New
#11
I find that everybody has their own idea of what an AV should do or be - I take a fairly minimalist approach, and refuse to install any of the Suites, for reasons of bloat and complexity.
As a result, I run using MSE as the only realtime protection - and MalwareBytes as a once-a-week scanner (both have the advantage of being free <g>)
As far as IOBot software is concerned, I consider it to be malware - it's quite obvious that the authors have no concern over the well-being of the systems on which it is run.
ALL Registry 'cleaners' are dangerous - as are all Registry 'Optimisers' - and should be consigned to the recycle bin ASAP after undoing any damage they've already commited.
They all rely on databses which are out of date before they are released, and have insufficient data to make the sort of decisions that editing the registry requires.
The Windows Registry is generally quite capable of looking after its own welfare, and needs no pruning in general use.
On occasions, specific editing tools may be a good idea (such as ones to root out the dregs of a particular AV), but generally it should be left well alone.
The more often a 'Cleaner' is used, the more likely it is to bollix the system in some way.
I've never used a 'Cleaner' except either to troubleshoot problems which it has caused, or as a quick-and-dirty search utility, from which I then MANUALLY make such change as may be required.
I have seen too many systems sufferering from the ravages of such malware to allow them free reign on any PC.
Last edited by NoelDP; 22 Jan 2012 at 12:51. Reason: typo