ideal Antivirus

Portable Spyware Doctor 5.5.0.204

2009-12-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Spyware Doctor is an advanced adware and spyware removal program that will detect and clean thousands of potential spyware, ad ware, keyloggers, trojans, spy ware cookies, trackware, spybots and other malware from your computer. Spyware Doctor is a multi-award winning spyware removal utility that detects, removes and protects your PC from thousands of potential spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, spybots and tracking threats.

Portable Adware Away 3.1.1

2009-12-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

Adware Away is a tool to remove all kinds of malware from your computer. It has three parts to help you find and remove adware,spyware,hijacker,trojan and keylogger.

The specialized remover section targets those hard-to-kill malwares and help you completely remove it.

The global scan section helps you find any new malware or new variant. The customized cleaner section let us customize a removal tool for you if you have difficulty removing it.

Here are some key features of "Adware Away":

· Remove About:Blank ----- Hardest-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove SSearch.biz ----- Hardest-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove A-Search.biz ----- Hardest-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove NewDotNet ----- Hard-to-kill spyware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Find4U ----- Hard-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Bargain Buddy ----- Hard-to-kill adware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove WebRebates ----- Hard-to-kill spyware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Huntbar ----- Hard-to-kill adware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove NotityDll ----- Hardest-to-kill adware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Webtracer.cc ----- Hardest-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove search-links.net ----- Hardest-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Desktop Search ----- Hardest-to-kill adware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Desktop Hijacker ----- Hard-to-kill browser hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Startpage.O ----- Hard-to-kill trojan, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove Aurora Popup ----- Hard-to-kill Adware, Adware Away can completely remove it.
· Remove AntiVirus-Gold ----- Hard-to-kill Hijacker, Adware Away can completely remove it.

Portable Rogue Remover Pro 1.17

2009-12-05T06:11:00.000-08:00

RogueRemover is an application that can remove rogue antispyware, antivirus, and hard drive cleaning applications with ease. Rogue applications provide false information about the safety of your computer as well as, give erroneous scan results or put their own malware on your computer. RogueRemover has the ability to completely remove WinAntiSpyware/WinAntiVirus, SpyAxe, VirusBlast, VirusBursters, as well as a number of other rogue applications. In addition, we have implemented a threats center which will allow you to keep up to date with the latest rogue threats.

Portable Trojan Remover 6.6.8 Build 2518

2009-12-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

Trojan Remover was written to aid in the removal of Trojan Horses and Internet Worms when standard anti-virus software has either failed to detect the problem or is unable to effectively eliminate it.

Portable Anti-keylogger Elite 3.3.3

2009-12-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

Anti-keylogger™ is a dedicated anti-keylogging product. Unlike most other anti-spyware, Anti-keylogger doesn't depend on signature bases - just because it doesn't use them. The newly developed solutions and algorithms allow it to spot behavior of a spy program - and disable it instantly. Anti-keylogger™ can protect against even "custom-made" software keyloggers, which are extremely dangerous - and very popular with cybercriminals. Anti-keylogger™ is very user-friendly. It runs at the background, quite transparently for the user. It won't ask you needless questions; nor it will distract you from your work. Easy-to-use and reliable, Anti-keylogger™will guard your privacy and guarantee that all your confidential information remains secret.

Portable Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.20

2009-12-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is considered to be the next step in the detection and removal of malware. We compiled a number of new technologies that are designed to quickly detect, destroy, and prevent malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well-known Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware applications on the market today cannot.

Key Features :

- Support for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.
- Light speed quick scanning.
- Ability to perform full scans for all drives.
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Protection Module. (requires registration)
- Database updates released at least once every two days.
- Quarantine to hold threats and restore them at your convenience.
- Ignore list for both the scanner and Protection Module.
- Settings to enhance your Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware performance.
- A small list of extra utilities to help remove malware manually.
- Multi-lingual support.
- Works together with other anti-malware utilities.
- Command line support for quick scanning.
- Context menu integration to scan files on demand.

Portable Spyware Nuker XT v4.9.07.1815

2009-12-05T05:53:00.000-08:00

Spyware Nuker XT, the fourth generation of anti-spyware software produced by Trek Blue, represents hundreds of person hours of hard work by our development and quality assurance team to bring you the latest features and anti-spyware protection available.

If you have Spyware Nuker 2004 or Spyware Nuker 2005 already installed you are eligible for a FREE upgrade. To upgrade your version of Spyware Nuker to Spyware Nuker XT you should download and execute the update file through your current Spyware Nuker version (Start Spyware Nuker 2005, go to Advanced Option, click on 'Check Now' button and click 'Yes' when prompted for update).

