Also, anti-virus on laptops is tricky, you don’t want the scanner running when you are using the laptop and then when not using it – you turn it off. This leaves no time for the updater or full scanner to run.

Thanks for your comments on the subject of Combofix.
I admire someone who raises the tough questions. All perfectly valid and understandable. However, one could also ask questions such as:

1) How is it that one guy called sUBs can create a free tool that is capable of removing viruses that no mainstream anti-virus can remove?
2) Are the mainstream anti-virus manufacturers the ones creating the viruses and holding back on removing them all in the interest of selling more anti-virus subscriptions?

I have always found it hard to believe that muli-million dollar companies are incapable of creating such tools as Combofix and that there has been a steady stream of viruses created every week just to keep the anti-virus subscriptions ticking over and keep the consumer in fear of being attacked.

This is one of the great debates and I feel shall continue to be.

To quickly try to answer some of your questions with my own opinions –

1) I believe this tool is created by bleepingcomputer.com considering the disclaimer on the tool mentions this site. See this http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/en/disclaimer.jpg

2) High trafficked sites – bleepingcomputer.com

3) Peer review: google combofix review and you should find plenty of stuff.

Rosco

However, I have reservations about the source and ultimate purpose of the software. Subs is all but anonymous. How do we know that it is not a trojan itself. What high-trafficked sites can it be downloaded from? Where is the peer review?

I mean no offense to the author who I owe a debt of gratitude to.