Need an antiviral / internet security and advice please

Hi,
I have an older pc: celeron, 2.93 ghz, 248 mb ram - running very slowly.
The only time it ran well was today when I removed Norton Internet Security (NIS) (2005(?)) before <attempting to> install NIS 2008.
Following the install it is really hopeless.

I need some advice on a quiet effective security program. Does anyone know if kaspersky allows setting changes.

Or is avg or mcAffe controllable?

Or are there any others
IMO I think one can have an effective antiMalware program without all the "toys" (Perhaps I am wrong)
Thank you for any and all advice!

 

There are as many opinions as there are programs. Please refer to this list of threads I searched out for you.

Personally I find Avast and Spybot Search & Destroy to be quite effective.

Mitch

 

Thanks for the links! - lots to choose from.
I am going to try Avast for now.
Tanya

 

I have to recommend away from Spybot Search and Destroy. Lately what I've found is that it's completely useless against current threats and it protects malware registry entries. I cleaned out one computer tonight with Spybot and Teatimer installed on it. It was so badly infected that I couldn't even update malware programs, never mind actually run any of them or even install Malwarebytes.

On another PC, riddled with infections I was deleting some registry entries for malware. The second I rescanned with HJT, they were back. After scratching my head and looking for rootkits, I discovered it was in fact Spybot putting them back. Removing Spybot solved the problem.

I see these experiences repeated weekly as one thing we specialize in is malware removal without formats (man I have an insane story for another thread that happened yesterday...).

I find AVG8 Free quite effective. The firewall in AVG8 paid edition is a horrible nightmare on networks, including small workgroups and domains, however. Malwarebytes (paid) is an excellent program as well....and the price is definitely reasonable.

 

I am sorry you had such trouble with Spybot. however Teatimer does what it is supposed to do. If a user tells Teatimer its ok to write to the registry...it will and it will protect that entry.

One should always disable Teatimer before trying to perform any fixes with HijackThis or other virus scanning software.

Antiviral and Spyware programs are only as good as the person behind the keyboard.

Mitch

 

Yup.. Which is why it's really crappy when by default the icon hides itself in the system tray (the user has to change this manually).

Also, because the messages on Teatimer are often ridiculously generic, the non-suspecting user running a program will not realize that a malware entry is looking for approval.

Further, and regretfully, there are infections that install and write registry entries without Teatimer even knowing what hit it.. and then Teatimer proceeds to protect them. Also, if the computer was infected before Spybot was installed (which is often the case, they're trying to clean out their computer) any current registry entries are automatically protected.

Even worse, when trying to clean that computer I mentioned in the previous post, when trying to delete those rogue entries, Teatimer did NOT pop up a request or warning. There were no dialogue boxes at all. It simply replaced them automatically.. However it joyously popped up and got in my face when I tried the legitimate operation of getting rid of Spybot.

It was so good a few years back, but it seems now it's well past it's prime. Regretfully it's one of the programs that gets removed off of all our clients' computers the second I find it.

 

McAfee is perfectly fine so I'm not sure why you recommend it be avoided. I suppose this is a case of one man's junk is another's prized possession. My wife and I have used McAfee Internet Security suite for close to a year now with no problems whatsoever. Millions use McAfee and it is one of the top-rated malware programs available.

 

Well... what can I say? PC Advisor rates it quite high:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?prodcatid=31

It works for us and our computers are fast enough that neither of us experience any issues with resources. I have three tabs open right now... Windows media player running, McAfee running, Spysweeper running and my computer is humming right along. And I've not had a virus since 1997 and then only through my total negligence. But to each his own, Broni. As Mitchell said: "there are as many programs as there are opinions." LOL Y'all have a good one.

 

McAfee is absolutely terrible, I have to agree. I've cleaned a great number of "protected" computers that had McAfee on them, without McAfee even knowing what was going on. I've also seen it cause serious performance and usability issues.

Most of the mainstream websites have been bought off by McAfee and Norton. The truth is much different. They both rate at the bottom of mainstream AV apps. At the top is Eset NOD32 and Kaspersky. Even AVG is rated higher than McAscrap and Snortin' Norton.

It's too bad Symantec bought out Peter. When Peter owned Norton, the apps were actually decent and useful. Symantec is like Corel. Everything they touch, they destroy. Too bad Symantec (and McAfee) didn't spend as much on R&D as they do on marketting and buying off reviews.

 

Tanya, as you can see there are as many opinions as there are programs. Research and find one you like then read any reviews you can find. Talk to someone experienced. If they are worth their salt they'll give you clear objective reasons why a program should be avoided.

Let us know which one you decide to use.

Good luck.

Mitch

 

True. It's no good saying "this program is great!" or "this program is crappy!" without giving any solid reasons why you make the statement. It certainly needs to be qualified.

Speaking of McAfee.. The day before yesterday we ran into it again. The computer was simply riddled with infection.

A test of McAscrap was to run Combofix while still installed. It was then that McAfee came to life, ruling Combofix "dangerous" and suggesting that it be deleted immediately.

