ESET Question

I have a question about ESET Smart Security. I am currently running Vipre and Personal Firewall by Sunbelt Software. My problem is I have already had 2 infections in the past 5 months using the Vipre software. When I download something and do a scan it doesn't pick up anything but when I open the file, my computer is infected. I constantly have updated definitions but it doesn't seem to help. I am looking for a program that is proactive and not one that is always letting things slip through. How good is this program?

 

All AntiVirus miss things but some more then others. That being said, Eset has very good heuristics and updates are very frequent.IMO I would leave your firewall if your happy with it and trial NOD32 AV V3 or if your willing to BETA test its new upcoming version V4 that is very stable at the moment.

 

djohn,
Thanks for the reply. I guess what puzzles me most is with my current antivirus and antispyware program, when I scanned the folder it didn't find anything but when I opened it shows it blocking the file, however within 5-10 minutes later, I start getting popup spyware ads in Internet Explorer and I don't even use IE. I'm not sure if it's a virus or spyware. I have tried a scan with Vipre, an online scan with Kaspersky and Eset and they all get different results.

 

Its sound like its to late for vipre.Here is two highly recommended scanners I would run.http://www.superantispyware.com
http://www.malwarebytes.org

After you download them just update them and run full system scans one at a time with each. These two apps are very effective and known by wilders members.

 

Eset's detection ~94%. Eset's heruistics ~50%.

Seems like Eset only provides sigs for 44% of malware =\

 

After I run the scans from both websites, which program does the best for removing them? Also what exactly does heruistics mean? I am ok with my firewall program. I am just trying to find the best program for detecting viruses, malware and spyware.

 

Hello pjohnson73.No antivirus is gonna save you in these conditions.(opening files that you are not sure about).
Using a program like sandboxie to open your files (you can search the forum there are numerous threats about it) will isolate the possible infection in the 1st place ,but it won't tell u if the file is good or bad.

 

So, if there is no antivirus program that will save me, why pay for any of them? I know there is not one program that fixes all. I just don't want to pay for a program that always lets things through. I am just trying to get input on some of the top programs. I am currently running the beta version of Eset V4 right now.

 

Avira PE Premium has never failed me yet.

 

And what did SunBelt support say when you contacted them, or did you?

 

They haven't contacted me yet. They are good as far as support, but last time my computer was infected I had to go through all types of scans and programs to clean the computer. Everything eventually got cleaned but it was a royal pain.

 

Eset's scores are slipping. Best off

A) not going to malicious sites
B) use various online scanners regulary

 

Ok TechOutsider,
I will take the advice. Another question though. After using different online scanners what is recommended program to remove the infections? Also, other than the two online scan sites listed above, what others do you recommend?

 

You can really take advantage of eset V4 with its security settings in the advanced setup tree by maximizing its security features the defaults are ok but with its advanced heuristics and a few other setting there as well for its full potential.

 

The two scanners listed above in post 4 are not of the online type. Also people are going to praise and take pot shots at whatever choice you make so research and trial is the way to go. Many Av companies have an online scanner. Kaspersky, Symantec, Trend, BitDefender, f-secure, Eset etc.

 

A-squared; disinfection
Panda ActiveScan; partial disinfection, however log reports are useful
Kaspersky Online Scan; no disinfection
NOD32 Online Scan; disinfection, low detection
F-Secure Online Scan ... never detected anything ... yet

 

Did you download the two I posted and run the scans?.

 

Not yet djohn. I am at work but I will post results in the morning when I get home.

 

Just what exactly are you downloading and where are you downloading it from? It sounds like you need to change your habits a bit. Also, don't rely on one scanner when checking a download. djohn gave you info about 2 highly recommended programs which have free versions that can scan your computer as well as individual files. Note: The free versions don't provide real-time protection.

If your files are under 10MB in size you can upload them to VirusTotal or Jotti to be scanned by multiple scanners. Note: some of the scanners seem to give many false alerts or false positives more than others.

Whatever methods or programs you choose, make sure a file is clean before you run it because after you run it, it's game over. Also keep your programs up to date like Flash, Java, Windows, IM, media players, pdf readers, etc. Secunia Software Inspector can help with that. See my sig. for the link.

I hope that helps a little and I hope I didn't sound harsh. The bad guys count on us to be running vulnerable software like I mentioned in the last paragraph. They also count on us to download there fake anti-virus/malware, codecs, email attachments, infected programs etc. Keeping your programs up to date, scanning all downloads with multiple good scanners, downloading from safe sites (if your not sure, ask here at Wilders), and knowing the bad guys tricks goes a long way in staying clean.

 

As far as I know online scanners usually detect malware, some of them might clean the infection, depending on the type, the truth is that once something infects your computer, even top notch installed AVs may have a difficult time doing the clean-up job.

If you manage to get a clean system (a reinstall of Windows is the best guarantee) you really ought to buy an imaging program, and backup your system with most of your applications to an external USB Drive (or at least to another HD). Once you know you are infected (or something is wrong, sometimes a configuration mistake), a restoration of your system might take anything between 5- 20 minutes for most systems, no questions asked, no lengthy investigations of what's what, and above all you know that whatever was there, it is gone. I always keep a fairly pristine image, and a fairly recent one (just in case unintentionally the most recent image might be also infected).

 

I did the scan with SuperAntiSpyware and it detected a lot of infections. I did the removal, restarted and scanned again and it didn't find anything. I am going to try a couple more online scans just to make sure there is nothing left. Thanks for all the advice.

 

your Welcome.I am Not suprised, superAntispyware covers what many AV/AS soft do not sad but true.Also Malwarebytes sometimes finds things SAS miss and viceversa.they complement each well for OD scans.

 

I also did the scan with Malwarebytes and it picked up a few items. I removed the infections, scanned again and it hasn't detected anything so far.