Here is an overview of the exciting new features we have included:

* Improved and easier-to-use interface.
* Active Protection which tracks execution of every program in the system and notifies you if a program being started is a potential threat.
* SpyShield to help identify new threats.
* Integrated support form to streamline technical support requests.
* INAC Startup Manager to assist you with managing applications that run with Windows.

Portable Autorun Virus Remover v2.3 build 0618

2009-12-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

Autorun Virus Remover provides protection against any malicious programs trying to attack via USB drive. When a USB device is inserted into your computer, Autorun Virus Remover will automatically scan it, block and delete autorun virus, trojans, and malicious code. Also, it can detect and remove USB virus such as autorun.inf virus in your computer.

Autorun Virus Remover can also remove the autorun virus due to which you can't open your hard disk and USB drive (Pen drive, Memory card) by double clicking. Autorun Virus Remover USB antivirus software to permanently protect offline computer against any USB virus without the need for signature updates. This light and easy to use solution is compatible with all software and doesn't slow down your computer at all.

Portable SystemTech AntiSpyware v2.0

2009-12-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

Stay secure with two powerful system safeguards. SystemTech AntiSpyware detects and removes any threat to your PC, helps repair damage to your system components and protects you from future intrusions. SystemTech AntiVirus provides next generation technology to handle new viruses, worms, hijackers and Trojans that attempt to install on your PC, giving you peace of mind when browsing the Internet or reading your email.

Over 20 utilities increase your security, provide an instant snapshot of your system, and keep your PCs running like new.

Spyware Shield
Root out suspicious activity before it becomes a problem. Powerful spyware protection keeps your system out of danger by quickly repairing hijacked system settings, blocking new threats, automatically terminating all processes that represent adware or spyware threats, disabling malicious ActiveX controls for safe web browsing, and even blocking instant messaging spam.

Total AntiVirus Security
Unique antivirus heuristic technology locates even the toughest threats that standard security suites miss, including ones buried in your system registry and potential future risks. Quarantine suspicious objects, add trusted items to your Ignored list, monitor your computer in real-time, and perform Quick, Full or Custom scans to stay virus-free at all times.

Backup, Repair & Protect your Registry
Create multiple backups of your system registry and full System Restore snapshots to return your PC to its original state if infected or damaged. Scan your registry for errors and remove invalid or malicious entries to increase the speed of your computer and protect it from new threat characteristics and evolving code patterns.

Know what's happening on your PC
After protecting a PC from spyware and virus intrusions, keep it safe by supervising user activity. Safely monitor what websites and URLs are visited, record online and offline activity, block applications from opening, block websites by keyword, and set an Internet time schedule when a user can browse online.

Portable XP Tools Pro 9.91

2009-12-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

XP Tools is a totally integrated suite of powerful PC Utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your computer.

XP Tools is an XP tweak application that lets you to optimize your memory, maintain, protect and fix your PC and much more.

With only a few minutes of tweaking, XP Tools will optimize the performance of your computer, corrects problems and helps you to customize your system to suit your needs.

XP Tools will erase your Internet tracks, hide your sensitive files and folders, lock your important applications, and give you the tools that you need to fine-tune your computer to your personal needs.

When you run XP Tools, your Windows system will run faster, will crash less often, and will be more private and secure.

Portable SUPERAntiSpyware Professional v4.25.1012

2009-12-05T05:38:00.000-08:00

Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware, Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers, Parasites, Rootkits and many other types of threats.
Light on System Resources and won't slow down your computer like many other anti-spyware products. Won't conflict with your existing anti-spyware or anti-virus solution!
Repair broken Internet Connections, Desktops, Registry Editing and more with our unique Repair System!
Real-Time Blocking of threats! Prevent potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing!
First Chance Prevention examines over 50 critical points of your system each time your system starts up and shuts down to eliminate threats before they have a chance to infect and infiltrate your system.
Schedule either Quick, Complete or Custom Scans Daily or Weekly to ensure your computer is free from harmful software.

Portable Lavasoft Ad-Aware Anniversary Pro Edition 8.0.3

2009-12-05T05:32:00.000-08:00

Ad-Aware 2008 is the latest version of Lavasoft’s industry leading anti-spyware solutions. Ad-Aware 2008 allows you to combat the growing threats and latest advancements of malicious spyware and malware. Building on 10 years of advanced malware detection, Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition provides comprehensive malware protection without loading down your system’s resources, bringing you the core competence you need to stay safe online.

