Boclean...Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly

Now that Comodo has acquired Boclean I will probably try it out. I may even put it onmy mom's PC. I do have some questions for the people that have used the product:

1. Is it easy to use? Lots of alerts or almost none? Easy enough to put on my mom's PC who know nothing about computers?

2. How about resource usage? Does it slow you down at all?

3. What are the products strengths?

4. What are the products weaknesses?

Again, looking to hear from people that have either used it int he past or currently use it.

 

I've used it since 2002. It is dead easy to use. In fact you really don't use it at all. Just set it up, let it update itself periodically, and forget it is there. Unless it catches something, it won't require any attention at all. Now that it is (will be) free I will definitely add it to my Mom's machine.

Resource usage is really low - I've previously run it and NOD32 on a very low spec machine without issue.

In addition to the above? Daily updates, great reputation, great support (historically).

You may choose to exclude some processes (like your AV) from BOClean scanning, which can be tricky - but this is merely setup stuff, do it correctly once, then forget about it. Also, you may legitimately wonder where is the independent data that demonstrates that BOCLEAN is effective; there really haven't been any recent tests/comparitives that I know of. But I have had it catch malware once or twice. Add that to the stellar reputation it enjoys here, plus the advantages above, and I am confident it is a product worth having. But you must make that decision on your own.

 

1. As easy as it get's.
2. No, not much if anything.
3. It's detection.
4. It's removal of what it finds, which not as great as the hype suggests IME.

 

By all means: go for it !

Long ago I've bought copies for friends/family.
There is one "conditio sine qua non" in my book: if you want me to try to help you (=friends/family) to maintain your computer, you have to run BOClean.
(Of course together with a AV.)

You can set it up to let it do its job completely silently, and that's the way I have set it up on their computers. They don't want to be bothered with questions: do you want to do this or that; they would not know what to do.
And when I come over to them, I'll check BOClean's logfile.

 

Don please share your removal experiences of BOClean I don't think it ever found anything on my machines, but at times I may have had my sets so that if and when it did I would not know it. Thanks.

 

Let me start by saying hi all. I was wandering would this program cause a conflict/problem with my current security "suite" which consist of Nod32 and Blackice Protection firewall?

 

The older version of BOC ran quietly in the background.
The version now known as Comodo BOClean has a couple of issues that people are experiencing and posting about over on the Comodo forum.
Updates and loss of connection are the two most common issues.
I'm using BOC with NOD32 on Vista and have no problem with it although I prefer the older version of BOC for some reason which is still running on another PC I have

 

Hi, ComodoBoClean runs very quietly on the background and has no conflict issues w/ my Avast home , ZA pro firewall and BlackIce. However, as CJsDad has mentioned that it does have some bugs such as update error message right after window bootup(something like server not available), once in a while. Overall, it is a nice to have AT app.

 

I am new to boclean. My initial impressions:

Good

1. Easy to install and set up
2. Runs quietly in background

Bad

1. I can't get the autoupdate function to work
2. Still a blacklist program

 

If you are a fan of incomplete blacklist protection, than CBOClean is good for you.
The incompleteness can be decreased by increasing the number of AV/AS/AT/AK/AR-scanners.
Two of each kind or 5 x 2 = 10 scanners is a good start, but is it enough ? A sleeping pill or relax pill might be the answer.

 

I think I have a conflict between BoClean and McAfee Security Center. After I installed BoClean, on every scan McAfee finds (and removes-) Back Door Bac! rootkit trojan. I think this is a false positive, because I have scanned numerous times with several trojan hunt programs, Ad-Aware SE Personal, SpyBot, etc., in both Windows (XP Pro SP2) and safe mode. None of the other programs found any problems or trojans, and the HiJackThis log looks good.

Anyone else come across this problem? -- anyone that recently installed the free McAfee? Or do I have a tough rootkit?

By the way, Back Door and several variations are listed in BoClean's list, but its logs for this computer do not show it has found any trojans, or anything else for that matter.

 

My experience with BoClean has taught me to leave it alone.

I have twice had to use System Restore in order to get back my Internet connection. Over on the Comodo Forum there are numerous people with the same problem. It would appear that BoClean when killing a Trojan is supposed to repair Winsock (I dont know exactly what Winsock does, but something to do with connections) but it dosent repair in a number of cases thus messing up your Internet connection.

I tested BoClean with a Trojan Simulator, and it stopped the Trojan and removed it, but as I say messed up my connection.

