DrWeb and Spider Guard

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by AgentX, May 14, 2004.

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  1. AgentX

    AgentX Registered Member

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    After having tried many antiviruses, I've decided to give DrWeb a try.
    Configuring DrWeb scanner is not really a problem, but Spider Guard needs
    many tweaks and tricks to work smoothly, IMO. It comes pre-configured
    to use "Smart" scanning, which doesn't scan files when they are executed.
    When I change this setting to scan files when are created, accessed, opened
    or executed, my system starts crawling. I believe the same settings are used
    by other antiviruses such as NOD32.

    I'd like to hear from DrWeb experts on better configuration and smooth
    protection for both high- and low-end systems.

    Regards,
    AgentX
     
  2. Blackcat

    Blackcat Registered Member

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    I assume you have seen the Dr Web screen shots here;

    http://www.wilders.org/screenshots20.htm

    and I know that Dr Web's support also recommends the default setting of 'smart scan' for the SpiderGuard.

    I run a relatively low-spec machine with the default setting as 'upping' this setting grinds the system to a halt. Trying Dr Web with the more advanced settings on higher spec machines had a similar effect - treading through molasses.

    As you say, a lot of AV running guards can grind a system to a halt when cracked up to the maximum setting. Setting RTM's to scan ALL FILES invariably slows everything down. However, most AV Monitors are now set up by default to give a balance between protection and having a negligible effect on your system speed. The on-demand scanner can then be set to scan all files.

    On low spec machines, I believe you have no choice, you must balance protection and the useability of your machine. Therefore, use SpiderGuard on smart scan.

    On high spec machines crank up the files scanned by the running guard IF it does not slow you down. Although the smart scan of SpiderGuard will not give you the best protection in real time, I would rather have a system up to speed and cover any holes with frequent on-demand scans.

    One of the Dr Web experts here, Karl_Menshy runs the SpiderGuard on the full settings as he believed that the protection offered by just the smart scan was not sufficient for him. I assume he has a very high spec system.

    Hopefully, Karl and other Dr Web experts can reply.
     
  3. Tinribs

    Tinribs Registered Member

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    In my experience, I have had problems with the 'spider guard' only after I had trialled many other av products (which I can tend to do)
    I can report that on a clean (formatted) system the spider guard worked like a dream and was very light on resources and very effective.



    Hope that helps


    :)
    Kev
     
  4. Blackcat

    Blackcat Registered Member

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    Irrespective of the Monitor settings, as Tinribs stated and in my experience, Dr Web as a primary scanner, prefers a 'clean' system.

    I had some instability problems on a relatively 'used' system (not formatted in over a couple of years) which also had many AV programs installed and uninstalled over that time.

    In addition if you are thinking of running another background scanner with Dr Web I found that the latter preferred to be installed on your system first. Overall I think it is a bit of a bully and prefers to run by itself.

    It has been running very smoothly now (together with SpiderMail) for over 9 months now on a 5 year-old box.
     
  5. Arin

    Arin Registered Member

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    i used DrWeb for the 9x platform and was quite satisfied with it. but when i shifted to XP i came to know that the RTM for NT is still under development. some cool features like Spider Netting doesn't work. anyway i'm cool with its "smart" scan as its really smart. after a full scan of the system with DrWeb, employing the "smart" scan saves a lot of system resources. its pretty safe to use it AFTER a full system scan. thats why its a "smart" thing to do. but in paranoid mode the system does slow down a lot. i don't use Microsoft cheesehole express or email clients so i don't know about Spider mail.
     
  6. AgentX

    AgentX Registered Member

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    Well, I installed DrWeb on an 'almost' clean machine. I perform registry clean-ups,
    deletion of other leftovers including drivers, before installing a program. There is
    absolutely no conflict, and Spider Guard runs fine in Smart mode. However, as AMRX
    pointed, it is still in development stage for NT/2K/XP/2003 platforms. Spider Guard
    caused a few hang-ups and random reboots on my XP system. So, I'm thinking about
    getting myself F-Prot for Windows given its stable and rock solid performace and
    very small memory footprint. The only thing I miss is the absence of configurable
    options for the resident guard, on NT series systems.

    Seems there's no such thing as a perfect software.
    - AgentX
     
  7. Tinribs

    Tinribs Registered Member

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    Also not that F-Prot for Windows does not have a mail scanner.
     
  8. Arin

    Arin Registered Member

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    F-Prot is a very good choice. i think Tinribs meant "Also NOTE that" not "Also not that" as the latest F-Prot for windows doesn't have the mail scanner. i don't think the POP3 scanning support is necessary. well what i really mean is that e-mail clients are very dangerous and buggy, so people shouldn't use it. its funny to see people using e-mail clients because its "easy this way" but end up doing & paying more to patch up those things.
     
  9. NAMOR

    NAMOR Guest

    Just started using DrWeb, but I seem to be having a strange problem with it. When I launch DrWeb and it preforms the memory and startup scan, some of the processes under the task manager double in size (memory usages). For example, explorer.exe is around 17k on startup and after DrWeb's memory scan it grows to 53k. So I disabled the memory scan and rebooted. After rebooting I launched DrWeb again and this time it only does the startups scan (since I disabled memory scan). I check the task manager and all appears normal, explorer.exe is still at 17k. So it appears that my machine does not like DrWeb's memory scan for some reason. Anyone here of this happening or have any suggestions? I think it's an isolated incident.
     
  10. NAMOR

    NAMOR Guest

    forgot to post some system information.

    WINXP Pro SP1 and all updates

    Software running:
    TrojanHunter Guard
    ZA Free edition
    SpIDer Guard
    SpIDer Mail
    spywareguard
    spywareblaster
     
  11. Arin

    Arin Registered Member

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    sometimes processes use more memory and after some time the usage comes down. so i don't think you have to worry that much. you can download Process Explorer from www.sysinternals.com and checkout. its a great tool for checking your processes.
     
  12. Shorty

    Shorty Guest

    This happens (according to tech support) because of the way Dr Web scans the memory.

    Allow me to paraphrase: When Dr Web does a memory scan it momentarily "lifts" each program from memory and then replaces it and Windows detects this as an increase in memory usage. It is a false sensation.

    Indeed, if you watch the virtual memory usage in your task manager (and this is the true indicator of memory in use) you will see that it remains unchanged. It is only the memory usage column that goes bonkers.

    The behavior is a bit unsettling at first I must admit.
    Be assured, though, that Dr Web does this on all Windows computers, not just yours.
     
  13. NAMOR

    NAMOR Guest

    Thanks Shorty and AMRX for the quick replies.
     
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