Opinion of some AV software officially changed

[Petey7]

So my dad told me he was having trouble with the icons never appearing on his desktop until after doing a system restore. The computer has definitely gotten slower lately. So I turned off AVG and installed MBAM. It took less than one minute to find 4 infections. It is currently up to 166. I'm a little worried about false positives so might need some help. But other than that I now see the low opinion some have of AVG is well worth it and I've had a some faith restored in MBAM. I'll be installing MSE for xp and leaving MBAM on there for later use. I hate when I see what I used to think was good software turn out to be lousy.

EDIT: The high number of infections is just with quick scan.

 

[Corrine]

It used to be that the majority of logs for infected computers that I would see had NAV as the A/V. These days it seems to be AVG.

 

[Petey7]

Is 167 infections just a ridiculous number, or does that make sense.

Also, I realized he changed AVGs settings so that it only did a quick scan once a week instead of a full scan once a day, which it what I set it to do. Way to go dad. So I guess its not all AVGs fault.

 

[xarden]

In my personal experience, I've used AVG about 10 years ago. I stopped using it about 10 years ago, and have switched to McAfee. I've never had a real problem using it. Its worth the AU$60 annual subscription, I'm currently forking out for it.
The only problem I have now with the recent update is that I can't add programs to a safelist, which means all my little apps that I build to talk to my own webserver are now detected as false positives, and deleted

 

[Petey7]

Oh god. Don't get me started on McAfee. I just got over a major problem caused by it. If it works for you, thats great, and i'm glad it does. But I've only had trouble with it.

 

[Corrine]

That is a rather high number. Are a lot of findings in System Restore? Also note that a Full Scan is not needed daily with MBAM. A quick scan will do just fine.

As Bruce Harrison/nosirrah, VP of Research said:

The MBAM quick scan option will catch every bit of live malware that the full scan will detect and 99% of the traces . I develop the definitions for MBAM and have never needed to use the full scan to test them out .

BTW, since I get asked often why I recommend unchecking System restore when removing malware with MBAM, also by Bruce

Quick and system restore are not friends .

If a malware cleanup is performed the last step is a system restore wipe and set so malware cant be accidentally reinstalled and to keep future full scan from causing what are basically FPs at that point .

 

[Petey7]

I already know about the system restore problem. A lot of findings seem to be in temp folders, but some may be from there as well. The scan is not done yet. My dad always complains about his computer being slow, but does not do anything to maintain it. I think I'm gonna be here awhile cleaning out temp and internet temp folders, getting rid of viruses, cleaning out system restore, and installing MSE. I think if I set MSE to run daily, and come in here and do a MBAM scan once a week, He should be fine 98% of the time. We might also see a speed increase on here.

Also want to say, thanks for helping me with this, and thanks to this site in general. I've had fun trying to help people and have received a lot of help myself.

 

[Corrine]

It is generally recommended that Temp folders be cleaned prior to scanning with MBAM.

Also want to say, thanks for helping me with this, and thanks to this site in general. I've had fun trying to help people and have received a lot of help myself.

You're doing all the work. I just happen to be here to give you moral support. If you need any advice, Jacee and I generally aren't far away.

As we share the knowledge we have, we also learn from each other. It is fun and rewarding.

 

[Petey7]

Most things I see are registry entries that AVG left behind from different viruses. All files are related to programs called MyWebSearch and FunWebProducts, which seems to be pretty well known adware. I also see two things in temp folders. I think I'm safe to go ahead and remove everything.

 

[Corrine]

Seeing leftovers has to be a bit of a relief considering the number MBAM came up with. You're right about the adware findings. They are safe to remove. You may want to check Add/Remove Programs for MyWebSearch, My Way Speedbar or Search Assistant. I believe FunWebProducts is associated with Smiley Central so either of those may be in Add/Remove Programs as well.

