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What it does
VirusTotal is a free online service (owned by Google) that runs files through dozens of antivirus engines simultaneously. Rather than trusting just your own antivirus, you get a second, third, and seventieth opinion. TuneBit's VirusTotal tool lets you check a file right from your desktop and shows the results inline.
Why it's private
TuneBit does not upload your file. It computes a SHA-256 hash — a long mathematical fingerprint — and sends only that hash to VirusTotal. If someone has seen and scanned the same file before (which is true for almost any widely distributed file), VirusTotal already has a report. If the file has never been seen before, you'll see a "not found" result and can decide whether to upload it manually via virustotal.com.
When to use it
- You downloaded an installer from a site you don't fully trust.
- An attachment arrived in email and it seems a little off.
- Your antivirus says a file is clean but you've got a hunch.
- You're diagnosing another PC and want to sanity-check a suspicious executable.
Before your first scan: add your VirusTotal API key
TuneBit does not ship with a VirusTotal API key — you need your own, which VirusTotal hands out for free to anyone with an account. One-time setup:
- Sign up at virustotal.com (free tier is fine for ordinary use).
- In VirusTotal, click your avatar → API Key and copy the long string.
- In TuneBit, go to Protect → VirusTotal and expand the Your VirusTotal API Key panel near the top.
- Paste the key into the text field and click Apply. The status line should flip from red to green.
Where your key is stored:
- Fixed-drive install (TuneBit running from your hard drive): the key is saved per-user in the Windows registry at
HKCU\Software\TuneBit\VirusTotal\ApiKey. It survives upgrades but does not roam to other PCs.
- Portable / USB install: the key is saved in a plain-text file named
virustotal.ini in the same folder as TuneBit.exe. The key travels with the stick — useful if you move between machines.
Your key is sent only to VirusTotal's own servers (in the x-apikey HTTP header) and is never transmitted to TuneBit's servers. You can hand-edit either storage location to rotate the key, or delete it to clear the key entirely.
How to scan a file
- Go to Protect → VirusTotal.
- Drag-and-drop a file onto the big drop zone, or click Browse to pick one.
- TuneBit shows you the file's SHA-256 fingerprint and size.
- Click Scan. Within a second or two you'll see a result ratio — for example, 0 / 72 (clean) or 43 / 72 (very bad).
- Click the View on VirusTotal link to see exactly which engines flagged it and what they called it.
Reading the results
- 0 detections: The file has been seen before and nobody thinks it's malware. Very likely safe.
- 1–2 detections: Often a false positive, especially for niche or small-developer tools. Click through and see which engines flagged it. If they're big names (Kaspersky, BitDefender, Microsoft), treat it with suspicion.
- 3+ detections: Treat it as malicious. Delete it or move it to quarantine.
- Not found: Nobody has scanned this particular file before. That's not automatically bad, but it is more common in malware targeting small numbers of people.
Rate limit: VirusTotal's free tier caps requests per minute and per day. TuneBit automatically waits 15 seconds between scans to stay within the per-minute limit. If you hit the per-day limit, you'll see a "rate limit exceeded" message — wait until the next day, or upgrade your VirusTotal plan if you scan a lot of files.
A clean result is not a guarantee. Brand-new malware can circulate for hours or days before antivirus vendors catch up. A 0/72 score means "no one has caught this yet" — which is the most likely explanation, but not the only one. Use VirusTotal as one data point alongside common sense: don't run executables from strangers.