Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
Originally posted by: Ken90630
I agree with most of the suggestions here. I'd also add:
Ditch those free A-V programs and get yourself a real anti-virus app like Kaspersky 6, NOD 32, F-Secure or McAfee. They have the best detection rates coupled with a small resource "footprint." The free apps like AVG and Anti-Vir are not, in my opinion, in the same class as those listed above. This could be why your online scans can't find/fix the infection.
Some trojans and other types of malware will actually prevent a new A-V program from being installed, in which case you may be up a creek w/o a paddle. Particularly if you try several different online scanners and none can eradicate the trojan.
My limited experience, mainly with friends/acquaintances I've helped out with this sort of thing, is that it's wise to spend maybe an hour or so trying to find & eradicate the malware. If it's something that's just kicking your butt, however, you could waste all day on it and still not fix the prob. Sometimes it's easier just to back up your important files (if you can get to them via Safe Mode or whatever) and then just nuke the exisiting Windows installation and start over. (Reformat and re-install, in other words.)
I've also been wondering if maybe just trying to do a Repair Installation of Windows, with the CD, would work in cases like this. I haven't tried it (mainly 'cuz I didn't think of it before), but in theory maybe it would. Its purpose is, after all, to repair any damaged files within Windows, so ....
Hope this helps. 🙂
free doesn't make it not as effective..ime mcafee is as big a resource hog as norton (currently using avast's free version only virus ever alerted was an email from computerhq :roll: )
No, not in and of itself, I agree. But I've scoped out a number of anti-virus tests done by credible labs over the last couple years and I've
never seen the free AVG or Anti-Vir applications anywhere near the top of any list. In fact, I don't recall seeing many of the free a-v apps even tested very often. Check a-vcomparatives.org, CNET, or any of the computer magazines' periodic virus tests and I think you'll concur. Even AVG and Anti-Vir's
pay-for apps typically come in behind the usual leaders like Kaspersky, NOD32, F-Secure, McAfee and Symantec (for example).
Will the free AVG or Anti-Vir apps find the really well-known, 'big name' viruses/worms/trojans? Probably. Will their signatures come out as soon as the 'big name' companies put theirs out? I'd doubt it if for no other reason than what would be their motivation? (No one is paying them for it, so ....) I suppose that's a cynical way to look at it, but prolly realistic. Can I prove this? No -- it's just my opinion.
And do either the free AVG or Anti-Vir scan for rootkits -- fast becoming the 'malware du jour' for the cretins who write these things -- like Kaspersky 6.0 and F-Secure do? No, they don't.
😛
Would I use AVG or Anti-Vir if I couldn't afford one of the pay-for programs from one of the leading companies? Absolutely. They're a
lot better than nothing. All I'm saying is that neither have high enough detection rates to where I'd feel ultra-confident that a virus scan that yielded no malware found was really accurate. My opinion is that they might easily miss a lesser-known piece of malware that might be detected by one of the better programs. That's all.
🙂
As for McAfee being as big a resource-hog as Norton, I don't doubt you. I haven't compared them head to head, but it wouldn't surprise me. I don't particularly like either program anymore.
I'm not an AVG or Anti-Vir hater or anything -- I just was trying to convey to the OP that a better a-v program probably would have been able to quarantine or repair the trojan that his AVG or Anti-Vir couldn't. Plus, the various labs' anti-virus tests done every year show that nearly all of the a-v programs miss things that others find. The better the detection rates, heuristics, and repairing ability of the program you're using, the more likely you'll be to stay safe & uninfected.
🙂