With behavior-based threat detection and integrated real-time monitoring, Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition focuses on core consumer security needs. Instead of adding layers of bells and whistles - thereby slowing your computer and scans down - we have decided to focus on what really matters. Anniversary Edition provides advanced threat protection, and is significantly lighter and faster than our previous versions.

Ad-Aware 2008 protects you from spyware that secretly takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity and even identity theft through stolen private information. We give you the tools to detect hazardous content on your computer, clearly identify their threat level, and then give you the control to remove unwanted content, so that your private information remains right where it should - under your control.

Lavasoft’s advanced Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology roots out deeply hidden malware and then searches for similar codes in order to identity emerging variants. Ad-Aware 2008 thoroughly scans your memory, registry, Hosts file, hard, removable and optical drives for known data-mining, aggressive advertising, parasites, scumware, keyloggers, trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components.

Portable Spyware Cease v6.0.1

2009-12-05T05:28:00.000-08:00

Spyware Cease is the award-winning Windows antispyware program that can be used to effectively protect your PC against various spyware attacks that can generate unwanted pop-ups, slow down PC performance, or steal your privacy without you knowing it!

Industry-leading hardcore antispyware technology
Spyware Cease™ offers the technology-oriented protection against the latest spyware threats like keyloggers, trojans, adware, malicious cookies tracking, browser hijackers, worms, phishing attacks and other malicious spyware attacks to effectively eliminate the unwanted pop-ups, minimize identities thieves and speed up PC performance. What's more, Spyware Cease™ enables the real-time guard in the background, which recommends user to take action when any program attempts to the PC registry.

Effectively safeguard your personal information
Spyware Cease™ has the industry-leading antispyware technology for protecting your privacy. It can shield your personal information by effectively removing malicious cookies and erasing your Internet tracks left behind. With Spyware Cease™, you can be ensured that your online activities, such as shopping, banking transactions and Internet surfing, are safe with full confidence!

Enhance computer performance & enrich computer experience
You don’t need annoyed with the PC's poor performance suffered from the spyware attacks any more. Spyware Cease™ can enhance PC performance by identifying and removing spyware programs that eat up PC memory and CPU, as well as conserving PC resources and minimizing interruptions to ensure a stable and sufficient PC performance.

Key Features and Benefits

• Comprehensively Scan Engine
• Real-time Safeguard
• Effectively Remove Rootkit
• Diagnose System(New!)
• Check Registry BHO
• Ignore Uncertain Items
• Protect Registry, IE(New!)
• Identity Passwords Thieves
• Check Browsers, System Files
• Detect Deceptive Malware
• Block Pop-ups, Erase Tracks
• 1-Click Operation
• On-Demand Scheduling
• Enhance PC Performance
• Conserve PC Resource
• Free Technical Support
• Frequently Update Database
• Submit Problems via E-mail
• 100% Money Back Guarantee
• Keep Networking Sites Safe
• Remove Malwares That Eat Up System Resources
• Improve Internet Browsing Safety

Portable USB Virus Scan 2.3 Build 1022

2009-12-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

USB Virus Scan provides 100% antivirus protection against any viruses trying to attack via removable media.When an USB device is inserted into your computer, it will automatically scan it, block and remove usb virus and trojan,also it can remove autorun virus causing that you can not open a drive by double clicking. Compare with other antivirus solutions, you will find out its highlights: USB Virus Scan provides 100% protection against any threats via USB drive, however, the majority of other products are unable even to guarantee 80% protection.USB Virus Scan is the best usb antivirus software to permanently protect offline computer without the need for signature updates, but other antivirus software should update signature database regularly. This light and easy to use solution is 100% compatible with all software and doesn't slow down your computer at all. You pay USB Virus Scan once and get it all, however, other antivirus products should be paid for updates every year.

Portable SUPERAntiSpyware Professional v4.30.0.1004

2009-12-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

SUPERAntiSpyware Professional is a useful and powerful program that will detect and remove thousands of Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, KeyLoggers, Dialers, Hi-Jackers, and Worms.

SUPERAntiSpyware features many unique and powerful technologies and removes spyware threats that other applications fail to remove.

SUPERAntiSpyware Professional includes Real-Time Blocking of threats, Scheduled Scanning, and Free Unlimited Customer Service via e-mail.

