Stinger is a software utility that can be deployed to scan a computer drive, identify various types of viruses, and remove them from the system. Unlike many antivirus software programs, Stinger does not quietly run in the background and catch infections as they occur. For this reason, it is usually not recommended that this virus removal tool be used in place of antivirus protection; rather, Stinger should be seen as an ancillary tool that helps to keep a system from remaining infected.
One of the advantages of Stinger is that the tool takes up very little space on a system hard drive. The removal tool can be placed in any folder on the hard drive. Many people prefer to drop the icon for Stinger directly onto the desktop. This makes it easy to activate and run a scan using the utility.
It is important to note that Stinger is not a fully functional alternative to other types of virus protection software. The utility will only locate and identify any viruses that are part of the most recent configuration. However, Stinger is able to detect and eradicate a number of the more common viruses. Thus, this tool is an excellent backup resource for a good quality antivirus software package.
The process for using Stinger is very simple. The utility is activated for use by clicking on the startup icon. This opens the interface for the tool and allows the user to designate the drives that are to be scanned. The C drive is a default setting that ensures the main drive is always checked. However, it is possible to add other drives to the scan by using the Browse feature and selecting those drives.
As the scan is underway, Stinger identifies any viruses the utility recognizes and removes them from the system. This means there is no additional steps required in order to repair any files that were infected. Stinger will also create a log file of the most recent scan if the end user wishes to create one. This can make it easier to keep track of when specific viruses were found and removed from the system.
From time to time, Stinger may identify a particular virus but be unable to remove it from the drive. This is usually due to the system restore functions on the computer maintaining a lock on the file that is infected. For this reason, it is recommended that computers loaded with specific operating systems, such as Windows Millennium and Windows XP, disable the system restore function prior to running the Stinger utility. Once Stinger has completed the scan and fixed any identified problems, the system restore function can be reactivated.