About a year ago I tested 13 different antivirus rescue CDs to find for the best to use because I don’t want to waste my time using one that is slow with low detection rate. During that time AVG Rescue CD is not free and it cost a whopping $149.95 for 1 user license with 1 year subscription. I wonder if anyone really purchased it because it is so expensive when there are more than 10 other rescue CD.
AVG has recently changed their shareware Rescue CD into freeware, meaning anyone can use it to scan and clean virus infected machines without owning an AVG license. If you don’t know what is a rescue CD, it is a Live CD mostly used to recover a computer when the system cannot be loaded normally or will not allow normal operation, such as after an extensive or deep-rooted virus infection.
AVG Rescue CD allows you to either install it on a CD with the ISO image file or to USB which uses grub boot loader. To install to USB, you will need to extract all the files into the root of your USB flash drive, and then run makeboot.bat file to make the USB flash drive bootable. Insert the CD or USB to the infected computer and go to BIOS and set the boot priority to CD/USB.
Upon successfully booting up the AVG Rescue CD, it will auto mount the windows partition on the system and then checks for active internet connection. You will be prompted to update the program if an active internet connection is detected. There are 3 options, Online, Office and Download. Online lets you directly download the latest virus definitions and program updates to use only for this time. As for Offline, if you have previously used the Download option, then you can specify where should AVG look for the definition file. Finally, the Download option allows you to download and save the definition to your USB flash drive or computer hard drive for future Offline use.
When you are done updating, go back to the main menu and select the first option Scan. You won’t have a nice graphical user interface on this AVG Rescue CD. During scanning, you will only see a black command prompt screen with a lot of text. To abort the scan, you can press Ctrl+C
AVG Rescue CD contains other utilities such as a Linux File Manager called Midnight Commander, a Registry Editor that allows you to load the Windows registry, Ping to test network connectivity and TestDisk for data recovery. I’ve tested a full scan on a Windows XP partition that contains 20288 files and 2341 folders with 3.58GB in total. It took 14 minutes and 45 seconds to complete scanning which in my humble opinion is quite slow. This is a clean Windows XP without anything on it. If the computer contains a lot of files, it will surely take hours to scan.
In my opinion, the best would be installing AVG Rescue CD on a USB and then use the Download option to store the latest program updates and virus definition on the USB. If you use the bootable CD, you can still plug in your USB flash drive containing the definition and then select Offline which will remount the partitions to allow you to load the files.
AVG might be a bloatware in Windows but when it comes to a Rescue CD, this is no longer a factor to stop us from using it. Lets not forget that AVG Rescue CD used to cost a lot of money before and is now free. You can use it when you want to and it doesn’t need to be installed in Windows.
Related posts:
Kaspersky n Avast! :)
AVG :(
great inforamtion but i donot like avg suit and its products.
this is nice. thanks
Just dropped by to wish you well Raymond.
Hope everything is alright with you and yours.
Peace :)
How come no update? :( You busy ah?
where is Ray guys??? where has he gone… its very long time since v saw d last update
bro dis is da 1st tym chatin wat dis olis abt?
@DJ
Try disabling some security modules then. This should lessen up the amount of RAM used. :)
~Joji~
Is Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 a suitable replacement for Windows firewall? Is KIS 2010 any faster than previous versions (v.8 and 2009)? In my experience, KIS just bogs down the PC too much.
Its uSeful…mister…Thanks
thanks
OMG… this like the time Ashraf was busy! D: Ashraf haven’t posted for 2 weeks on site once… I wonder when Raymond would come back… :’(
~Joji~
*re-image my laptop soon.
I once had 16GB of memory once, and now I only have 14GB left… 2GB disappeared off my hard drive. D:
Shocking I know… but I’m going to do a re-image soon on my laptop. :)
~Joji~
Raymond we need your help!
I currently have Windows 7 Ultimate x64bit installed on my desktop and Windows XP MCE 2005 on my laptop. Before I had XP Pro on my desktop and my download speed was 30Mbps. Now on my desktop its barely 6Mbps and the laptop is still the same 20Mbps cause its wireless. So its deff Windows 7 that slowed down my download speed!. Please help!!!
