Avira just killed everything!

[bigseb]

WOW!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's great to see this kind of community support. I really do appreciate all the replies.

What exactly happened: I re-installed XP, all my software and lastly the Avira. Immediately I got 25 warnings. Although there is the option to ignore them this option doesn't seem to do anything. The same warnings kept coming back. Really ridiculous warning too: explorer.exe, notepad.exe you know... normal stuff. Not one of the buttons in the start menu would work! Not even task manager. Avira would beep nonstop!!

I don't know which version I downloaded. I googled Avira, went to the first site listed and downloaded. It looked legit to me but I didn't really study it if you know what I mean.

I won't be using Avira again any time soon. Please recommend free antivirus and any other system software that might be handy.

 

[chev65]

I prefer scanning type A/V protection over realtime protection anyway "Malware bytes and Spybot S&D". I work over in the networking forum mostly and I'm here to tell you that at least half the neworking and sharing problems are caused by realtime A/V's.

I keep back ups of everything on 4 other machines which are offline most of the time. I agree, it's easier to reformatt to a fresh image than to try and deal with a realtime A/V or get rid of an infection. I never have any problems related to virus's anyway, Windows 7 is infinately more secure than either Vista or XP.

 

[madtownidiot]

WOW!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's great to see this kind of community support. I really do appreciate all the replies.

What exactly happened: I re-installed XP, all my software and lastly the Avira. Immediately I got 25 warnings. Although there is the option to ignore them this option doesn't seem to do anything. The same warnings kept coming back. Really ridiculous warning too: explorer.exe, notepad.exe you know... normal stuff. Not one of the buttons in the start menu would work! Not even task manager. Avira would beep nonstop!!

I don't know which version I downloaded. I googled Avira, went to the first site listed and downloaded. It looked legit to me but I didn't really study it if you know what I mean.

I won't be using Avira again any time soon. Please recommend free antivirus and any other system software that might be handy.

If you want a really good AV/internet security suite, try Comodo Internet Security.
It's a total download of about 150 MB to get fully updated, but I recommend it to anyone who asks. Another way to protect yourself on the internet is to download firefox and install the adblock plus and noscript add-ons. I found noscript to be the only free, effective defense against rogue AV driveby downloads

 

[hackerman1]

WOW!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's great to see this kind of community support. I really do appreciate all the replies.

What exactly happened: I re-installed XP, all my software and lastly the Avira. Immediately I got 25 warnings. Although there is the option to ignore them this option doesn't seem to do anything. The same warnings kept coming back. Really ridiculous warning too: explorer.exe, notepad.exe you know... normal stuff. Not one of the buttons in the start menu would work! Not even task manager. Avira would beep nonstop!!

I don't know which version I downloaded. I googled Avira, went to the first site listed and downloaded. It looked legit to me but I didn't really study it if you know what I mean.

I won't be using Avira again any time soon. Please recommend free antivirus and any other system software that might be handy.

Well, if you don´t know that you really used Avira, then don´t say it´s bad...

Actually, Avira in one of the best Antivirus-programs.
The fact is that Avira has got VERY good results in every test i´ve seen, and i have my eyes on VB100 & A/V-comparatives etc.

this is the REAL Avira: Anti virus for Linux, Windows and more with firewall, antispam, recovery security - Avira AntiVir

i suggest you try it BEFORE making comments about it....

 

[Product FRED]

Avira is great, and especially for power-users like myself. I recently switched over to Microsoft Security Essentials and, although it doesn't seem as customizable as Avira, it gets the job done and is totally non-intrusive. That being said, if you don't want to use Avira, I recommend:

• Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast! - to prevent an infection or report an infection
• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - post-infection, when you know malware has breached and is affecting your computer.
• SUPER Antispyware - a backup scanner to Malwarebytes' and can also apply fixes such as re-enabling Task Manager and restoring an internet connection.

- Sometimes, viruses like to cause the computer not to be able to run executable files. When you double click on a shortcut or executable, you get the "Open With" dialog box. Usually, if you right-click on whatever you want to open and click "Run as Administrator", it'll run. This happened to me once and I was able to open Malwarebytes'.

- Sometimes viruses like to hide in your System Restore backups. If you remove a virus and it keeps coming back, it's likely that it's hiding in a backup. Delete the backups by disabling and then re-enabling system restore.

- When scanning for any type of malware (especially trojans), disconnect yourself from the internet before you run the scan so that more malware isn't downloaded. Make sure you get every last piece before you reconnect yourself to the internet.

- If you do have an internet connection, before you disconnect, update your virus scanner before you run your scan. You could be dealing with something new.

 

[Corrine]

- Sometimes viruses like to hide in your System Restore backups. If you remove a virus and it keeps coming back, it's likely that it's hiding in a backup. Delete the backups by disabling and then re-enabling system restore.

FYI, if an infection appears to keep returning, unless an infected System Restore point has been used, it is more likely that it was never completely removed in the first place.

I do agree that it is good to create a fresh restore point after cleaning and then clearing the old restore points. Best method is via "More Options" with the DiskCleanup tool.

 

[bigseb]

WOW!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's great to see this kind of community support. I really do appreciate all the replies.

What exactly happened: I re-installed XP, all my software and lastly the Avira. Immediately I got 25 warnings. Although there is the option to ignore them this option doesn't seem to do anything. The same warnings kept coming back. Really ridiculous warning too: explorer.exe, notepad.exe you know... normal stuff. Not one of the buttons in the start menu would work! Not even task manager. Avira would beep nonstop!!

