App Review Thoughts on HitManPro

[Parkinsond]

So, out of curiosity, I tried the quick scan feature of ESET Online Scanner, which I have no idea how effective it is.
No false positives:

View attachment 295488

No false negatives?

 

[cruelsister]

So, out of curiosity, I tried the quick scan feature of ESET Online Scanner, which I have no idea how effective it is.
No false positives:

View attachment 295488

ESET Online Scanner vs Malware

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

ESET Online Scanner vs Malware

Okay, understood.
Thank you.
So what is the best scan on demand that you have tried in your tests?
Even considering the speed of the scan.

 

[Khushal]

After NPE discontinuation only KVRT is a decent scanner left. Does it still struggle against swollen files?

@cruelsister I asked here about bloated/swollen HEX padded executables missed by KVRT. Do u still think it misses such inflated malware? A retest is requested.

 

[Miravi]

I used to admire the multi-engine scanning. Haven't touched HitmanPro in some time, though.

According to the website, it relies on behavioral analysis and threat detection from four different companies:

Two heads are better than one. So we have four. HitmanPro leverages malware databases from four security labs, including SophosLabs, to be incredibly thorough when scanning for and cleaning up spyware and malware. More research means more powerful cleaning.

Does anyone know what the other three are?

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

It would also be interesting to compare it with the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which I use sporadically.
I'm running a quick scan now:



I decided to eliminate HP and leave only MRT.

If you want to run a test:

Windows + R
MRT

 

[TairikuOkami]

I decided to eliminate HP and leave only MRT.

Please do not! MRT is dedicated for the most prevalent malware, if you want to use MS scanner, use this:

Microsoft Safety Scanner Download - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Get the Microsoft Safety Scanner tool to find and remove malware from Windows computers.

learn.microsoft.com

Besides MRT is automatically downloaded via windows updates once per month, unless you disable it.

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

Please do not! MRT is dedicated for the most prevalent malware, if you want to use MS scanner, use this:

Microsoft Safety Scanner Download - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Get the Microsoft Safety Scanner tool to find and remove malware from Windows computers.

learn.microsoft.com

Besides MRT is automatically downloaded via windows updates once per month, unless you disable it.

No, if HP is almost zero... better nothing.
And MRT is resident.

 

[TairikuOkami]

No, if HP is almost zero... better nothing.

MRT is literally nothing, the current malware it detects is from December 2025. Most likely dead already.

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

MRT is literally nothing, the current malware it detects is from December 2025. Most likely dead already.

View attachment 295493

Precisely.

P.S.

If I want to do a scan, I also use MD, which is more than enough for my needs.

 

[Halp2001]

Although I’m not an expert on the subject, I’d like to share my strategies. Surely there are people here who know much more than I do and may have more effective methods, but this is what works for me:

On‑demand scanners: tools like KVRT (Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool) and ESET Online Scanner remain reliable and up‑to‑date for quick verification. They’re ideal as a second opinion when you already have a resident antivirus and want to make sure everything is clean.

Complementary approaches:

Restoring Windows from an image: fast and practical, in just a few minutes you have a clean system running (as long as you’re confident the saved image is truly free of infections).

Scanning from an external environment (rescue disk or similar): slower, but it provides extra peace of mind because it can detect threats that might survive a format, such as rootkits or persistence attempts in the boot process.

The first option is pure efficiency, the second is reinforced security. Depending on the level of risk one wants to assume, either approach can make sense… or even combining them: first a scan from outside, then a reinstall to ensure nothing remains hidden.

For rescue disks, alternatives like Kaspersky Rescue Disk, Bitdefender Rescue CD, or ESET SysRescue allow you to boot from a clean environment and are more effective against severe or persistent infections.

 

[Kongo]

Gotta request it again @Shadowra.

How about you make a big malware removal comparison with the most popular second opinion scanners to see how they handle a highly infected system?

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

Gotta request it again @Shadowra.

How about you make a big malware removal comparison with the most popular second opinion scanners to see how they handle a highly infected system?

Also reporting the scanning times for the various products.

 

[cartaphilus]

yeah sophos is no way top tier. Also hitman pro was stronger when it had also B and K engines integrated.

So which engines does it have left?

 

[Andrew999]

Quite sad how it is so bad now when it used to be so good. Guess it is because they only use Sophos and the behaviour engine, I guess. Since all the good engines are gone, it is not what it once was.

 

[Brie]

how good is emsisoft emergency kit?

 

[Andrew999]

So which engines does it have left?

I can't say for sure but I believe just Sophos and Behavioral detection engine.

 

[Sorrento]

I frankly feel people over scan, (on their personal PC's) at the moment I have Kaspersky on this PC & ESET on the laptop, for months on here I had McAfee, I did a scan a few days ago with the soon to be killed Norton scanner, it found nothing, do users really find malicious software or just FP's? For some time I paid for HitMan Pro, never found anything other than FP's - I forget now what the Sophos real-time scanner with Himan inside whatsits was called but I used that for years, it never solved or found a single problem. Scan occasionally yes, but often, not needed, at least if you use good habits? My 10pence worth

 

[Parkinsond]

I frankly feel people over scan, (on their personal PC's) at the moment I have Kaspersky on this PC & ESET on the laptop, for months on here I had McAfee, I did a scan a few days ago with the soon to be killed Norton scanner, it found nothing, do users really find malicious software or just FP's? For some time I paid for HitMan Pro, never found anything other than FP's - I forget now what the Sophos real-time scanner with Himan inside whatsits was called but I used that for years, it never solved or found a single problem. Scan occasionally yes, but often, not needed, at least if you use good habits? My 10pence worth

View attachment 295536

Some people have scan fetish, other people, as I am, have reinstall fetish

 

[Victor M]

other people, as I am, have reinstall fetish

You said before that it takes ~10 mins to reinstall windows. That sort of says you don't do any hardening. Is that true? If that is true what is your reasoning ?