You can use your antivirus to scan any file on your system, and it’ll tell you if the file is safe or not. But sometimes, you might want a second opinion. No antivirus is perfect. If you want to double-check any file before you open it, head to www.virustotal.com .

At this site, you can upload a file to be scanned for viruses. VirusTotal will check it against *dozens* of other antivirus definitions, and quickly give you the results.

By the way, someone emailed me a virus today. I sent it up to VirusTotal.com; the results are attached to this post. I found it rather telling that Microsoft and Bitdefender spotted the virus, but Symantec and McAfee found nothing wrong with my file…

VirusTotal.com

You can also submit a URL, if you like, and they will also check that website for safety. Best of all: This site is free to use and free of ads!