Here are some key features of "SUPERAntiSpyware Professional":

Quick, Complete and Custom Scanning of Hard Drives, Removable Drives, Memory, Registry, Individual Folders and More! Includes Trusting Items and Excluding Folders for complete customization of scanning!
Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers and many other types of threats.
Repair broken Internet Connections, Desktops, Registry Editing, Task Manager and more with our unique Repair System! Spyware application often disable system components to prevent removal - SUPERAntiSpyware resets and restores these items in seconds!
Real-Time Blocking of threats! Prevent potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing!
Schedule either Quick, Complete or Custom Scans Daily or Weekly to ensure your computer is free from harmful software.
Quarantine items detected and removed for complete protection. Items in the quarantine may be restored to your computer if desired. Detailed scan logs with complete information about detected and removed threats and their locations within your computer. Scan logs allow you to review scheduled scan results at anytime.

Portable UnHackMe v5.5 Build 332

2009-12-05T05:09:00.000-08:00

UnHackMe - First BootWatch AntiRootkit!

Now it is the must have tool for you!

UnHackMe is specially designed to detect and remove Rootkits.

A rootkit is a program that a hacker uses to mask intrusion and obtain administrator-level access to a computer or computer network. The intruder installs a rootkit on a computer using a user action or by exploiting a known vulnerability or cracking a password. The rootkit installs a backdoor giving the hacker a full control of the computer. It hides their files, registry keys, and process names, and network connections from your eyes.

Your antivirus could not detect such programs because they use compression and encryption of its files. The sample software is Hacker Defender rootkit.

Benefits to use UnHackMe:

The main difference between UnHackMe and other antirootkit software is the detection method.
UnHackMe tries to detect the hidden rookits by watching the computer from early study of the boot process till the normal Windows mode.

Recover from a Corrupted Registry in Windows XP

2009-12-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

When Will This Recovery Work?
You'll want to use the steps on this page to recover from a corrupted registry when you have already tried other options such as System Restore and you receive a message similar to one of the following when you try to boot your computer with Windows XP.

* Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

* Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE

* Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate

* System error: Lsass.exe
When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.

Be careful using this procedure in other circumstances or with an OEM version of Windows XP since OEM installations create passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously and may cause you not to be able to log into the Recovery Console to restore files.

Booting into the Recovery Console

You'll need to use the Windows XP Recovery Console to fix a corrupted registry, this will either require you to boot from a Windows XP Installation CD or boot directly to the Recovery Console if its installed. Follow these steps to boot into the Recovery Console from a Windows XP Installation CD.

1) Place your Windows XP in the CD-ROM Drive
2) Restart your computer and make sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD
3) When you see the following command press the space bar.

"press any key to boot from cd..."

4) Wait until you see the "Welcome to Setup" screen, and press R to start the Recovery Console
5) Choose which Windows installation you wish to load (this is usually #1 unless you have a multi-boot system)
6) Type the administrator password and Press Enter
7) You should now be at the C:\Windows> prompt

Copy Repair Files Using the Recovery Console

This procedure assumes Windows is installed on Drive C, if you have installed Windows on another drive, please substitute the appropriate drive letter in the procedure below.

At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart, press F8 as it starts and choose Safe Mode.

Restart in Safe Mode and Find a Recent Snapshot Backup

Restart your computer in Safe Mode by pressing F8 during the initial bootup and choosing Safe Mode. Once in Safe Mode, you need to make sure the files and folders are visible so you can access them. Follow these instructions to accomplish this.

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on the Tools menu, then click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.

In My Computer, Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP (usually Drive C) to display a list of the folders. then double-click on the "System Volume Information" folder. This folder contains the system restore points stored on your computer. The folders will look similar to

_restore{EE42BEB8-700A-495F-8004-53D26C2E12C5}

You might receive an access denied error message similar to the following when trying to access the System Volume Information folder.

C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied.

This is generally caused because the user you are logged in under does not have permissions set on the folder. To fix this, follow the instructions in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 309531 to gain access and continue. Each version of Windows XP is different on how to change these permissions.

Once you have access to the snapshots, use the instructions below to copy one of the latest snapshots to the Windows\TMP directory so you have access to it.

1) In the System Volume Information Folder, click on View, and then click Details to display the date of each snapshot folder.
2) Double-click on a folder that was not created at the current time but rather before the problem started.
3) Double-click on the Snapshot subfolder
4) Using your normal windows copy and paste techniques, highlight the following files and copy them into the C:\Windows\TMP folder

* _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
* _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
* _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
* _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
* _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

5) Rename the files that you just copied into the C:\Windows\TMP folder by right-clicking on each filename and choosing Rename, then typing the new name. Repeat this for each file in the list below.

* Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
* Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
* Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
* Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
* Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

6) Once you have renamed the files, restart your computer again with the Recovery Console (refer to the instructions above to do this)

Replace the Repair Files with a Current Backup of the Registry

After rebooting the computer and starting the Recovery Console again, type the following commands at the prompt to replace the files with a current backup. You'll need to press Enter after each command.

del c:\windows\system32\config\sam
del c:\windows\system32\config\security
del c:\windows\system32\config\software
del c:\windows\system32\config\default
del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

After the files have been replaced, type EXIT at the command prompt to restart Windows in normal mode.

Use System Restore to Return to a Good Backup Point

Because there is more to a System Restore than just the registry files, follow these steps to restore your computer to a good backup point.

1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous Restore Point and finish the restore.

How to Manually Run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool

2009-12-01T23:20:00.000-08:00

What is the Malicious Software Removal Tool?

In early 2005, Microsoft started releasing a software product called the Microsoft Malicious Software
Removal Tool. Its a monthly update released on the second Tuesday of each month (Patch Tuesday) to help scan user's computers
and remove viruses and malware. MRT uses a signature database they update on a monthly basis. Because this database does not have virus signatures and patterns for EVERY virus in the wild, its meant to just help prevent the infection and spread of the most prevalent issues. For this reason, you should still run antivirus software on your computer even though the Malicious Software Removal Tool is being run on your computer.

Normally, this removal tool is downloaded via Windows Update
and runs silently in the background to check for infections on the computer. It runs a quickscan for the worst infections, but what if you would like to use the removal tool to run a more thorough scan of your computer. We'll show you how to manually start the MSRT and how to run a thorough scan for problems.

How to Run the Malicious Software Removal Tool Manually

Follow the steps below to open MSRT and change the default settings.

1) Click on Start, Run
2) Type MRT and Press Enter
3) You'll be presented with the following screen, click on the Next button

4) Normally, the removal tool runs the Quick Scan, but for more thorough results, choose FULL SCAN and click Next

5) Now the Malicious Software Removal Tool will scan your entire hard drive for infections and problems.

6) Once the scan is completed, you should see the following screen if your computer is free of infection.

7) If you click on the View Detailed Results of the Scan option on the Results page you should see which viruses, worms, and trojans the removal tool scanned for and if an infection was found.

8) Click Finish on the Scan Results page to exit the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool

Log File Results

Whether you manually run the removal tool or it runs automatically when downloaded from Windows Updates, you may want to view the scan results log to see what it scanned for and what it found. The log file (mrt.log) will be found in the Windows\Debug folder. If you are running Windows XP or Windows Vista, this file is probably located at

c:\windows\debug\mrt.log

Follow the instructions below to open it.

1) Click on Start, Run
2) Type the following and Press Enter

notepad c:\windows\debug\mrt.log

3) The log file will open in Windows Notepad. Each scan will log its results in the file. If you had an infected file, you will see something like the following in the log file.

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool v1.33, September 2007
Started On Sat Sep 15 21:41:52 2007

Extended Scan Results
----------------
->Scan ERROR: resource file://C:\pagefile.sys (code 0x00000020 (32))
Found virus: Backdoor:Win32/Nuwar.B!ini in file://C:\Documents and Settings\Mark\spooldr.ini
Found virus: Backdoor:Win32/Nuwar.B!ini in file://C:\Documents and Settings\Mark\Desktop\Virus Info\spooldr.ini
Found virus: Trojan:Win32/Tibs.DC in file://C:\System Volume Information\_restore{3C8729AD-DC07-4E82-8FC5-363FFE9EB86D}\RP14\A0020913.exe

4) Click on the X in the upper right corner to close Notepad

More Information

For more information on the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool visit their help page or click on the following link to go to the home page
for the removal tool

Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool Page

What is svchost.exe? Is it a virus? Can I uninstall it?

2009-12-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

This question popped in our heads many times in the past and for some, it’s still an enigma. So, I will try to clarify what is svchost.exe, what’s used for and why in some occasions it eats your CPU. What is svchost.exe?
According to Microsoft, “svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries” or, in plain English, svchost.exe is a system program that is needed by Windows to launch other programs that cannot be run without being hosted (thus the generic host process).
Do I need svchost.exe? Can I uninstall svchost.exe? Why there are so many instances running?