I don't know which version I downloaded. I googled Avira, went to the first site listed and downloaded. It looked legit to me but I didn't really study it if you know what I mean.

I won't be using Avira again any time soon. Please recommend free antivirus and any other system software that might be handy.

Well, if you don´t know that you really used Avira, then don´t say it´s bad...

Actually, Avira in one of the best Antivirus-programs.
The fact is that Avira has got VERY good results in every test i´ve seen, and i have my eyes on VB100 & A/V-comparatives etc.

this is the REAL Avira: Anti virus for Linux, Windows and more with firewall, antispam, recovery security - Avira AntiVir

i suggest you try it BEFORE making comments about it....

Actually I have been using Avira for a long time and never had any issues. But as long as there's a site out there that also claims to offer Avira with very little way of telling the difference from the real thing then I'll just steer clear of Avira.

 

[Corrine]

The rogues have picked on more than just Avira to trick people into installing so the best advice I can give is to always go to the vendor site for the download/update link.

 

[bigseb]

And just out of curiousity, which of these is the real one: Anti virus for Linux, Windows and more with firewall, antispam, recovery security - Avira AntiVir or Free antivirus - Avira AntiVir

 

[Corrine]

A search from the Avira home page at Anti virus for Linux, Windows and more with firewall, antispam, recovery security - Avira AntiVir takes you to Avira Antivirus Solutions which has a link to Free antivirus - Avira AntiVir .

Thus, both are "real".

I seriously suspect that your problem was caused by one or more trojans on your computer, very possibly via a drive-by download. Be sure you update your computer, not only with Microsoft Updates, but 3rd party software as well.

Secunia is a good tool to check if your system is missing security updates or has insecure applications installed, visit OSI - Consumer - Products . The Secunia Software Inspector runs through your browser with no installation or download required and does the following:

• Detects insecure versions of applications installed
• Verifies that all Microsoft patches are applied
• Assists you in updating your system and applications

 

[madtownidiot]

If you google "free anti-virus" most of the links take you to bogus sites

 

[hackerman1]

WOW!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's great to see this kind of community support. I really do appreciate all the replies.

What exactly happened: I re-installed XP, all my software and lastly the Avira. Immediately I got 25 warnings. Although there is the option to ignore them this option doesn't seem to do anything. The same warnings kept coming back. Really ridiculous warning too: explorer.exe, notepad.exe you know... normal stuff. Not one of the buttons in the start menu would work! Not even task manager. Avira would beep nonstop!!

I don't know which version I downloaded. I googled Avira, went to the first site listed and downloaded. It looked legit to me but I didn't really study it if you know what I mean.

I won't be using Avira again any time soon. Please recommend free antivirus and any other system software that might be handy.

Well, if you don´t know that you really used Avira, then don´t say it´s bad...

Actually, Avira in one of the best Antivirus-programs.
The fact is that Avira has got VERY good results in every test i´ve seen, and i have my eyes on VB100 & A/V-comparatives etc.

this is the REAL Avira: Anti virus for Linux, Windows and more with firewall, antispam, recovery security - Avira AntiVir

i suggest you try it BEFORE making comments about it....

Actually I have been using Avira for a long time and never had any issues. But as long as there's a site out there that also claims to offer Avira with very little way of telling the difference from the real thing then I'll just steer clear of Avira.

REALLY ?

i just gave you the link to the REAL Avira.....

if you really have been "using Avira for a long time" then you should know where to find the companys own website.....

 

[bigseb]

A search from the Avira home page at Anti virus for Linux, Windows and more with firewall, antispam, recovery security - Avira AntiVir takes you to Avira Antivirus Solutions which has a link to Free antivirus - Avira AntiVir .

Thus, both are "real".

Actually I just picked those two links as they were offered by other members in previous posts. No idea which link I used....

 

[Jacee]

WOW!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's great to see this kind of community support. I really do appreciate all the replies.

What exactly happened: I re-installed XP, all my software and lastly the Avira. Immediately I got 25 warnings. Although there is the option to ignore them this option doesn't seem to do anything. The same warnings kept coming back. Really ridiculous warning too: explorer.exe, notepad.exe you know... normal stuff. Not one of the buttons in the start menu would work! Not even task manager. Avira would beep nonstop!!

I don't know which version I downloaded. I googled Avira, went to the first site listed and downloaded. It looked legit to me but I didn't really study it if you know what I mean.

I won't be using Avira again any time soon. Please recommend free antivirus and any other system software that might be handy.

In this case, I would suspect something you put on your computer may have been the culprit ... If you were connected to the Internet before putting any anti-malware on it, then you most likely got 'had' before Avira even got installed.

BTW, stuff like explorer.exe and notepad.exe that looks normal, can also be malware, depending on it's location.

 

[Product FRED]

You can replace the explorer.exe and notepad.exe and other files from your XP CD. Just make sure you're disconnected from the internet while you install. Install Avira using a flash drive. Then connect.

Also, you can do a repair install, which automatically replaces all Windows system files with clean versions from the CD. Boot into your XP CD and then choose where XP is installed. Then choose repair install.

Also, is this a legitimate Windows XP disc? Because if it's not it could have been pre-loaded with malware. Just sayin'

 

[bigseb]

It is a legitimate disk. My software too. If one does a repair install will the software not be erased?

 

[Product FRED]

It is a legitimate disk. My software too. If one does a repair install will the software not be erased?

Your software and files will not be overwritten, but any customization you've done to the system might (ie you replaced .dll files for themes) and your system will need to be re-patched for custom themes.