This tutorial explains how to create a CD or USB key with ClamWin, to allow a Windows PC to be scanned for viruses without having to install ClamWin. Note that the CD/USB key is not bootable, and so can only be used on a working Windows PC.
The PC that is used to create the CD/USB will need to have ClamWin installed, and be able to copy files/folders to a CD or USB key.
The easy way is to use the pre-built portable version of ClamWin, which can be found at http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable.
Note that the maintainers of this Portable ClamWin are not affiliated with the ClamWin team, so the team might not be able to answer all your questions regarding this version. Also, ClamWin Portable might be some versions behind the official ClamWin release.
Start by installing the latest version of ClamWin, and download the latest virus definitions. See the ClamWin manual for full details on how to do this.
Note that, if you are going to create a CD, you will not be able to update the virus definitions without creating a new CD, since a CD is read-only.
Create a working folder in a convenient location to hold the files that are to be copied onto CD/USB, e.g. C:\ClamWin-CD.
In the working folder, create a folder named ClamWin.
Copy the contents of the ClamWin program folder into C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin. By default, the ClamWin program folder is installed to C:\Program Files\ClamWin
Create folders named log, db and quarantine in C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin.
Copy the ClamWin database files (all files in the db folder) into C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\db. In Windows 2000/XP, the ClamWin database folder defaults to C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\.clamwin\db, where USERNAME is your login name (if it was installed for a single user) or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\.clamwin\db (if it was installed for all users).
Copy the following into a text file named C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\bin\clamwin.conf
[Schedule] path = .\ [ClamAV] clamscan = .\clamscan.exe enablembox = 0 maxfiles = 500 infectedonly = 0 database = ..\db includepatterns = scanole2 = 1 excludepatterns = *.dbx|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.tbb|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.pst|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.dat|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.log|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.nsf|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.ntf|CLAMWIN_SEP|*.chm maxsize = 10 scanarchives = 1 priority = Low maxrecursion = 5 maxlogsize = 1 moveinfected = 0 debug = 0 logfile = ..\log\ClamScanLog.txt scanrecursive = 1 freshclam = .\freshclam.exe quarantinedir = ..\quarantine removeinfected = 0 [UI] reportinfected = 1 traynotify = 0 standalone = 1 [Updates] dbupdatelogfile = ..\log\ClamUpdateLog.txt enable = 1 dbmirror = database.clamav.net updateonlogon = 0 frequency = Daily weekday = 2 time = 12:00:00 [EmailAlerts] enable = 0 from = clamwin@yourdomain to = admin@yourdomain smtppassword = smtpuser = smtphost = smtpport = 25 subject = ClamWin Virus Alert [Proxy] host = password = port = 3128 user =
You should now have the following folders:
C:\ClamWin-CD C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\bin C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\db C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\lib C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\log C:\ClamWin-CD\ClamWin\quarantine
Now you just need to copy the contents of C:\ClamWin-CD to a CD or USB key. Do not copy the C:\ClamWin-CD folder itself, only the contents. Exactly how this is done will depend on whether a CD or USB key is to be used, and what software is to be used.
To use it, insert the CD/USB into the PC to be scanned. Run ClamWin by double-clicking on the ClamWin.exe file in the ClamWin\bin folder.
ClamWin should operate normally, but if run from CD or read-only USB drive, it will have the following restrictions:
Files will not be quarantined
Internet updates will not work
Preferences cannot be changed
These restrictions will not apply if it is run from a USB drive with read-write permissions.