Yes, we do need svchost.exe and no, we can’t uninstall it nor we need to. svchost.exe has a very important (critical) purpose within the Windows OS. Also, being able to handle multiple processes at once, you should see multiple instances of svchost.exe running on your computer and there is no need to alarm yourself, it’s a normal behavior.
Also, many users confuse svchost.exe with scvhost.exe which is indeed a malware application, more specifically a Trojan Horse named W32/Agobot-S virus. This malware application allows intruders/attackers to access your computer and steal passwords, Internet banking and personal data. In other words, when you see this process running on your system, remove it instantly!
svchost.exe is eating 100% CPU…what should I do?
You probably encountered situations when instances of svchost.exe were eating too much of your CPU, even 100% of your processor. In this case, you need to identify what process does that for each of the svchost instances running, to discover the ‘hungry’ or non-responsive application.
While this may take some time, it’s not a very difficult task. You need to identify the services running under each particular svchost.exe.
You can check the corresponding services of each svchost.exe via the command prompt using the command:
tasklist /SVC
This command works both in Windows XP and Vista, but it’s not the most useful.
Under Windows Vista, there is also the option to see the ‘attached’ processes very easily with just some mouse clicks.
Open the Task Manager, identify the svchost processes, right click on any of them and select “Go to Service(s)”. You should see the services that run under that specific svchost.
Also, as a good alternative into finding processes under svchost.exe in Windows XP, you can try Process Explorer from Sysinternals. The applications is pretty easy to use and self-explanatory, allowing you to see the list of services by only hovering your mouse above the svchost instances.

How to Remove SCVHOST.EXE, SVCHOST.EXE Virus Manually

2009-12-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

This are the following tips on how to remove the SCVHOST.EXE virus/worm. Firstly we must know what is SCVHOST.EXE is.
What is SCVHOST.EXE?
In some antivirus they are detected as W32/YahLover.Worm.gen from McAfee Antivirus and Win32/Autorun.R.worm from NOD32.

This virus will installs itself into your PC by using its INF file autorun.inf. The Autorun.inf file has an scripts that will trigger to execute the SCVHOST.EXE. Mostly in a removable disk is this occurred as you noticed that there is an Autoplay instead of Open. Once you double click the drive or removable disk, the autorun.inf run its scripts that this will trigger to execute the SCVHOST.EXE and spreading itself unto your system. It also copies itself through all your shared folders directories and on your computers throughout the network and run itself in the registry entries remotely using a GUEST account (through System:Remote).

Symptoms:

When pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del it blocks to launch the Task Manager
It blocks the Registry Editor.
When you try to go to the command prompt CMD, it will restarts the computer.
The shared folders will duplicates itself to different locations of. The duplicated virus uses a FOLDER icon with an .exe file extension. The configuration of your Yahoo Messenger has been changed.

How to Remove It
OK here we go, you must follow this step on how to remove this virus in manually method:

Restart your PC and press F8 and select the option Safe Mode Command Prompt Only
And after you log-in the command prompt you must log-in as Administrator.
Type cd C:\windows\system32
Type dir /ah, to display all hidden files on this directory folder. You will see the following files which is used by the virus to spread itself: AUTORUN.INI, BLASTCLNNN.EXE, and SCVHOST.EXE
Type ATTRIB -H -R -S SCVHOST.EXE
Type ATTRIB -H -R -S BLASTCLNNN.EXE
Type ATTRIB -H -R -S AUTORUN.INI
Type DEL SCVHOST.EXE
Type DEL BLASTCLNNNN.EXE
Type DEL AUTORUN.INI
Type CD\
Type ATTRIB -H -R -S AUTORUN.INF
Type DEL AUTORUN.INF

You are almost done, reboot your PC you may seat back and relax.. :) while loading...
Go Start Menu and click the Run and type the REGEDIT command. Take note guys before make any changes into your Registry Editor you must make a full back-up to your registry to avoid system errors. :)
Look the location entry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, if you see an entry Yahoo! Messengger (it’s spelled like this) with a value c:\windows\system32\scvhost.exe, Delete this entry.

Look the location entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon, in the entry named: SHELL, a value = Explorer.exe,SCVHOST.EXE. Edit this value, delete the SCVHOST.EXE only and the value must be Explorer.exe. Once you delete all this value, your computer will not login anymore.

OK we are now done.. Please Restart your PC now and Enjoy!!! Thank you and hope this tips will help for everyone..Just post your comments about this problem.

Norton Removal Tool 2008.0.3.16

2009-11-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

Editor: Symantec
Release: 2008.0.3.16
Language: English
License: Freeware/free
System: XP/Vista

Download Norton_Removal_Tool.exe (663 KB)

Norton Removal Tool (SymNRT) is a program which allows to abolish Norton applications of your computer. Application can be used if you have already tried to uninstall Norton programs by using application uninstall Windows without results.Norton Removal will abolish programs only following Norton:

Norton AntiSpam 2004/2005
Norton AntiVirus 2003 through 2008
Ghost 2003, Ghost Version 9.0 and 10.0
Norton GoBack 3.1 through 4.2
Norton Internet Security 2003 through 2008
Norton Password Manager
Norton Personal Firewall 2003 through 2006
Norton SystemWorks 2003 through 2007
Norton Confidential Online 2007
Norton Internet Security Add-on Pack 1.0 - 2.0
Norton Save and Restore 1.0 through 2.0
Norton 360 1.0 through 1.3

NB: If your program does not appear in this list, do not use SymNRT.

