A virtual machine is used to perform a raw scan for evasive malware on a host computer without requiring an interrupt or restart of a host operating system. An antivirus program installs a raw scanner virtual machine. The raw scanner virtual machine is triggered to scan files and memory for malware. The raw scan results are collected by the antivirus program for analysis, such as for use in generating a report or for removal of malware. The memory and files of the host are mapped to a guest space of the virtual machine.