Protection from viruses (Full Version)

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Giulia -> Protection from viruses (7/19/2008 7:46:44 PM)

I have been buying a yearly software package to protect my computer. I notice that there is never anything in quarantine and it is always just a scan with that. Am I just wasting my money with that? Can I just get a freee one that does the same job?



Rivermoon -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/19/2008 8:00:04 PM)

Hi Giulia,

It sucks, right? Keep paying annual fee to keep your anti-virus software updated. And some of the brands are no longer that reliable as it used to be. In other words, paid software won't guarantee safe-guard against virus, how I can trust free virus-scan software? As I tried the free anti-virus software, and I just don't have confidence in its reliability or usability, due to the scanning process takes ages to finish while it slows down the computer performance very much.

I happened to encounter the same problem as you mentioned on my another PC, a desktop, right now, as I'm typing here on my laptop. I just refuse to pay money to upgrade the Mcafee on my desktop, and just update the virus list. And I realize that my PC is more vulnerable to virus attack. And due to no disposal to other reliable anti-virus software, I need to resort to running virus scan online from a reliable brand, which means I may have to do that frequently, while I don't have money to pay for a legal copy of the virus-scan software myself. So my desktop system is being scanned online by Trend Micro. Trend Micro is quite an all-round and tight-security kind of anti-virus software as I'm using on my laptop (which was crushed due to virus attack, and needed to be sent to a computer store to reinstall the OS, and the store was so good to install this Trend Micro anti-virus software on my laptop. Unfortunately, I'll need to face the problem of paying to renew the subscription a year later. :-( )

Not sure if the above info will help, as I tried my best. :-)

Good luck,
Rivermoon :-)



rlj -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/19/2008 9:10:34 PM)

The biggest problem with Anti-Virus software isn't so much the anti-virus but the suites. Keep it stripped down to nothing but the Anti-Virus and the Firewall. People are amazed at how awful the Norton Suite runs when they install everything but get more impressed when I shut everything off.

As for anti-virus software you can pay someone to fix it, you can go call someone you know that is familiar enough with computers and make them spend hours of their time fixing it or use patience and look around to buy an affordable anti-virus program. I've messed with both Avast and AVG and they are both ok. If you're running windows and connected to the internet you will get something.



DreadPirateRandy -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/19/2008 9:31:27 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Giulia

Am I just wasting my money with that?


Most likely.

I've had nothing but horrible experiences with Norton, System Mechanic Professional, and other money invested software. They never find the real dirt, the dirt that digs itself deep into your system. It seems what you pay for is only limited to digging so far.

Perhaps some software could be worth putting money into, I haven't tried them all.

quote:

can I just get a freee one that does the same job?


AVG Anti-Virus

I've been using this software for months. Thus far the best anti-virus program I've had on my system.

There's also:
Spybot - Search & Destroy

I actually ran this program last night and discovered I had something on my system that I hadn't caught myself.

And there's such programs such as Avast! but I haven't tried those.



JonCo54 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/19/2008 10:01:16 PM)

They are two of the best I use them as well. Avast is also good.



quote:

ORIGINAL: GrapeApe

quote:

ORIGINAL: Giulia

Am I just wasting my money with that?


Most likely.

I've had nothing but horrible experiences with Norton, System Mechanic Professional, and other money invested software. They never find the real dirt, the dirt that digs itself deep into your system. It seems what you pay for is only limited to digging so far.

Perhaps some software could be worth putting money into, I haven't tried them all.

quote:

can I just get a freee one that does the same job?


AVG Anti-Virus

I've been using this software for months. Thus far the best anti-virus program I've had on my system.

There's also:
Spybot - Search & Destroy

I actually ran this program last night and discovered I had something on my system that I hadn't caught myself.

