BleepingComputer.com: Which antivirus shall I get?

Comodo is now an anti-virus and firewall.

Is it free?

Yeah - Comodo is free.

Hmm. I'll think about it

Budapest, on Aug 4 2009, 08:27 PM, said:

Will that work for the Mozilla Sea Monkey suite?
That essentially uses the firefox browser engine we are told.

Recently uninsstalled CA AV which came "free" with roadrunner cable account, as it had missed a number of threats (one of which cost us over $100 to fix) and recently had something get in which disabled it. Asking TS about it only got me banned for life... and I was real decent about it, too!

So having had enough of CA, uninstalled it and got a 30 day free trial download of Kapersky.

That caught a lOT of stuff that CA had been missing, but I discovered that threat neutralization is complicated, tedious, and confusing (at least to an older "moderate skills" guy like me). I finally got 18 threats down to a clean scan, but that took hours of frigging around and about 6 scans and re boots.
It has a "Quarantine" link but has no folder for quarantined files nor will it let me create one, or erase the "un-named folders" I create in trying. The "Help" index does not even list "Quarantine", much less explain how to use the feature... assuming that it really has it.

I'm a little underimpressed with Kapersky - especially if I'm expected to pay for it.

After reading this forum last night I decided to see what else is out there. Have experimented with AVAST but for some reason I didn't like it - can't recall exactly why at the moment though.

Downloaded COMODO which certainly reads like a magnificent little app for the price (free or adware) but have not installed it yet as I don't want to create conflict with Kapersky. KP might not be long for my hard drive though, as I've been pretty frustrated by it so far and thinking about dumping it before the trial period runs out. I definitely am not going to pay for it with all the decent freeware AV apps out there.

In checking out the Malwarebytes site, I see where it is not supposed to conflict with other security software - so for the heck of it downloaded and installed that. Kapersky popped right up and protested, but when I clicked the "allow" button it shut up and went away.

Ran a scan with MWB with no apparent conflicts, and it came up with several threats:

Quote

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.40
Database version: 2637
Windows 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3

8/17/2009 8:30:00 AM
mbam-log-2009-08-17 (08-30-00).txt

Scan type: Full Scan (C:\|D:\|)
Objects scanned: 220775
Time elapsed: 1 hour(s), 4 minute(s), 31 second(s)

Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 2
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 2
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 2

Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Keys Infected:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\The Weather Channel (Adware.Hotbar) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Weather Services (Adware.Hotbar) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.

Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data Items Infected:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\FirewallDisableNotify (Disabled.SecurityCenter) -> Bad: (1) Good: (0) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\UpdatesDisableNotify (Disabled.SecurityCenter) -> Bad: (1) Good: (0) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.

Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Files Infected:
C:\RECYCLER\ADAPT_Installer.exe (Heuristics.Malware) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
C:\Documents and Settings\Compaq_Owner\Desktop\explorer.exe (Heuristics.Reserved.Word.Exploit) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.

Which apparently Kapersky missed. I'm impressed!

MWB also tells me just what each item is, and removal is a snap.

I think KP will be coming down and COMODO will go in it's place - at least for another trial run.

Stay tuned.... UJ in ME



Update: 0938EST 8-17-09:

While starting to install COMODO, I actually READ the EULA and guess what, folks; it AIN'T FREE!

Neither the web site or the EULA says anything abut how much, but the EULA makes it clear that it is installed for a "trial period" only, and even for that you have to pony up a credit card no.. and then one has to renew their subscription annually. That's as far as I got; I feel that the site disingenuously led me to believe that it was "freeware" or at the most adware - but offered it as a "Free version". I don't think so!

Any provider that is going to pull a trick like that, I'm not about to trust their software. Will it be a data miner or spyware in itself? Lots of "Antiviruses" have been known to be quite virus-like themselves. Most of you can probably think of a few examples.

So what's next?

Avira perhaps?

This post has been edited by Uncle Jaque: 17 August 2009 - 08:46 AM

rsa101, on Aug 4 2009, 08:23 PM, said:

Sounds good to me!

I see at their web site

http://www.free-av.com/en/index.htmll

That they offer the "Premium" version for "Free"... but there's a catch. It's only "free" for a year, and then it's essentially adware as near as I can tell. You have to "select a service" from among a list of commercial sponsors. I don't know if that means you accept ads from them or have to buy something - didn't go there. I wonder how annoying the ad / popups are? Anyway the paid version only costs about $23 which isn't bad, especially if it's a once for all license fee and does not have to be renewed every year like a lot of them do.

