Note to self: free anti virus programs are worthless (innoculateIT)

[Stark]

Thought I was safe using this "great" free AV program called innoculateIT. Now I'm sitting here trying to remove the W95.hybris.gen virus from my computer (also known as hahaha@sexyfun.net or Snow White and the Seven dwarves).

I get paid for removing this crap from other peoples' computers, and I can't even keep it off my own box at home.

I shoulda stuck with norton 2k1, which is going on as I type to exterminate this bug. Live and learn. :|

BTW,
has anyone else noticed a huge increase in the number of virus' going around in the last few months?

 

[The Stigenator]

goto symantec.com and try get the tool to clean it out or
goto:

Click here.. for Antivirus from PC Cillin

 

[Elledan]

Just curious: how did you get this virus on your PC?

As far as I know, it comes with an email as attachment, and you've to open it first in order to make it start its destructive work.
So, what made you open it? Or did Outlook open it for you?

Mental note: open attachments on a Linux box when not running root

 

[axelfox]

Man, that proggy sucks. No wonder its free.

 

[Aquaman]

Actually I have the latest build 5.2 something and it recognized the ha ha ha virus right away (first day after I installed it). No problems for me.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Stark]

I'm not sure exactly how it got opened up, but the wife said "I think there's a virus on the computer" when I got home last night. :Q

The worst thing is, I have all the norton av cd's and wasn't running it because innoculateIT was supposed to be just as good/better. And yes, I just got the most recent updates a last week.

I've removed this virus from plenty of 98 machines with no problems. I, however, am running win2k and it's kicking my arse so far. :|

 

[LadyNiniane]

I have InoculateIT 5.2, same as Aquaman, and have had no problems. CA also had a fix for the Anna Kournikova virus before Norton did, which saved me a lot of grief - one of my clients got that one in their mail server (MS Outlook) and I ended up getting 27 copies of it sent to my external e-mail address, all flagged and disabled by InoculateIT as they showed up in my Inbox.

Having said that, I will also note that Norton, as a rule, does work very well for the most part. My objection to it is Symantec's hostage-holding attitude towards AV updates - "Pay us the equivalent of buying the product every year, or we won't let you have any more updates!" They're not very forthcoming about how much the updates cost, either, until after you've bought and installed and registered the product.

I find it amusing that Symantec and Network Associates have adopted the "annual maintenance fee" mode of updating, while CA (which is acknowledged in the corporate world as the master of the upgrade license fee game) is eager to provide free software and updates for their product.

Lady Niniane

 

[PhaZe]

You can get AVP which is the best (I think)
It cleaned my computer from the infamouse CIH virus in like 1996 or something.

www.kaspersky.com

 

[dennilfloss]

I still use the Norton AV that came with my AX6BC motherboard and I have never been asked to pay for updates after nearly 3 years. :Q I use it in real time and I use the Ontrack PCcillin that came with my Fix-It Utilities 98 and 2000 on demand. I have McAffee on CD thanks to my subsequent mobo (ASUS) but I don't use it.

Pinch Me (Barenaked Ladies)

 

[Digobick]

<< &quot;Pay us the equivalent of buying the product every year, or we won't let you have any more updates!&quot; >>

Strange, they only want to charge me $2.99/year. I think I'm getting screwed here. </sarcasm> Btw, Norton AV '01 virus updates are free for 365 days, and I'm sure most of you guys here format your hard drives more often than that.

 

[beer]

How hard is it to launch your InoculateIT icon and do an &quot;Auto Download&quot; once a day? If you keep it updated (its free) it's the best program I've seen, and it's a hell of a lot nicer on resources and wallet than Norton.

 

[Stark]

I know the auto update download feature well. Like I said, I updated last week.

Perhaps it's something limited to use in win2k... when I tried to run a scan last night (after getting the email) there were many files innoculateIT couldn't scan for some reason. None of the descriptions I've read of the snow white virus explain this behavior.

I needed to reinstall windows anyways, so tonight I'll install on a second drive, install drivers, transfer my data files over, and ghost to the original drive.

 

[kami]

Well, InnoculateIT just cleaned 600+ infected files off my C: drive today...so I wouldn't consider it worthless.