And there's such programs such as Avast! but I haven't tried those.



psaulm119 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/19/2008 11:19:25 PM)

I would recommend either AVG or Avast. The newest versions of both have been revved up to include not just antivirus, but antispyware as well, to get things like trojans that a "traditional" antivirus won't see. I'd recomend getting one of those. At this point, I'd never pay for av as these two are pretty good. Neither is perfect, as I've had minor difficulties in the area of UI, but I have no technical reason to bash either one. The one exception to pro antivirus is for Charter cable--they give an av program to their subscribers for free, that is made by F-Secure. We have used this on our desktop for a few years and its been very solid. But most internet providers charge a monthly fee for this service that actually adds up to more than Symantec/Norton and McAfee charge for their programs. But if your provider does offer this option for free, I'd go with that.

Like an earlier poster has already said, I also use online scans from other vendors (Symantec/Norton has a good one) to get a second opinion every once in a while.



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/20/2008 3:06:18 AM)

quote:

AVG Anti-Virus


This is the one i chose, had to do something because there clearly was a problem. I remembered that the Legal Centre I was volunteeing at had this one and I had a trojan horse on here and I heard those are pretty bad. It's all fixed now. I ad CA VET which I had to pay for it was 70 something dollars then when you renew you get it for 35 or something. Thing is I always forget to renew on time so have to pay full price again. My lap top was quite expensive and I want to protect it and all my work on it. I really don't undertstand computers much. Thanks for your help.[:D Even these free ones though you click here and there and then they want your credit card, unbelievable!!!!!!!!



rlj -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/20/2008 6:55:33 AM)

Another thing about renewing anti-virus just don't. You can always find anti-virus software for sale off of the shelf cheaper than you can renew a subscription for plus they didn't have to sell you the disk or the packaging. Before Compusa went under we never paid more than $10 for antivirus software because of the sales and rebates which are often very good around the holidays.



DaveW -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/22/2008 7:34:53 AM)

I get McAffee free from Comcast, but it chewed up so much computing power it noticably slowed down everything. My son suggested Avast and it is great. He works at the help desk of his university during the school year and found out about it there.

Avast has both free and a pay versions. Interestingly, the free version is actually more powerful than the pay one.



Talon3 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/22/2008 3:25:13 PM)

I wish my dad would have taken rlj's advice of not loading everything from McAfee. I don't like using his computer much when I am there because he has just about everything McAfee you can think of. It takes a long time for his computer to get going and is very slow. I've told him a few times over the past couple of years to not renew.

I've been using AVG for years. I've tried Avast on a couple of occasions, but I just like AVG better. It is easier for me to understand then Avast is. I have it set to automatically update every morning at 2:00 and run a scan at 3:00. I guess I didn't look long enough on how to do that with Avast. When my dad's McAfee subscription runs out, I hope I can get AVG on his computer.



naomigo -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/22/2008 7:18:03 PM)

i have tried alot of the free stuff.but they dont work as well as the paid ones.i dont understand why when you buy a new computer it comes with free pertection,if you dont have any all but the ant-viruses .only one they dont have and you have to get one put on your computer.



psaulm119 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/22/2008 10:19:12 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: naomigo

i have tried alot of the free stuff.but they dont work as well as the paid ones.i dont understand why when you buy a new computer it comes with free pertection,if you dont have any all but the ant-viruses .only one they dont have and you have to get one put on your computer.


That judgment is disputable. I know plenty folks would agree that the pro versions are better; I know for a fact that hours after I installed F-Secure, a pro antivirus service offered by Charter cable, it found (remnants of) a trojan that antivir, a freeware program, was blissfully ignorant of.

Two things on the other side, tho:
1. many (including myself) have found their computers slower, esp. the startup, when using these resource hogs made by Norton, McAfee, etc. A lot of the pro versions try to give you everything but the kitchen sink and there can be a performance hit.
2. You can look at one comparison group and how they rate the pro and free antivirus programs to see how each fares under a test of viruses that are in the wild at the time of teh test: http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml

AVG does fairly well, I might add.

Bottom line--look if you are happy paying $10-30/yr for pro antivirus protection, I'm ok with that. But I do feel that you can get excellent protection for free, that's all.



EStan -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/23/2008 10:41:18 AM)

as others have said, AVG is a good solid choice.

It's interesting to me that we still talk so much about "anti-virus" when, really, what we want the protective software to do is keep the malware and spyware off - which can often be much harder to get rid of! In my experience, there really is no ONE protective package that does it all. I use Trend Micro Internet Security and Ad-Aware on one of my systems, and AVG free edition and Ad-Aware on another.

I hate to say this, but it makes a difference which websites you visit, as well. If you or other family members do any kind of music sharing (and yeah, it's illegal), you greatly increase your likelihood of getting infected.

Now, a lot of spyware is fairly innocuous - tracking cookies, stuff like that. Still irritating, though, and definitely needs to be cleaned off periodically.

I hope I've helped! [:)]



earthless -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/23/2008 8:44:52 PM)

For those using the free anti-virus programs like Avast or AVG.. if you like it, use it, etc.. then please think about sending them some money every now and then.



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/25/2008 10:38:35 AM)

I use AVG now, also spybot. I have this exclamation mark which keeps coming up down on the bottom line when I close and open. This Trojan Horse one. I get rid of it for a little then it seems to come back. Should I take my lap top to a computer place? It has never done this before?



psaulm119 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/25/2008 11:29:04 AM)

I'm not sure if this really is a trojan, or what is called "roge anti-malware," but yes you definitely should check this out. Boot into safe mode and then with AVG 8 fully updated, scan. Even if you are sure you have gotten rid of it, then reboot (still in safe mode) and then scan again. If I thought I had a trojan, I would change my passwords b/c often trojans drop keystroke loggers et al onto your computer as well. It might just be rogue anti-malware that keeps telling you, that you have a trojan. I don't know. Check it out first. In either case, I'd look into it sooner rather than later. I have instructions on booting into safe mode on the page I liked to in my sig.



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/25/2008 8:22:42 PM)

Had the exclamation mark on the bottom, not the yellow (meaning updates), but a black one with a red exclamation. A screen would come up asking me if I want to heal or put it into the vault. What do I do with that? I want to heal and clicked that a few times, then I put it in the vault but took it out when I thought that perhaps the vault will blow up? When I looked in the vault it said "Trojan Horse".Anyway I think I got rid of that now. Thing is when I run my scan there are some problems which cannot be removed with the free set up and I hate to give my credit card details online. I just read on your link that I shouldn't anyway.

I will take the effort to do what you suggest. Thanks for your help, will keep you updated.



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/25/2008 9:46:30 PM)

I downloaded firefox, that is faster than explorer though the writing is less bold with it. I also didn't quite get the holding down the f8 before the microsoft page comes up, though I did it. Not sure if I did it right. How do you know when you are in safe mode?

Also my flash player or windows player doesn't work and the instructions for support are so complex I need to be a computer geek to do it![&:] It says I need to close firefox to get it so does that mean I can only have it with internet explorer? Far out, I got no patience for this tech stuff. I am not very good at picking up the instructions it is so complicated and that side of my brain doesn't work too well.[:D]



chemdude77 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/25/2008 11:23:54 PM)

Flash Player is available for Firefox 2.0 and higher, get it free from adobe.com...[8|]

You are right--it is not a good idea to put your CC info online.



psaulm119 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/26/2008 12:04:14 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Giulia

I downloaded firefox, that is faster than explorer though the writing is less bold with it. I also didn't quite get the holding down the f8 before the microsoft page comes up, though I did it. Not sure if I did it right. How do you know when you are in safe mode?

