author use it to start a full virus scan on the inserted USB drive, hence the name. If not, I think maybe he’ll call it “USBConnectRUN” or something similar since it can use to run any program when a USB flash drive is plugged in. USBVirusScan is definitely not for beginners because it doesn’t have graphical user interface (GUI). The configuration is done from a batch file and it only has an About screen that looks like the image below.

USB Flash drive antivirus

Many people thought that USBVirusScan is an antivirus program but it’s NOT. It is a monitoring tool to detect if a USB flash drive has been plugged in the computer and will automate running any programs. If you’re still unsure of how USBVirusScan works, you can see it in action at YouTube. The video will show that the batch file (start.bat) which contains the configuration is being launched first. Then a USB flash drive is connected. USBVirusScan detected the USB flash drive and immediately runs McAfee antivirus to scan the drive.

Can’t see anything from the low quality youtube video? Download a high resolution video here and play it on your favorite media player.

Basically you’ll need an antivirus installed first. Then you’ll need to find out the command line that can perform a scan. Once you have the command line, just edit the start.bat file. I know the command line part can be a bit confusing for computer beginners. So I’ve provided a few command line for some popular antivirus.

AVG FREE 7.5
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG7\avgscan.exe" /clean %%c:

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\Kasperksy Lab\Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0\avp.com scan /i3 %%c

Kaspersky Internet Security 7
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\Kasperksy Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0\avp.com scan /i3 %%c

Norton AntiVirus 2008
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\Norton Antivirus\navw32.exe" %%c:

ESET NOD32 Antivirus
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\ecls.exe" /action=clean %%c:

ClamWin
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\ClamWin\bin\clamscan.exe" --database="C:\ProgramData\.clamwin\db" %%c:
Note: ClamWin is a bit tricky because you need to specify the virus definition database location. What I provided above is the default database location in Windows Vista. To check the location of the virus definition database, run ClamWin, go to Tools > Preferences > File Locations.
ClamWin Virus database location

Windows Defender
Not Supported because doesn't offer scanning specific location

BitDefender
Not Supported because doesn't have command line scanning

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
Not Supported because doesn't have command line scanning

McAfee VirusScan 12
Not Supported because none of the Home products has this feature

avast! 4 Professional
USBVirusScan.exe "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashCmd.exe %%c /P=[31]
Note: avast! 4 Home Edition does not support command line scanning.

There are other features such as hiding USBVirusScan from appearing and etc. Do check out the official website for more information.

[ Download USBVirusScan | USBVirusScan Website ]

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