I need help

Boy do I need help here...I recently had a post about how Panda found a virus...EICAR.MOD C:\KAV\DATA1.CAB[EICAR.HTML] That's what it said...now I have Kaversky on my system and it didn't find it...I was told to try and delete it..I did a search and hound it and deleted it...now when I started my computer today...I got an error message for Kaversky missing something and I should try to fix it or uninstall/reinstall...well I can't uninstall it...it just goes to a browser..forever...I tried to restore my sytem for 2 days ago and it wouldn't let me...Can anyone help me here?

 

I don't have panda installed at all...I run the free scan. Is it ok to reinstall over the other Kaversky?

 

Ok then...I shall return when its done.

 

If you manually deleted it ... Can you search your recycle bin for it?

As Ronjor suggested ... I would suggest the same.

 

I was able to reinstall Kasperky...it must have just overwritten the original...I would really like to know which AV is best...I'm not sure if I like this one or if NOD32 is better...I know nothing about it...

 

DoeZ0763,

I use both NOD32 and KAV. Right now I have NOD32 set as my realtime monitor and KAV is a backup scheduled (nightly) scanner. NOD32 has caught a number of web based attempted malware downloads, basically the same challenges that I put KAV through, which also caught them. Neither product has, in my hands yet, let a piece of malware through for the other to catch.

NOD32 is lighter on my system in terms of RAM consumption - not really an issue for me - and yields somewhat better system responsiveness. I use both for certainty and backup on my PC, but neither has ever left me vulnerable. For pragmatic protection, I view these two programs as effectively equivalent.

What do I mean by pragmatic protection? KAV has the most extensive coverage of malware available in an AV product. In terms of signatures, it's database is more extensive than virtually all other products. If it's malware and known, it's likely to be covered by KAV. This protects your system well, but it is at a clear price on the performance side. Whether that price is dear or not depends on your system specs. On the other hand I have personally experienced a few malware infections and helped a few other deal with theirs. In all instances, the infections arose from that limited population of malware du jour - the actively spreading in the wild malware. Despite a smaller signature database, NOD32 appears to cover this subpopulation extremely well and has put significant effort into handling unknown threats using a heuristic approach. So, in my experience, for all circumstances in which you or I are likely to be exposed to malware, I'd say the two products perform equivalently.

Trialing both products should provide a rough indication of the relative performance hit on your PC and should uncover any significant incompatibilities. As always, there are personal preferences in the nature of the user interface, flow of the dialog boxes, degree of customization possible, and so on that you should weigh in ultimately selecting the product for your needs. I do have definite preferences with respect to AV offerings, it's just that these two are currently together at the top of my personal ratings chart.

Blue

PS - I believe that the file you mention above is (EICAR.MOD C:\KAV\DATA1.CAB[EICAR.HTML]) is an eicar code fragment in KAV's internal on-line help system. I can see an eicar code fragment in my KAV WS 5.0 help system. Harmless, although fairly nice that a competing product does note its presence.

 

Blue...this is what I have on my system to keep all ugly pests out...I have Kaspersky...AdAware...Spybot S&D...ZoneAlarm...SpywareBlaster...I had CWShredder but it wasn't working right and I can't get it to download again...I thought you couldn't run 2 AV at the same time? It's not that I'm a paranoya or anything...I have a 14yr. old daughter that when she goes on my computer...my AdAware comes up with a zillion new things...I'm afraid that she'll go into a site and get a virus from downloading or something...I ran bitdefender also and came up clean...

 

DoeZ - you can have two AVs present, but only one can run (be resident) at a given time; one must be configured to be an 'on-demand' scanner.

Something you don't mention is SpywareGuard. Any particular reason?

 

Hi dangitall...

I know nothing about Spyware guard...what can you tell me...and should I install NOD32 also? If I install I'm only getting protection from 1 Av right? Unless I run the other one myself...am I understanding this?

 

Howdy, DoeZ!

Javacool's SpywareGuard is an active program that prevents spyware from being installed. It can be downloaded through a link provided in the Javacool forum here.

As far as the benefits of 1 vs. 2 AVs, I can't tell you: all I've ever used is Norton, and it's served me well. From what I understand, however, your Kaspersky will be active AV, preventing viral attacks while, if you install NOD32, it will simply be a 'backstop'. You would run it after disconnecting from the Net (yes or no, folks?) and shutting down KAV (again, folks?). You would, in effect, be protected by KAV, while double-checking with NOD32.

 

Dangitall...because I have all the other stuff I mentioned...is it ok to have spyguard also? As for another AV...I don't want to play around anymore...I can always go and run a online scan I found thru here...I'm getting pooped of all this...I just want to be fast...cuz I have cable modem...I want to go here and there with no worries...it's a shame you can't even do that nowadays...

 

Yes, DoeZ, SpywareGuard will work with all of your listed security software, and is generally highly recommended by those more knowledgeable than I (me, I'm just a kibitzer!). For now, if you have KAV installed and it's working properly, I'd stick with it ... without setting up a second AV. KAV has a good reputation, and should be adequate to the task.

As far as your surfing daughter, perhaps it's time for NetNanny or something along those lines. I'm looking into this area myself at the moment, due to my girlfriend's two sons, ages 9 & 16.

by Ronjor:

 

I'm gonna download spyguard...and see what happens...I know we've talked in the past and you've helped me with several of my problems...I feel bad for not letting my daughter on my computer because she always seems to mess something up...or at least thats how it looks...let me know of any info you get with this netnanny and all...

 

Make sure you get SpywareGuard by Javacool, following this link - http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.html - and I'll see you around!

 

Yup...that's the one...I opened it after and didn't see any settings or anything like that...

Now I shut it down and restarted...why can't I open this at all?

 

Should install with all protections enabled. It must run resident: there will be a red SG icon in your system tray (near the clock).

Under Options, your settings should look like this:

 

And this:

 

When 'closing' SG, right-click the upper left corner of the window and select 'minimize'. Actually closing the window will also close the program.

Any more on this will probably get us bumped over to the Javacool forum, so we'd best end this here. Feel free to ask any other Javacool software-related questions in the appropriate forum. Good luck and be safe!

 

uhoh...something's wrong...I can't seem to open it at all now...I've tried every way...don't see it down by the clock either...

 

At the risk of the aforementioned 'bump', go to Start, Programs and open SG from there.

 

On multiple AV's - you can't have two realtime monitors active on a PC at the same time, they'll likely get into a contentious battle surveying your system. I have only one AV for realtime monitoring at any time, the second is for on-demand only (although I have it as a scheduled scan). Even within that construct, it's possible that some AV's won't play together all that well. I wouldn't recommend this configuration unless you are very comfortable adjusting you PC. I mentioned both since I use both on the same platform and see very similar results.

I understand the issue with your daughter - I visited my sister and her family over the weekend. Although NAV/NPF were installed, LiveUpdate was somehow compromised, virus definitions were not current, and a lot of malware (mainly spyware type stuff, nothing really menacing) was present. Took a few hours to unravel. For her - it's the younger kids who seemingly simply cannot resist saying OK to any random window that pops up, with the expected ultimate results.

The main problem you could face is that your daughter may encounter an infectious situation, it will be flagged by the AV, but she will ignore or suppress the appropriate AV action if given the option. For that reason, I'd likely set-up my AV to perform automatic cleaning. This can create issues with false positives, so I wouldn't push the setting to where false positives become a more than very infrequent occurrence. In terms of your complement of security programs, you have a solid set of them at the ready as ronjor points out.

Blue