Also my flash player or windows player doesn't work and the instructions for support are so complex I need to be a computer geek to do it![&:] It says I need to close firefox to get it so does that mean I can only have it with internet explorer? Far out, I got no patience for this tech stuff. I am not very good at picking up the instructions it is so complicated and that side of my brain doesn't work too well.[:D]


You know you are in safe mode when your desktop screen (after Windows boots) has the words "safe mode" on all four corners of the screen. Not every computer boots into safe mode with the same key. You can get it in two ways-- one is to google your computer and safe mode, e.g. "Dell safe mode," "Sony safe mode," etc. That should get you links to pages telling you what F key it has to be.
another way is to simply go to Start>Run, then type in "msconfig" (without quotation marks). In the new window, click on the General tab, and then select "Diagnostic startup blahblahblah". Then OK out and then reboot. I've never booted into safe mode like this, but I believe that will do it.

Now--when you get safe mode options---if you have NOT updated your antivirus AND antispyware (b/c trojan fits into spyware, not virus), then select "Safe mode WITH networking" which gets you online. If you know you are updated, you can just hit "Safe mode" plain.

One more thing--I'd get an online scan to help diagnose. When I had a trojan on my desktop, Symantec not only scanned my computer, but gave me explicit instructions on how to get rid of it, and what files it would have dropped onto my computer. On that page, I do have a link towards the top, to online scanners. Pick symantec--you'll need Internet Explorer for that, it uses active x--they are good about cleaning up the junk.



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/26/2008 3:18:30 AM)

quote:

Flash Player is available for Firefox 2.0 and higher, get it free from adobe.com..


I downloaded this but it doesn't work on firefox. I have to go to explorer to use it.

quote:

You know you are in safe mode when your desktop screen (after Windows boots) has the words "safe mode" on all four corners of the screen. Not every computer boots into safe mode with the same key. You can get it in two ways-- one is to google your computer and safe mode, e.g. "Dell safe mode," "Sony safe mode," etc. That should get you links to pages telling you what F key it has to be.
another way is to simply go to Start>Run, then type in "msconfig" (without quotation marks). In the new window, click on the General tab, and then select "Diagnostic startup blahblahblah". Then OK out and then reboot. I've never booted into safe mode like this, but I believe that will do it.

Now--when you get safe mode options---if you have NOT updated your antivirus AND antispyware (b/c trojan fits into spyware, not virus), then select "Safe mode WITH networking" which gets you online. If you know you are updated, you can just hit "Safe mode" plain.

One more thing--I'd get an online scan to help diagnose. When I had a trojan on my desktop, Symantec not only scanned my computer, but gave me explicit instructions on how to get rid of it, and what files it would have dropped onto my computer. On that page, I do have a link towards the top, to online scanners. Pick symantec--you'll need Internet Explorer for that, it uses active x--they are good about cleaning up the junk.


I will check this out when I get some time to organise it. That organ of mine needs some fine tuning and that takes time[:D]! The word does come from the word "organ", meaning musical organ[:D].

Thanks for yours.[:)] Organ and time, that is.



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/27/2008 7:51:35 PM)

Again, these free scans tell me that the unregistered version will fix so many problems but there are others that cannot be fixed without registration[:@]. Not sure how true this is or how necessary?



psaulm119 -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/27/2008 10:31:10 PM)

I've used Symantec's free scan before, and never been asked to pay, even when it diagnosed a trojan and gave me the exact steps to eradicate it including the places it was located.

Before the online scans, tho, its best to clean up with an antivirus/antispyware like Avast or AVG, which never have asked me for cc info. Nor have any scans (although norton was the only one that found anything).

What online scan are you using that is asking for pay? I think McAfee will detect stuff, but then charge for paying.... but I've never heard that about Symantec.

If you are told you have junk, I'd try cleaning it with freeware antivirus/antispyware, then go back to the online scan as a second opinion so to speak...



Giulia -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/28/2008 9:47:26 PM)

They clean up some of it the AVG and spyware doctor, but for others they tell me I have to register.



Bettawrekonize -> RE: Protection from viruses (7/28/2008 10:06:18 PM)

Clamwin is a free and open source antivirus.



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