Free Trojan Virus Removal Tool For PC

2009-11-30T07:48:00.001-08:00

Learn the importance of using free trojan virus removal tools and why these infections can be considered one of the more dangerous ones on the web today.

Most of the computer users often confuse between the terms Trojan horse and virus. This infection cannot be called as a virus because they differ slightly. A virus can be defined as software which has a malicious intent and has the ability of replicating itself whereas a trojan can be defined as software which will function only after the user executes it.

Most of the times a Trojan will disguise itself like a folder which in fact will be an .exe file. This is actually a trick to make the user click it and thereby execute it. The term to describe this infection actually came from Greek Mythology. The hazardous effect of this malicious content is that after being executed, it can open a door for other harmful software like adware, spyware etc to enter your computer. These programs are known as keyloggers as they are capable of recording your keyboard strokes and can send your personal information like your username and password to other parties for their own use. Download a free Trojan virus removal tool at http://www.trojanremovers.info today.

Most of the people who get infected by these have actually downloaded this program. It can be done by them or it may be downloaded to their system furtively. You may search for various softwares in the search engines and this will also make you download these softwares. Many of the websites in the search results will provide the offer of free download but these websites will never offer you to download the genuine software. They may upload some Trojan horses in their websites for the users to download.

The users including you will download this Trojan horse into your computer and will execute it by thinking that it is genuine software. But you may not be aware that this software will create a backdoor to other malicious software for entering your PC. Another possible way of getting infected is through the false security messages. Your computer may show a message that your system is infected and for removing that infection you will have to download the removal software from the links provided. This will lead you to more malicious content and thereby getting more infected.

The only way to safe guard your computer from the infections of these malicious softwares is to avoid downloading such software before actually researching about the product. You must search the website first in order to make sure that it is safe. If the site is not safe, you will find a number of results from popular search engines pointing that the website or the software is malicious. You can get a quality free Trojan virus removal tool at http://www.trojanremovers.info which will protect your system.

You can detect the safety yourself if you know the actual size of the software. For example, if the software is most likely to be hundred MB and the website is providing software of size hundred KB, the software is most likely to be malicious software. The thing you will need the most while dealing with internet is knowledge. You can fight almost any online threat, if you have knowledge. You must find what you must apply to protect your computer from getting infected which is usually a free Trojan virus removal tool for windows.

Recovering from a Trojan Horse or Virus

2009-11-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

It can happen to anyone. Considering the vast number of viruses and Trojan horses traversing the Internet at any given moment, it’s amazing it doesn’t happen to everyone. Hindsight may dictate that you could have done a better job of protecting yourself, but that does little to help you out of your current predicament. Once you know that your machine is infected with a Trojan Horse or virus (or if your machine is exhibiting unexpected behavior and you suspect that something is wrong), what can you do?

If you know what specific malicious program has infected your computer, you can visit one of several antivirus web sites and download a removal tool. Chances are, however, that you will not be able to identify the specific program. Unfortunately your other choices are limited, but the following steps may help save your computer and your files.

1. Call IT support
If you have an IT support department at your disposal, notify them immediately and follow their instructions.

2. Disconnect your computer from the Internet
Depending on what type of Trojan horse or virus you have, intruders may have access to your personal information and may even be using your computer to attack other computers. You can stop this activity by turning off your Internet connection. The best way to accomplish this is to physically disconnect your cable or phone line, but you can also simply “disable” your network connection.

3. Back up your important files
At this point it is a good idea to take the time to back up your files. If possible, compile all of your photos, documents, Internet favorites, etc., and burn them onto a CD or DVD or save them to some other external storage device. It is vital to note that these files cannot be trusted, since they are still potentially infected. (Actually, it’s good practice to back up your files on a regular basis so that if they do get infected, you might have an uninfected set you can restore.)

