I like free AVG 7.0 too, with one exception that may apply if you use
dial-up networking; the email integration is more troublesome than 6.0
Specifically, it causes this familiar problem pattern...
- av integrates into mail axis
- so av gets mail from outside, acts as POP3 server to email app
- and av acts as SMTP server to email app, then sends mail outside
- email app is set to disconnect after finishes with mail
- email app sends mail - to the av app
- having done that, email app markes as "sent", drops the line
- but the av is still checking the outgoing mail
- when done, av finds it can't send the mail out (line's dropped)
- av sends message to email app saying message(s) weren't sent
- user sees email app's "sent" the mail
- recipient never gets the mail
- user asks tech what all these messages from AVG mean
Affects OE and Eudora on dial-up. OK as long as sending is completed
by the time that getting mail is completed.
Disabling the mail plugin doesn't seem to work properly; I've taken to
uninstalling AVG 7.0 and reinstalling it without the email plugin
selected for install. But that means large first updates!
That's ugly, and would prompt me to look at hardware, motherboard caps
etc. as well as do a formal av scan.
Because many of the newer viruses and worms can disable antivirus
applications whose definitions aren't kept up-to-date, try using one or
more of the free on-line scanners to double-check your system.
Um. Because active malware can spoof URLs to alternate IP addresses,
I don't think I'd like to chase them via a site reached through
possibly tainted DNS. You may end up at a lookalike site that indeed
scans through all your files, but for info to "send home" instead!
Trend Micro - Free online virus Scan
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
I'd rather go tio the above site from a clean machine, and download
SysClean and latest signature files from there. This is a
non-installed scanner for a wide range of traditional malware
(viruses, worms, trojans) that can be run formally from a Barts PE CDR
boot, or semi-formally from Safe Mode Command Only. Copy to HD before
use, from a write-protected USB stick or CDR, then FC it with the
protected original to detect possible malware changes.
They also have free killers for specific malware, but you have to
detect them first!
I don't know if they have any formal post-infection intervention tools
I don't know if they have any formal post-infection intervention tools
I don't know if they have any formal post-infection intervention tools
They have free killers for specific bugs, a la Symantec and NOD32, as
well as a good DOS-based av that can work if you're FATxx, not NTFS
They used to offer a bootable Linux CDR with av built in, but it never
finished a scan without crashing when I tested it. It relies on the
now-discontinued Capture NTFS driver project, so not hoping for much.
Dunno that one.
Other free tools you can use from Bart's PE CDR boot, or Safe Mode
Command Only, include a killer from Avast (faster than SysClean,
updated less often, likely fewer malware covered), a killer from AVG,
and Stinger from McAfee. Stinger's the best-known non-installed
post-infection cleanup tool, but it is VERY limited; covers about 50
common malware, out of several thousand possible infectors.
Once you've done that, turn your attention to commercial malware that
are generally ignored by traditional av. Good free ones include
AdAware SE, Spybot, and what used to be Giant; this is now being
further developed by MS, and while it is still in beta (i.e.
pre-release test phase) it's pretty good.
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Gone to bloggery:
http://cquirke.blogspot.com