RAV woes

I have been using RAV for the last several months and then like many of you, I received the bad news that Microslut, oops, I mean, Microsoft purchased it and has plans of its own for the future, which includes removing it from the open market. The US company, REI Internet, (http://www.rav.ro/pages/showpartners.php?p=222) that distributed RAV sent users several notices. The one below did not get to me, but I found it at their site when looking for the support # which seems to no longer be listed.
There are a few things that might interest members:
An open letter to our customers.

June 12, 2003
Obviously things have not turned out as planned. The decision by a few individuals at GeCAD puts RAV customers, partners, and probably most employees in a bad situation. At RAE Internet we knew something was going on, but we didn't know the specifics until we saw the press release.

A solution is available to every problem. To a few people, the technology is all that matters, to us, the customer is all that matters. Technology is replaceable. We are working hard to offer the best solutions for our customers and we are taking this obligation quite seriously. It will take time to choose the right partners, but rest assured we will only offer best of breed solutions. The only partner we have decided on at this point is GWAVA for our GroupWise customers. Others will follow.

As much as this situation stinks for our customers, it is not time to panic and jump ship. RAV updates are coming for at least 1 year until sales discontinue. We have no idea when sales will discontinue, but we can sell RAV until September 2nd. We can still order update extensions as of this writing. It is Microsoft.s stated goal to gradually remove all RAV products, however, Microsoft has no interest in contacting the existing RAV customers or partners so our information is not authoritative.

In the meantime RAV works and will continue to work. Competitors will make you offers. Your boss may be angry because the product you recommended is disappearing. You may be frustrated because a great application for your OS has disappeared. We worked hard to support our customers, provide information, and grow the RAV brand in the US. Please stand by us, we will not let you down.

Regards,
Michael Katz
President, RAE Internet

This morning RAV issued an update and when it downloaded it disabled itself. When I was finally able to get it to open and stay in the Windows tray when my computer starts, it reset all the customized settings and will not keep them. This means it does not monitor my email and silently update among many other things. This is such a PITA! I have tried it 4 times.

So it feels like I am back to the drawing board. I will go to the correct forums for more info but in the meantime,
1- In the AV review at Wilders it says F-secure rates near the top but the price is too high. If price was not an object where would it sit?
2- As described in the letter above, F-Prot is being picked up by REI and lauded heavily. The site say big changes are coming. ??
3- is the new version of NOD easier than the last? I just found it dificult to use and I did not really understand it. Part of that was an incompatibility issue but another was I just must be dumb .

Thanks,
Tired

 

Hi Tired,

I purchased RAV about 3 weeks before the takeover !!!!!

I was going to use it as a main scanner on one of my boxes but the uncertain future made me relegate it to a backup scanner.

Initially, I was very pleased with it but of late I have noticed that the updates do not seem as frequent and the program is acting strangely i.e. when starting the manual scanner, the installer starts again!!!!! I have now uninstalled the program and using F-Prot as my main scanner on this box.

Its a shame about RAV as it was in the top group of AV's. Microsoft selected RAV, apparently to get their hands on their updating technology and to try and slow down the progress of Linux, as RAV was apparently the most popular AV in Linux systems.

As regards your future choices I would recommend KAV, F-Prot for Windows, Dr Web and NOD. The new KAV5, which has had a complete overall, is due out apparently in the summer( a little optimistic I think, try the latest version 4.5)

F-Prot in particular has tried to attract present RAV customers with free offers on their software. It is a good AV, particularly for low spec systems, as it has a very low memory imprint ( 464 VM and 1.8MB of memory taken up by the real time monitor). Recently their updating has become very frequent and they have a completely new version out in the new year. Highly recommended.

The new NOD, v2 is again very good and the interface is now much clearer to use. Again highly recommended, but there are still a few bugs to iron out as with all new software.

Both of these programs may be backed up by a separate AT program, to improve their trojan detection and to form part of a layered defence.

Dr Web and KAV have better unpacking abilities and better trojan detection and therefore a separate AT may not be as important.

Take a look at some of the recent posts here and trial several of the AV programs. The important points are which ones are compatible with your system software and whether they slow down your computer overall.

Let's hope the next one you pick is not gobbled up by Uncle Bill!!!

 

The problem with RAV was that it is based in Romania. Here 70% of corporate users still use pirated or "semi-legal" software, I don't talk about home users, I don't think there is more than 5% of home users who ever bought an antivirus or any other software(the reason is the lack of money). So, whatever the sales outside the country, RAV couldn't have resisted only with these sales, while getting very little money from the internal market. GeCad had serious financial problems, tried to merge with McAfee but they were refused(McAfee said GeCAd has "inferior technology" or something like that). The Microsoft proposal came at the right time and solved all their financial problems while confirming something many don't want to admit: Romania and Eastern Europe generally has great IT specialists, sometimes better than those in the west.