4. Scan your machine
Since your computer (including its operating system) may be infected with a malicious program, it is safest to scan the machine from a live CD (or “rescue” CD) rather than a previously installed antivirus program. Many antivirus products provide this functionality. Another alternative is to use a web-based virus removal service, which some antivirus software vendors offer (try searching on “online virus scan”). Or you could just try Microsoft’s web-based PC Protection Scan.
The next best action is to install an antivirus program from an uncontaminated source such as a CD-ROM. If you don’t have one, there are many to choose from, but all of them should provide the tools you need.
After you install the software, complete a scan of your machine. The initial scan will hopefully identify the malicious program(s). Ideally, the antivirus program will even offer to remove the malicious files from your computer; follow the advice or instructions you are given.
If the antivirus software successfully locates and removes the malicious files, be sure to follow the precautionary steps in Step 7 to prevent another infection. In the unfortunate event that the antivirus software cannot locate or remove the malicious program, you will have to follow Steps 5 and 6.

5. Reinstall your operating system
If the previous step failed to clean your computer, the most effective option is to wipe or format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Although this corrective action will also result in the loss of all your programs and files, it is the only way to ensure your computer is free from backdoors and intruder modifications.
Many computer vendors also offer a rescue partition or disc(s) that will do a factory restore of the system. Check your computer’s user manual to find out whether one of these is provided and how to run it.
Before conducting the reinstall, make a note of all your programs and settings so that you can return your computer to its original condition.
It is vital that you also reinstall your antivirus software and apply any patches that may be available. Consult “Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet” for further assistance.

6. Restore your files
If you made a backup in Step 3, you can now restore your files. Before placing the files back in directories on your computer, you should scan them with your antivirus software to check them for known viruses.

7. Protect your computer
To prevent future infections, you should take the following precautions:
• Do not open unsolicited attachments in email messages. • Do not follow unsolicited links. • Maintain updated antivirus software. • Use an Internet firewall.
• Secure your web browser. • Keep your system patched.
To ensure that you are doing everything possible to protect your computer and your important information, you may also want to read some of the articles in the Resources section below.

Resources

Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/before_you_plug_in.html
Home Network Security
http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/home-network-security/
Understanding Firewalls
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-004.html
Good Security Habits
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-003.html
Continuing Threats to Home Users
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA04-079A.html
Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp
Increase Your Browsing and E-Mail Safety
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/settings.mspx

Malicious Software: Trojan Horses: Detection and Removal Tools

2009-11-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

Anti-Trojan Shield - Trojan horse detection and removal software.
Antiy Labs - Ghostbusters tool detects and removes trojans and worms. Package includes security configuration tools. [Windows]
Emsi Software GmbH - a² personal, malware scanning and removal software. Product information, support forums and downloads. [Windows]
GFI Software Ltd - Free online trojan scanner. [Windows, IE5+]
Jammer - Protects you against NetBus, Back Orifice 1.x and BO2K.
LuoSoft - Iparmor, trojan scanning and removal software. [Windows]
Mischel Internet Security - TrojanHunter software scans for and removes trojans. Product details, ordering and support forums. [Windows]
MooSoft Development LLC - The Cleaner, malware removal software. Product information, downloads, searchable trojan database. [Windows]
PestPatrol, Inc. - Detects and removes hacker tools, DoS attack agents, trojans and spyware. Features white papers, corporate sales, FAQs, and product tour.
Privacy Software Corporation - BOClean, trojan scanning and removal software. Product information and on-line ordering. [Windows]
TDS - Anti-Trojan Software, memory-scanner, port-guard, process-viewer.
Trojan Guarder - Trojans and virus scanning and removal software. Downloads and ordering.

Virus Removal Tools From Kaspersky

2009-11-30T06:48:00.000-08:00

Act promptly

When a new, dangerous virus appears, timely intervention can prevent damage to your data, and help prevent the spread of the virus.

Remove a virus for free

Kaspersky Lab has developed free virus removal tools. If your computer has been infected by any of the viruses listed below, you can download a free removal utility here.

Ordered by Date

[06/27/2008] Worm.Win32.AutoRun.hr
[05/20/2008] Net-Worm.Win32.Rovud.a-c
[04/21/2008] Worm.Win32.AutoRun.dfx
[04/21/2008] Worm.Win32.AutoRun.dhq
[04/18/2008] Worm.Win32.AutoRun.czz
[04/18/2008] Worm.Win32.AutoRun.daa
[03/05/2008] Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Losabel.ap
[02/13/2008] Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Todon.an
[02/05/2008] Trojan.Win32.Agent.aec
[01/25/2008] Worm.Win32.AutoRun.cby
[01/21/2008] Trojan.Win32.KillAV.nj
[11/15/2007] Worm.Win32.VB.jn
[11/01/2007] P2P-Worm.Win32.Malas.b
[10/15/2007] