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I don't really recommend online virus scanners, as an installed always on scanner gives so much more protection, but they can be useful in some circumstances, below I have listed links to good ones I have tried.
Online scanners are not very practical on a dialup connection, as the virus definition files are usually 20MB or more, although the subsequent updates are usually much smaller.
Note: online scanners usually require Internet Explorer to run and install an ActiveX.



CA Antivirus online scan.

The initial ActiveX loads quickly and after the first large virus definition update, additional updates are reasonably quick. There is a good loading progress window, showing the file size of the download. The scanning window is very simple and scanning is pretty fast, completing my "C" drive (9GB used) in about 15 minutes.

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

Bitdefender online scan.

The ActiveX download is reasonably quick, the virus engine is then updated and new virus definitions are downloaded.
Note: by default the program is set to disinfect or delete infected files, I recommend changing this to "prompt for action".
Scan speed is reasonable.
Subsequent definition updates are fairly quick.

http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/scan_uk/scan8/ie.html

Online file scanner -- VirusTotal.

If your antivirus software alerts you to a suspicious file, it's always useful to get a second opinion, as false positives are far more common than antivirus software producers admit.
If you upload your file to VirusTotal it will use thirtyone independent virus scanners to analyze your file and give you lots of second opinions!
Uploading is straightforward and after a short wait (depending on how busy the site is), a summary of the results is given. A more comprehensive view of the results can be seen by clicking the permalink.

http://www.virustotal.com/

Online file scanner -- Jotti's Malware Scan.

Sometimes you get a file, that your antivirus software claims is infected, but you suspect a false positive, or your antivirus claims a file is clean, but you are still worried that it may be malware.
With Jotti's Malware Scan, you can get fifteen second opinions. You upload the suspicious file to the site (maximum file 15Mb), it is then scanned by fifteen well known virus scanners and the results displayed.
The system works very well, but is always quite busy, so expect a fairly long wait before your results are displayed.
A good site, for those of us who worry excessively about viruses, but remember, even with fifteen scanners, you just never know for sure..........

http://virusscan.jotti.org/

Panda Nanoscan online scan.

NanoScan was a very interesting online scanner. It originally only scanned running processes for active viruses, in the computers memory, and because it stored the virus definitions on the Panda servers, it would be ready to start scanning in a couple of minutes. Making it very user friendly for people with dialup connections.

Sadly, it has been considerably "developed" and now works much the same as any other online scanner. Which also means that it now needs a large download, before it works. How long it will take I don't know, as after a very long time, the second part of the download had only reached 30% and I gave waiting.
Shame that the company has ruined an excellent idea.

Note: Requires (free) registration to use some features and free version cannot remove all types of infection.

http://www.nanoscan.com/

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