I downloaded the "Free" version to get a feel for how it works. If I like it I well may pony up the price for a paid version to gain a few more bells and whistles, and perhaps a little more security.

Since Malwarebytes will run alongside other security programs (or is supposed to - it did with Kapersky) I will keep that as a redundancy double check system.

Will I still need anti-spyware / adware or will this combo pretty much cover it?

TIA

This post has been edited by Uncle Jaque: 17 August 2009 - 09:10 AM

Uncle Jaque,
You have misunderstood something in Comodo as it is absolutely free. You can choose to pay for their 24/7 online help and advice but this is a choice. I am 60yrs old and not very PC teckie and a long time user of Comodo and can unequivocally say that not only is Comodo CIS the best out there it is 100%free and I have learned to trust it. Another big plus for Comodo is that they have an excellent and very helpful forum.
https://forums.comodo.com/index.php

As well as a Firewall and Antivirus you should also download and install some malware scanners like Superantispyware (SAS), and Malwarebytes (MBAM) to use as on demand scanners. Also most users here will agree that Mozilla Firefox is a safer web browser than Internet Explorer and can be configured very safe with the excellent choice of add-ons available for it.

You should also perhaps check this site for advice on how to make sure you are completely uninstalling all parts of whatever programs you do not want on your PC as most of them leave lots of traces and sometimes it is these residues that later cause conflicts leading users to think they have a problem with a program when in reality they don't, the problem lies with left overs from programs the user thinks is gone. A good free program I have come across for this is Revo Uninstaller which is much more thorough than the built in Windows one. http://www.revouninstaller.com/

I have also been using Comodo for a couple of years and I can confirm that it is 100% free. I wouldn't necessarily say it's the best one out there, as that is somewhat of a subjective judgement - what is best for me might not be the best for someone else.

"Alternate Operating System Scanner"???

:?: A friend who has had all kinds of computer "issues" just asked me about this, and I've never heard of it;

Alternate Operating System Scanner ~ http://www.pctools.com/aoss/

...I'm not so sure I'd trust it, frankly. Is this the real deal or some kind of cyber-hokum?

She's got end stage Multiple Sclerosis and her computer is pretty much her main connection with the outside world.

She's using AVG as her anti virus currently, and I advised her that that explains a lot, since IMHO AVG flat su... well, it isn't much good.
We had it for a while and got eaten alive on a pretty regular basis.
I gave her links to AVIRA and Malware Bytes and recommended that she install them and do what I do; use them redundantly / alternately.
I know that no AV, even AVIRA, is 100% bullet proof, but in a year only one malware got through it and MB promptly nailed it.

Unfortunately, she is unable to install either program, which leads me to speculate that her PC is badly infested and malware is blocking any further AV installation. It has probably taken her AVG down just like malware used to smash though AVG and jump right in over the rubble when we used it.

Her Husband was going to bring her to our place for me to fool with it, but her condition has so deteriorated that she can't even get out of the house all that much any more.

A friend who is a tech advised that if she is that infected then about her only recourse is to back up, reformat, and start over again with factory settings. I'm sure that she has no clue how to even start doing that, so I'm wondering if this Alternate Operating System Scanner holds any hope?
Of course she probably hasn't a clue how to set that up or run it, either. I'm not altogether sure that I would for that matter.

Does AVIRA offer any kind of an on-line scan that might be able to get through her malware's defenses?

I have my AVIRA installation CD which I assume is for the basic "free" version which I could run down to her (she's about 45 minutes away when wer'e not having a blizzard), but the malware would probably block that from installing too, wouldn't it?

Does anyone here have any experience with this "AOSS" deal?

Now that Microsoft have their MS Security Essentials available, I install it on every machine I have dealings with. There are many good reviews for this product and I have read nothing bad.

It is totally free and provides full realtime protection.


"Overview
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so you’re free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

*Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials."



MSSE + windows Firewall is all the protection a general user should need IMHO. It does not NAG you like many others which is a big plus for me.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=e1605e70-9649-4a87-8532-33d813687a7f

Cheers

This post has been edited by rowal5555: 01 January 2011 - 05:42 PM