My experience also of Comodo is that when people are praising their products they get instant replies from the top guys, but when a serious problem arises, they all stay quiet. I have had no real answer to why this happens on my machine. They just say untick the box that says clean up Winsock.

My question is,"If BoClean is going to cause problems, why is that box ticked by default?" Needless to say I got no answer!!

 

I've seen more issues with people using BOC on the Comodo board in the past few weeks as compared to what I've seen in the 2 years that I've been using the program.

 

Well, I would like to have some answers, I still don´t get it, is it only a memory scanner, so if you are already infected it will alert you? Or is it able to identify malware on execution?

 

Geez, after reading some of the posts here and on the Comodo forums, BOClean is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I just installed their version last night on my main PC. I wonder if I should switch back to the older one?

 

I still have the older version running on another PC and to be truthful about it I like the older version better.
I guess its going to come down to the user, some people don't experience any problems using BOC but on the other hand as I mentioned previously I'm seeing more problems with BOC from other users now that it is with Comodo than all the years previously when it was run under nsclean and everything was handled by Kevin and Nancy.

 

It aint the old. That is the best way to say it.

 

This really should be expected since (a) BOClean is now free so is being trialled by more users and (b) an official forum now exists for users to provide feedback, good and bad.

The "Automatic reset/cleanup" options can be a problem in some cases (e.g. users with a Hosts file blocking known spy/adware URLs, manually configured network options like OpenDNS or other security software using LSP filters) so disabling such options (see BOClean Configuration) may be a prudent step for those concerned about possible conflicts.

 

Hmpf. BoClean had an official forum before being sold.

I too see way, way too many problems being posted at Comodo. But the real problem I see is that many of the users with problems, many are not new to BoClean either, don't get any help or get vague attempts from other users but no official help.

Kevin has not posted at Comodo forums since April 23 and has only logged in three times since then the last time being May 10.

 

I've mentioned that before, not here but in another thread about the possibility of seeing alot of issues is due to the fact that BOC is now free which means more user/more problems.
However, I also have to take into account what if that isnt the case, what if the new BOC actually is more troublesome than the older version, new doesn't always mean better.
You remember the thread on Comodo and another security forum "Shhhh don't tell anyone", that was for the final release of BOC, this was done by Melih.
Kevin said he was working on getting the final release of the new version out and needed a little more time on the program.
If BOC needed more work it should have been done instead of releasing it because everyone was crying for the new "free" version.

 

I put the paid Boclean on my machine some time ago. I began experiencing frequent lockups on a computer that had never previously locked. This went on for a couple of weeks, then I asked for and received a refund. Last week I put the Comodo version on to see if things had changed. Within an hour the machine had locked up again, and then again with in a few hours. I took it off. It doesn't like my computer. It's a shame because I know it has a good reputation, and now it's free. I'd like to use it.

 

I noticed the same thing. I have been wondering if Kevin and Melih may have had a falling out.

I also noticed that certain questions are totally ignored by the people at Comodo. Questions such as:

Will there ever be a Comodo Boclean that will install on a Win9x system?
How long will Boclean 4.22 be able to update?
Why is the Comodo Boclean 4.23 installer file size twice as large as the Boclean 4.22 installer file size?
Does the Comodo Boclean 4.23 installer install software other than Boclean?

 

Based on recent software update trends, this is unlikely. A lot of software vendors are abandoning Windows 9x support for Vista compatibility instead which is expected since Microsoft officially ended support for W98 last year.

 

Just thinking, should I keep Boclean 4.22 (purchased BOCLean a little while ago)? Or should I replace it by Comodo Boclean 4.23?

 

Hi, folks: When a corporation having a CEO-short sleeved, hand on style, tech staff will leave it in droves. I guess Comodo is no exception. Just look at their own web site re BoClean, posters are getting more discontent, far apart from the days when Kenvin was de facto in charge. This post-kevin era will certainly create more huddles for the new owner. He wants to be an expert of everything overnite, but he can not be at everywhere in any minute. Money certainly can buy most things, but there are few, perhaps more than he realizes that his money can not obtain. If Kevin indeed severed his association w/ comodo, then the lady from Hawaii, Mele20 was right on the mooney when acquisiton took place. Perhaps she knows something we all have missed or have been misinformed. Here goes, another tea-time material for myself. Read it , laugh at it and send it to shreder. Have a nice one.