Just how formidible is Blink Personal for RealTime Security?

Been playing around with different combinations of software again. This time I am using PC Tools Firewall with AVG Pro AV and a-squared Anti-Malware full version. Everything running well and i believe it is a good combination for security. However after reading some comments about the latest Blink Personal Edition in the eEye Blink Forums, it seems BPE may be a better choice. I was using other combo's too like Comodo Pro FW, Avira PP, and Prevx 2 which not too many people would argue may even be better security than what I have now. However again I'm wondering if BPE may be a better choice and even more formidible at RealTime Protection than that combo? I know all about leaktests and some of the tests ran on Blink, but I think Blink may actually excel in it's protection against real life threats better than most peoples combo's.

 

Hmmnn, may just give it a run in a vm.

If I remember right I did trial Blink a while ago and it didn't stop some of the simple tests I tried with Scoundrel simulator.

Things may have changed though.One way to find out!

Blink review

 

Why free for a year only for Yanks and Canadians?

 

To bad it isn't Vista compatable

 

I downloaded Blink Security today. Free for one year.
2 things I didn't like.
I couldn't find anything on their site about this but when you start the install, there's a whole list of software that they say has to be deleted before the install. Eg., Prevx, SSM and WinPatrol. The list is basically anti-spyware and hip programs.
The 2nd thing I lost my patience with was the virus scan.
Most scanners I've used say I have at least 40+thousand files. KIS7 says 63,000.
No scan ever took over 35 minutes.
After an hr. and one half, I shut down the Blink scan.
What makes it worse is that there is no type of progress bar or timer to let one know the progress being made.
Restored to a snapshot and took it out.
Would I try it again? Yes.
I'd like to give it a fair shake.
Since the version I tried was just released, on the 10th I believe, I'll wait awhile for it to settle down.
If anyone else here has tried it, let us know your opinions,
Thanks, Dan

 

I tried it twice and both times (one with the latest vers.) and it just slowed my machine down too much. Also, the scans took far too long - even after the initial scan.
I know others that have had similar trouble with it and some who have had little noticeable slowdown and far better scan speeds. My machine is only a couple years old and just didn't run well with it.

I wanted to like it, but it's just not for me.

 

When I had it installed a month ago it didn't seem to slow down my PC and the scans were no longer than some other software scans I have done. The reason I uninstalled it was it had just come out of Beta and the Windows Security Center wouldn't recognize the Firewall or AV. From what i read on their forum this can be fixed now. Although I like using separate software programs because of their GUI's and features, BPE is rich in features and I like the Control Panel like GUI it has.

 

I've been using Blink since February and have had no problems and no infections. It has been exceptional at catching potential buffer overflows, phishing attempts, domain link mismatches, etc.

I did a full system scan this morning that took 54 min. to complete on a system with an 80GB and a 250GB harddisk. I normally do these scans when I am going to be away from the PC for awhile so the time isn't an issue.

Memory usage on my system runs around 60 -70MB, but with 2GB of RAM I don't worry about it.

System start-up and shutdown is a bit slower but really isn't an issue for me as security is more important than how fast I can boot or shutdown my system. Other than the slower start-up/shutdown times I don't see any other system slowness.

It is my understanding that the reason the program displays a list of other security programs when you install it and recommends you remove them is because of redundancy and to free up memory. When I first installed it I left WinPatrol installed and running alongside it and experienced no problems. I have however now removed WinPatrol.

Bottom line for me is that I have been very pleased with the program and see no reason to change.

DISCLAIMER: Your results may differ

 

I've had Blink installed for a few months and no complaints whatever. If there is a slight slowdown on starting or shutting down, it's minor. The virus scan takes about 45 minutes with a total of 160G on 2 hard drives. Haven't had any other problems of any kind, except when I first installed Blink and it wouldn't recognize my printer. I'm very satisfied with Blink.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback.
I will give it another shot this week.
The memory usuage really is not that bad when you consider what most of the firewalls use alone. Eg. Comodo 30 to 35,000.
Slower boot up, also no big deal. Very seldom restart the computer. Mines on all the time.
Maybe I just had a bad install the first time.
Will post back when I have it on again.
Thanks,
Dan

 

A bad install or download is possible. I had to completely remove Blink and reinstall 3 times. The second time I installed, same problem occurred. So, I downloaded the program again and all went well.