No new posts yet Raymond? Are you busy like Ashraf were?
~Joji~
This is the best thing which happened to me two days ago. I downloaded and burnt a CD.
I was impressed by the DOS mode updates through my LAN card and when I cleaned an infected laptop, the CD helped me clean some 1732 infections. NOT A SINGLE INFECTION left. I had windows vista on Dell Inspiron 6400.
The next thing which I did was to send SMS to all friends who frequently need to repair infected systems.
Well Done AVG and well done raymond for sharing this.
I thought marriage took you offline but you continue to rock !!!
Hi Raymond, nice tips…
I just want to know the best options, software or what ever if our system problem (server/pc or notebook).
I mean, if the system failed to start-up the windows like blue screen or effected with virus/malware…but the hard disk not yet ‘kong’
Can we used ubuntu live cd or knoppix live cd to copy or recovery the important data from the crash machine?
Please suggest for me the freeware or opensoure to do it. We have facing this problem last year on our HP-ML370 server which effected with Trojan.Panddos and totally cannot load the windows..hard disk ok, and all user data, email database was inside the server.
Thanks Raymond., I like reading all ur posts., I find them interesting ., Keep up the good work !!!
Hi Ray,
It’s just another rescue cd alongside with old big names like Avira Rescue CD, BitDefender Rescue CD and many others.
I have used SARDU for putting some of them togheter on same CD/USB dongle and clean my laptop from viruses/trojans. After that I’ve chosed OpenSuse 11.2 and good bye troubles ;).
Thanks for your great blog and keep up for good things.
radu31_12
It’s better to scan PC with different AV.Thank you Raymond for your great job!
Thanks Ray, this will come in handy one day.
Thank,s a lot for every thing ,keep up the good work.Where would we be without you Thank,s Thank,s Thank,s
Thanks Ray
I tried all of your posts abdout free Rescu Cds
and it is priceless ..
waiting for your x-ray project.
Plz give us a little information about when the project x-ray arrives
thanks a lot !!! i really like it , i have already give it a try !!
its too good !! thanks !!
Thanks for the info Raymond.
Which rescue disc do you recommend?
Thanks for this information. It is really useful, especially in the case when we are not able to bear an expensive alternate.
Thanks for this information. It is really useful, especially in case we are not able to bear an expensive option.
Great job Raymond. It like, now I keep waiting for your next email. Every mail has got something great. Keep it up.
Thank you!
I like cheap solutions.
Raymond you are the best. But when you did the test on the 13 last year. I saw where Kaspersky was rated the best. So I use their rescue cd.
once again..thanks for all your wonderful tips!!!
Thank you Ray,
For all of your instruction and education in your Newsletters, they are all invaluable in our quest to keep virus free, in our browsing on the Net.
I have been recieving your newsletters for a couple of years now, I found your advice on the Rescue C.D.`s last year priceless.
The one I found the best for me personally was the Avira Rescue C.D.
I shall now examine your instructions on the A.V.G. rescue c.d. Thank you.
I am at present using “Deep Freeze” in helping my puter to keep clean as I browse around.
Have you come across “Deep Freeze” in your travels?
Your Newsletters are so inspiriational to me, I do not know how you do so much, in your understanding of peoples needs and the passing on of your knowldge by teaching us through the Internet.
God bless you and your lovely wife who we saw on your Wedding photo`s.
Keep up the good work Ray.
“As a man sows that also shall he reap”
Thank you
Mikkimonkki
Thank you …
I’m going to give it a try.
Anyway,thanks again Raymond :)
You’re awesome :)
its really expensive for a resue CD ….and AVGisnt ALL that gr8 too..
Thanks a ton, bro! You’re the man. As awesome as ever.
Quick scanning does not necessarily mean better !
# Kantagara
You should not swallow that old AV-vendors’ promotion trick: all AV software claims to find infections which the earlier AV must have missed, or so it seems. It is a cheap and extremely efficient way to convince users of the superiority of the new software, while in fact it does not mean a penny.
hm avg rescue CD… no thanks. I used avg on my previous PC and it slowed it down too much and when I put avast it founded ~6-7 infections. So I will skip this one.
thaNkz