 

[Pepsi90919]

i use autodownload every day, not every week. i usually hit an update about every other day or so.

note that this only affects your virus database and not the actual program, you must manually go to the site and check to see if you have the latest.

 

[prodigy]

I've never had a problem with F-Prot.

 

[konichiwa]

Gotta love Norton. Free virus updates for life, there's new updates almost every day. I feel very protected when Norton is running. It wouldn't even let me open the LoveBug or the Kournikova virus in Notepad to view the code.

 

[Tiger]

Sooner or later everybody learns you get what you pay for.

Ditto Koni, there's Norton and then there's Norton wannabe's.

 

[LadyNiniane]

konichiwa, now you've got me curious - how do you get free updates for life from Norton?

My new machine has Norton 2k1 on it (part of the system install) - it shows that I have about 2-1/2 months left on my &quot;free 90-day updates&quot; set. The last price I saw to keep updates coming after that was something around $25-$30 a year. CA InoculateIT is going on it just as soon as that 90-day update is complete (if not sooner).

Yes, I could reformat and re-install, but I don't particularly want to. And that sort of workaround doesn't help people like my mother, who runs a very stable Win98SE setup and has no desire whatsoever to completely rework her system just to get virus updates.

Lady Niniane

 

[GeekDrew]

It was a complete accident, but when I installed Norton AntiVirus, the system clock was running two years fast for some reason. I corrected the clock, and now Norton says that I have three more years until the free updates expire. LOL

 

[konichiwa]

Back from the dead...*whoosh*

LadyNiniane

Not really sure, I got the &quot;Corporate&quot; version from work and it gives me free updates for life. I just got sent the SubSeven trojan yesterday, and of course I didn't open it -- I only tried to save it to disk and Norton wouldn't let me.

 

[wyvrn]

Well since I don't open attachments, I don't really need an antivirus. So I use the free ones to scan floppies. Have never had a virus in years of computing. So why should I pay for Norton?

 

[Harvey]

Stark -- Sorry you had a bad experience, but I suspect that you had something set up wrong. I use InoculateIT-PE, ver 5.2, and it stopped the hahaha@sexyfun-Snow White virus cold. It simply would not allow me to open the attachment. It has also blocked every other virus I've received, and I've checked my drive with other scanners to make sure.

BTW, I check them for updates regularly, because they seem to come out with one about every two or three days. Anyone who wants this program can get it here. For more information on most viruses, go to CA's Virus Information Center.

wyvrn -- << Well since I don't open attachments, I don't really need an antivirus. >>

Oh, yes you do! Some viruses don't require you to open an attachment to infect your system. Just receiving the e-mail is enough to bite you. Furthermore, these things send themselves out automatically, so your friends won't even know they sent it until it's too late. You'll also be passing them along to everyone in your address book.

Since it's free, I don't see how anyone can afford not to get CA's program, even if you can't afford one you have to buy. As they say in Hot Deals, Free is good!

One more thing you can do is uninstall Windows Scripting Host (aka Visual Basic Scripthosting, aka VBS). About 95% of all Widoze users will never encounter a need for it. This won't stop all viruses, but it will stop all VBS viruses. If you ever need Windows Scripting Host, the system will just give you a message asking you to insert your Windoze disk, and you can re-install it. A good anti-virus program is the pound of cure. Disconnecting the mechanism that VBS viruses use will even stop the ones that haven't had new software updates written, yet. Go here for complete step-by-step instructions, including screen shots for Win 95, 98, 2K, and NT. If anyone checks, LMK if the 2K instructions work for ME.

 

[UnixFreak]

I think all virus scanners are worthless, I dont even use them. Oh yeah, I run linux.... sorry to rub it in guys...

 

[Russ]

I get that frigging hahaha@sexyfun.net about five or six times a week. Note to all you Outlook Pukespress users: Please remove me from your address book! I don't send you any, so I'd appreciate the same courtesy.

Russ, NCNE

 

[SonOfZeuz]

Only a moron would open an unknown email attachment.
BTW the inoculate i have detects hybris. (you do know how to update the sig files dont you)
Just wait till someone sends you sub7 or another rat trojan and your Norton lets it slip right through. Norton is an over-rated worthless resource hog POS