The mem useage sounds high, but consider that Blink is several things all rolled into one, so it really isn't that bad. So far, in a few months of using, it hasn't let me down.

 

"eEye Digital Security enters Asia-Pacific market"

http://www.dozleng.com/updates/index.php?showtopic=15068

"Previously, the free-trial download had been available only in North America. With the strong growth seen in the Asia-Pacific region and surging demand from consumers, we have provisioned a new trial version that would allow consumers in this region to try it at no cost," said Kamal Arafeh, CEO, eEye Digital Security. "Blink Personal Internet Security includes anti-virus, anti-spyware, personal firewall and host vulnerability assessment all in one product."

http://www.eeye.com/html/company/press/PR20070711.html

PS. Mods if this post is in breach of TOS, let me know. Just thought this might be of info.

 

Is anyone "not" receiving automatic updates? I see that Norman Virus Conrol has been updated with new signatures today, but my Blink Personal hasn't.

 

Well, I tried downloading Blink Personal again, but no go.
Just before the download is complete I receive an error that says:
Error copying file or folder.
Cannot copy Blink personal setup 311[ ], don't remember the letter or number in box, access denied.
Tried several times, same response.
Anyone have any suggestions??
Thanks, Dan

 

Finally got Blink Personal up and running.
Was a problem in the registry.
Cleaned out and full steam ahead.

 

If you can, please let us know if it auto updates danny9.

 

As far as I can tell, it is not.
Just received another update by checking it manually.

One thing I'm not crazy about is it's memory usuage.
4 processes totalling a whopping 91,972k.
From what I've read prior, it was around 50,000k.
For a layered approach, that's reasonable, but 92,000k with no scan going,that's a monster.

 

At around 93k on my PC it still seemed to run light, and I only have 512MB of RAM. However Boot Time was some what longer and it took awhile for the BPE Icon to appear in the Task Tray. Over all it's a fine Suite and I think offers very good RealTime Protection, but the response time for things like an Auto Update fix shouldn't take as long as it has so far.

 

It does run light even with the high memory usuage, but it definitely seems like a good suite.
Just ran a vulnerability assessment scan. That gives quite a report. Gives a good description of the problem and explains the possible risks involved with a link to the update to have it fixed. Priceless.
Every program has its good and bad points.
From what I see so far the good far outweighs the bad in this one.

 

Yeah I only had two vulnerabilities rated as a 9 from the scan, and several 3 and 6 ratings. I like that feature myself. It installs and uninstalls without any problems once so ever and as we agreed runs surprisingly light. I just wish there was more responses in the eEye Blink Forums for the Auto Update troubles some are having. I would say the Suite's over all protection may be equal or better than a combination of something like PCTools Firewall, AVG AV, and maybe a-squared or Prevx 2. eEye has stated however that they will improve the leak test capabilites in the future, and the Sanbox Tecnology of the Norman AV that's used with Blink is supposed to very good.

 

In 'About' what do I look at to see what my current signature update is?

Does it state on the Blink website what the current update is?

Ian

 

Good question!
Don't know but will try to find out.

 

I installed it today myself and so far it seems pretty nice. System responsiveness is very good. It uses about 78mb ram here after a reboot, not sure if it climbs higher yet, but I imagine it will. That's pretty high, but not unusual at all as the "suites" go. ZA Suite was higher as I recall, and some others were similar. So for all the protection in one product, it seems reasonable. There is a slight delay at startup before I see my desktop, but since I don't reboot often that's not really a problem. I am impressed that there is no "drag" on the way the system feels in general, something which I do see with just other AVs alone. At any rate, so far, so good. Not sure about updates or problems there, it updated automatically, both AV sigs and the product itself, when I installed it. I will check the logs in the next day or two to see if it updates regularly...