 

Check out F-Prot for Windows website.

Frisk Software(F-Prot for Windows owner)will give you their product for free for the remainder of your RAV license.
Renewal terms will be similar to RAV's deal.
You have to fax Frisk Software your RAV registration form as proof to get the deal they are offering to current RAV customers.
After those license/renewal terms expire,you can license/renew F-Prot for Windows for the regular price,which is $29/year.

There are a lot of very good alternatives available IMO.
Prices vary.
I like KAV Personal 4.5 or eXtendia AVK(non Pro)over RAV.
F-Prot for Windows was another really good av program when I trialed it recently.

I'm sure that there are other good av programs that could fill the "RAV void" also.

 

Thanks so much to Blackcat, Tester and vrf.
Your detailed and informed replies are so great. I will go with F-Prot since it has the deal w/ RAV users and then install Diamond's TDS3 and Wormguard.

Wilder's is such a great place. I can't tell you how many tech support/security folks I have introduced to Wilder's. In almost every case they have made a point to contact me to say Thanks! But that thanks really goes to you all.

Cheers!

Tired

 

tester,
I have RAV also, but I bought mine directly from RAV, I believe. Who did you contact at F-Prot about the free F-Prot deal? Thanks alot.

 

Hi girobb.

I saw it on the F-Prot website(linked below) and sent an email to the sales dept.
Look for a link for sales on the right-hand side in the middle of the page.

http://www.f-prot.com/products/price.html

 

Is everyone still having problems with updates? I've been having to manually update new virus sigs. I wrote tech support and they ask for a screen shot and the update.log ... I sent those and they said try different mirrors I wrote back and tole them I tried all and ask if this was what happens when you sell out to Microsoft. Needless to say I haven't heard back and I just bought a 2 yr license. Oh well live and learn I went ahead and bought Nod32

 

Updates have been a lot less frequent since Uncle Bill devoured RAV .

I have had problems of late both with the updater and the program itself, so although RAV have promised to honour present licenses, I have bit the bullet and uninstalled it.

Although NOD is an excellent choice, you could have had F-Prot for Windows for FREE as Frisk are trying to attract as many disgruntled RAV users as possible.

 

I have sent a email to sales@f-prot.com and ask about the RAV swap but have not heard back from them.

 

Either the offer has been withdrawn or they are deluged with requests from ex-RAV users .

Their support is generally very good so you should receive a reply soon. It's the weekend so it's downtime in Iceland.

Can you post again when you receive a reply?

I purchased RAV and so I allowed the F-Prot license to run out. 3 weeks later Microsoft purchased RAV. I then re-purchased F-Prot for Windows, and then a week later Frisk made their free offer .

Some you win!!!!!

 

Sure ... be glad to let you know.

 

I wrote to F-Prot tuesday of last week and sent them all my registered RAV info, all I have anyway, and they just got back to me asking me to forward all my info re RAV! (quote below) ?? I replied with the same info but have not heard back.
I will post their reply. Is there something I am missing? My reply included the single user licence and registration key.

 

Hey Tired.

Here's an idea that might help.
Do you have RAV installed yet?
If you have a screenshot program(Irfanview,Gadwin Printscreen,etc..)you could take a screenshot showing RAV as registered and if I remember correctly,the console will show the license expiration date or something like that.
You could attach the screenshot with your other info to Frisk Software as proof that you are a current user.

Just an idea.

 

Hi Tired

Sometimes the people in sales departments are not always on the ball, which for a variety of reasons, is not always their fault.

Further did you send them the original order confirmation from RAV to you, as they stated they needed this when I contacted them about the free offer.

I would also contact their support people- support@f-prot.com- to ask them why there has been a delay in processing your order. The people here I have found to be very helpful and quick responding.

The delay is surprising as I have always found Frisk to have quick, excellent support.

Keep us all informed of your progress.

 

>> Can you post again when you receive a reply?


Blackcat ... I did recieve a reply from f-prot:

Thank you very much for your mail.

Yes, our offer is indeed still in effect.

We need to look at each situation individually, so we kindly ask you to send
us a copy of your RAV license agreement, which should include information on your name, license type and the duration of your license period?

Best regards,
Kristin Hardardottir
F-Prot Antivirus Sales Department

 

Let's hope you can download the registered version of F-Prot soon.

Good luck with this AV, it should fit well on your system, taking up both little memory and resources.

There is also a new version 4 provisionally out in the new year, with lots of new features. Should be good .