 

[Petey7]

Doing it now before restating. Most of my experience with MBAM has been with rogue AVs, many of which run some kind of script to keep MBAM from either running or installing. I usually find where others have posted a complete list of files and reg entries for those viruses, so I use do fine getting rid of them. This is the first time I've successfully used MBAM and must say I am very pleased.

 

[Jacee]

Right now, GeeksToGo is off line, but you can download TFC by Old Timer from here (direct download)
http://www.itxassociates.com/OT-Tools/TFC.exe

Save any unsaved work. TFC will close ALL open programs including your browser!
Double-click on TFC.exe to run it. If you are using Vista/Windows 7 right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator.
Click the Start button to begin the cleaning process and let it run uninterrupted to completion.
Important! If TFC prompts you to reboot, please do so immediately. If not prompted, manually reboot the machine anyway to ensure a complete clean.

More info:
TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder. It also cleans out the %systemroot%\temp folder and checks for .tmp files in the %systemdrive% root folder, %systemroot%, and the system32 folder (both 32bit and 64bit on 64bit OSs). It shows the amount removed for each location found (in bytes) and the total removed (in MB).

Before running, it will stop Explorer and all other running apps. When finished, if a reboot is required the user must reboot to finish clearing any in-use temp files.
TFC only cleans temp folders.
TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies. Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail.

TFC requires a reboot immediately after running. Be sure to save any unsaved work before running TFC.

 

[Petey7]

Thanks Jacee. Once again you leave me quit impressed.

 

[Petey7]

I've gotta say, after using MBAM and uninstalling AVG my dads computer is running faster than it has in years. Gotta say, I'm gonna start recommending MBAM more often and never recommending AVG again.

 

[codyw]

My internet provider allows their broadband customers to sign up for a low fee a month to run McAfee Internet Security on their Macs and PCs. The fee isn't bad, I don't have a problem with it - it's the software that I don't care for. I'm using the Mac version on my Macs now and it seems OK but the PC version I highly don't recommend! It was the 2009 version and it let in some hidden Trojans that it failed to block or even tell me about until I did a special scan with it the one day. That was the last time I used that and am never looking back at it again. :huh:

 

[Petey7]

It seems that McAfee loses hundreds of customers a month and they allow special deals through OEMs and service providers to fight the process. For example, if you buy a new Dell pc, you get McAfee free for 15 months. Comcast and other internet providers can get it for there customers for free or for a low fee like you rate. They also make it a hassle to discontinue service. I see no reason why one or two free anti-malware programs and a little common sense would not be enough to stay safe most of the time.

 

[JonM33]

It used to be that the majority of logs for infected computers that I would see had NAV as the A/V. These days it seems to be AVG.

Yeah, my last experience with AVG (version 7.5) was when a virus hit one of my computers and infected the AVG process. It was funny to see AVG reporting that itself was infected. It wasn't funny that I had to wipe the entire hard drive. It was a nasty virus.

Heck, even PC World didn't give it a positive review: Grisoft AVG 7.5 Anti-Virus Professional Antivirus & Security Software Review - PCWorld

Bottom Line: The least-expensive program we tested, AVG has average overall malware detection, the worst proactive protection, and a clunky interface.​

 

[codyw]

I don't know a whole lot of people who use AVG. I also don't hear a lot of good reviews about it. The most I hear about are Norton and Kaspersky. My internet provider, Verizon, gives McAfee to their customers. I have mixed thoughts on McAfee but don't care for it a whole not. Comcast switched from McAfee to Norton a while back so I read on their website.

 

[Petey7]

I found that AVG 8 worked well, but then it went back to 7.5 quality in 8.5, and things only got worse with 9.0.

I did not know that Comcast switched. My brother and his wife got Comcast and got McAfee for free, but it was over a year ago. McAfee seemed to reek some havoc on my brothers Windows 2000 laptop. Keep in mind the laptop is pretty darn old so it can't run 7 and XP is rather slow on it. In the end they just got rid of Comcast internet.

 

[codyw]

Maybe Verizon will switch to Norton...you never know.