It was funny, really... We normally run MCRT to get rid of it first, but a point needed to be made at the time.

 

Riddled with infection? Now that's interesting. I suppose the bottom line is this: if you go to bad places, you can expect bad things to happen. I've done many online scans with "other" scanning engines and they've all found nothing. So evidently McAfee is doing the job for us and our computers are not riddled with anything untoward. And I find descriptives like: McAscrap to be just a bit juvenile.

If a person takes proper precautions while surfing and opening e-mail, keeps his machine up-to-date with the latest critical updates from MS (assuming he has a PC and is using Windows), has a good router and two-way firewall, a good spyware program (we use Webroot's Spysweeper) and anti-virus program (we use McAfee) then there really should be no problem... certainly not a box riddled with infection.

To each his own.

 

Hehe. I have an odd sense of humour.. "McAscrap" stands testimony to that.

Infections are mutating into more ingenius strains all the time. To rest on one's laurels, especially as a software package masquerading as "security" is very dangerous. People trust the brand without doing their homework, then we see them on the bench.

In another example, I take care of several stores in a retail chain. The IT department gave them all McAfee Enterprise. I received a frantic call that their MAIN point of sale terminal was acting strangely. Believe it or not, it had several bad infections on it, including numerous trojans and rootkits. The computer was connected to the internet to retrieve emails and allow connections in from head office.

To McAfee's credit, however, the mail scanner was working. It jammed the inbox, causing Outlook to crash repeatedly while it was trying to download the emails. Every time it hit a particular email Outlook crashed, resulting in 10 copies of every message in their inbox.

Asking "how" it happened is pointless. I know how, though. Those jerks that make scumware have been pirating Google results with keyword laden scripts to fool you into thinking you're going to a legitimate website. You click on it and WHAM! Things go to hell in a handbasket in a REAL hurry. These infections are platform independent, so it doesn't matter what browser you use.

I've actually witnessed, first hand, the BBC website, Cineplex Odeon and a local theater website infect computers. Not because they had done it themselves, but because some jerk had exploited a vulnerability.

In another example it was a real estate management office. They frequently surf MLS listings, building supplies, etc. Their one computer became infected and actually infected the other computers on the network. The symptoms weren't displaying themselves in an obvious manner on that machine, just the occasional video glitching on a PC Anywhere connection.

Their main PC, however, was obviously in deep trouble. It took me hours to get rid of it all.. Only to take it back, plug it in and have the other computer discover it and have it reinfected in 90 seconds. I actually watched it happen, and AVG working frantically to shut them down as they tried to wreak their havok.

Please don't tell me "you can rely on garbage software if you're careful ". No, you can't. And regretfully the ramifications are serious and in some cases terribly expensive (especially if you can't format the drive and start over).

 

Hi Mitch,
I chose Avast! The computer was still slow but I've adjusted some settings and now it is fine (for the first time in 2 years) It's amazing the difference! And this program allows adjustments. The N.I.S. 2008 would not even open but alerts kept popping up telling me what it was doing for me.

I like Avast! so far and thank you for the advice.

I have a much newer pc which has NIS 2008 with no problems. (I have spent over 8 hours troubleshooting it: Including chats with symantec technical support. A bit too much time to spend on a program).

 

Mwahah.. Symantec "technical support ". Ha! Don't let them remote into your computer, whatever you do. I had the joy of being called in after they worked their magic on a client's pc.. After 6 hours of them "working" on it, they completely totalled the Windows install.

The only known fix for NIS is SRT... The Symantec Removal Tool. hehehe

Avast is pretty decent though. Nice, lightweight, does a decent job for the most part.

 

I forgot the quotes "technical support" and I did let 1 of them change some settings and it did actually improve things.... but this figured into the 8 hours....

The PC with Avast! is running really well - I thought there was a h/w problem(s) since when I ran the 4 hour + Norton scan the fan kept coming on...
My opinion: I think Symantec has good intentions but would get a lot further in the business without all the pop-ups and messages and unchangeable "options ".(Just My Opinion)

 

It's just opinions... that's all it is. Consumer Reports (which should be perfectly unbiased) and PC Magazine which has a decent record of giving accurate information, rate NIS 2009 as the top security suite today. On this forum we've had several recently pan AVG 8. McAfee is dissed but as I mentioned before, it's not failed me so why should I be concerned? I've been online for twelve years now (Sept. of 97 is when I made the plunge) and had a variety of security programs (Norton, NOD, Bitdefender, McAfee, AVG, Avast, Zone Alarm, Inoculate It, CA, Trend Micro) and in all that time had one virus back in 1998 through my negligence. It's all opinion. You can relate horror stories of one security suite failing and recommend another and I'm sure we can all find others who give the exact opposite recommendations. I belong to a shavers' group (of all things) and there are Braun lovers and Braun haters... Norelco lovers and Norelco haters... It's really hilarious. We are what we are... biased and short-sighted (limited by our personal experiences). McAfee works for me. What can I say?

 

As I said earlier, the product is only as good as the person behind the keyboard. I agree with James, we all have our different experiences.