Does NirSoft utilities have a virus?

I downloaded NirSoft utilities from a trustworthy link on HowToGeek and both Avast and Windows Defender claim they contain a virus, however I'm unsure if it is a false positive.

Does anyone have any information on this?

2 Answers

No. Nirsoft tools do NOT contain viruses. I use quite a number of them (nirsoft.net) and (a) no issues and (b) Windows Defender does not detect as any kind of virus. Safe to use.

I can't say for sure, but I find it VERY suspicious that Nirsoft offers its binaries in password-protected .zip files. It is something I would mainly expect for a hidden virus.

I can imagine no other reason in this case to password protect a .zip file, other than to conceal its contents from a virus scanner:

• Nirsoft:

  You can download the entire package in zip file from here. The password to extract the files is nirsoft123!