I remain convinced that the problem is indeed a
compatibility one between CS and MS AS. In an nutshell:
no problem ever connecting to internet for updates;
installed CS, problem; uninstalled CS, problem gone. That
is not a proof, but it is highly suggestive.
I run a load of antispyware, including as follows:
active proection:
MS AS
Spy Sweeper - at present, if limited to one, I would keep
this
Spybot
Spyware Doctor
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Guard
BHODemon
Win Patrol
Symantec Norton NIS - mostly NAV, but includes some
spyware type proections
passive protection, i.e., scans only after the fact to
detect spyware, as opposed to blocking:
Ad-Aware SE
a-squared
Most of these I have had installed for 6 months or more.
I update all frequently.
To date I have NEVER had ANY sort of genuine
compatibility problem among ANY of these applications,
but I did have one with CounterSpy and MS AS. I suspect
shared code, but it could be anything. The experience of
others may be different.
The problem with compatibility between AV applications as
opposed to AS ones is that AVs are much more likely to
consider each other malware. So says conventional wisdom,
and my limited experience bears it out. I only run Norton
AV because of the above mentioned problem. Once I tried
running a scan with Bit Defender, and it wanted to delete
a number of Norton AV files. Some other scans. e.g Panda
AV and Trend Micro AV, have been more benevolent about
Norton AV.
Because of the AS I run, I seldom find anything in any
scan. It is certainly true that one application will
catch somthing others miss. When malware allegedly does
show up in a scan, rather than delete it when found, I
will run some other scans to see if other AS applications
will detect it. Usually, they do not.
This now raises the question if that one detection was a
false positive, i.e. something found that is not there.
Pest Patrol used to be famous for false positives; that's
one reason I don't run it. If there is some doubt in my
mind, I will either let it pass, or set a Restore Point
before I quarantine it so that I can go back if I removed
something valid that I needed.
I recommend that you all check out the SpywareWarriot
site for a discussion of rogue AS programs. One sales
technique is to allow free downloads or scans that find
false positives that can only be removed if you purchase
the full AS package. The site also has some very detailed
recent side by side tests of AS applications at detecing
and removing known spyware. False positives from
reputable AS vendors are bugs, not lies.
I too believe my system is spyware (and virus) free, but
how do I really know, and how do you? Running all kinds
of scans and coming up with nothing is suggestive but
really proves nothing. An instance of spyware could be
installed that none of your AS can detect.
I don't know where we will be in a year or so. It's a cat
and mouse game in detecting and removing any malware.
Success at finding trojans does not seem to be that high
from what I've read, and root kits may present a
challenge in the future, though some have questioned
whether they will ever be a serious problem. AS may be
achieving a better "kill rate", but malware programmers
are becoming more sophisticated as well. Like so much
conflict, it's measure and countermeasure.
As for MS AS, I am not particularly impressed at its
detection rate. To date it has found nothing, and has
failed to detect what I believe is probably spyware found
by Spy Sweeper, Spybot, and Ad-Aware.
It will be interesting to see how Longhorn handles
security.
-----Original Message-----
I have been using Counterspy just over 3 months (paid
version), plus i use MSAS beta since it came out, along
with Spybot and Adaware Se. So far I haven't had a
problem with compatability. I am not saying there isn't
one, but the problem may come from somewhere other than
Counterspy. The 2 came from the same engine, but
Microsoft and Sunbelt both have changed the basic engine
that they started with. I have tested both and MSAS has
found what Counterspy has sometimes missed, and the other
way around. Basic rule right now while anti-spyware
software is still in it's growing stage, is to have more
that one program for maximum protection. All 4 of the
programs I am now running seem to catch all the dangers
out there, but they do it together. At this stage in
anti-spyware software development, no one program is able
to find and protect completely. Give them all a year or
so to work out all the bugs and you will get all the
protection from anti-spyware software as you now get from
running only one good anti-virus program.
The update problem with MSAS has been addressed here in
this forum. Follow the directions below and many thanks
to Robin Walker for the work she did in finding a
permanent fix to the problem of upgrading MSAS.
from your freindly "old" devildog
********************************************************* ***
After much debugging, I have found that the problem with definition update
failures and repetition is because of an incorrect version of the file
gcUnCompress.dll in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ (for XP) or C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\ (for
2000 or systems upgraded from 2000).
The incorrect version is of length 130,272 bytes.
The correct version is of length 95,448 bytes.
To update your system to install the correct version of the file, do the
following:
1. In the System Notification Area, right-click on the MSAS icon and select
"Shutdown Microsoft AntiSpyware".
2. In Explorer, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\, locate the file
"gcUnCompress.dll", right-click on it, and select "Delete".
3. In Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs", select "Microsoft AntiSpyware"
and click button "Change".
4. Click "Next".
5. Select "Update Microsoft AntiSpyware", click "Next".
6. Click "Install".
7. When the re-installation finishes, click "Finish".
8. In Explorer, in folder C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\, check that
"gcUnCompress.dll" is now 95,448 bytes long, by right- clicking it and
selecting "Properties".
9. Launch MSAS, pull down the File menu and select "Check for updates" -
this time it really will update your definition files to the latest version.
10. In Explorer, open the folder C:\Program
Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware, and
satisfy yourself that the modification dates of the three definition files
have changed:
gcDeterminationData.gcd
gcThreatAuditThreatData.gcd
gcThreatAuditScanData.gcd
Done!
You won't ever have to manually install the definition files again, nor will
the update keep repeating every time you try.
--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
(e-mail address removed)
"Dana Craig" <
[email protected]> wrote in
message news:
[email protected]...
