McAfee Secure sites help keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams
Business Home → Products & Solutions → Downloads → Free Tools

McAfee Labs Stinger

Stinger is a standalone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next-generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed .DAT files, and scan performance optimizations. It detects and removes threats identified under the "List Viruses" icon in the Stinger application.

How do you use Stinger?
  1. Download the latest version of Stinger

  2. When prompted, choose to save the file to a convenient location on your hard disk, such as your Desktop folder.



  3. When the download is complete, navigate to the folder that contains the downloaded Stinger file, and run it. WindowsME/XP/Vista users read this first.



  4. The Stinger interface will be displayed.



  5. If necessary, click the Add or Browse button to add additional drives/directories to scan. By default, the C: drive will be scanned.

  6. Click the Scan Now button to begin scanning the specified drives/directories.

  7. By default, Stinger will repair all infected files found.

  8. To enable Artemis Technology in Stinger, click on preferences and then select the required sensitivity level. If you select "High" or "Very High," McAfee Labs recommends that you set the "On virus detection" action to "Report only" for the first scan.



    To learn more about Artemis see the following KB articles

    KB53735 - How does McAfee Artemis technology improve malware detection

    KB60224 - Artemis and your information

    KB65525 - Artemis Detections and submitting samples

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the List Viruses button used for?
A: A list of the viruses that Stinger is configured to detect is displayed when pressing the List Viruses button. This virus list does not contain the results from running a scan.

Q: How do I save the scan results to a log file?
A: Click the File menu and select Save report to file

Q: I know I have a virus, but Stinger did not detect one. Why is this?
A: Stinger is not a substitute for a full anti-virus scanner. It is only designed to detect and remove specific threats.

Q: How can I get support for Stinger?
A: Stinger is not a supported application. McAfee Labs makes no guarantees about this product.

Q:Stinger found a virus that it couldn't repair. Why is this?
A: This is most likely due to Windows System Restore functionality having a lock on the infected file. WindowsME/XP users should disable system restore prior to scanning.

Q: Are there any command-line parameters available when running Stinger?
A: Yes, the command-line parameters are displayed when passing Stinger the /? switch:

Q: I ran Stinger and now have a Stinger.opt file, what is that?
A: When Stinger runs it creates the Stinger.opt file that saves the current Stinger configuration. When you run Stinger the next time, your previous configuration is used as long as the Stinger.opt file is in the same directory as Stinger

Q: Where can I send feedback to regarding Stinger?
A: Send your feedback to Stinger@avertlabs.com.

United States - English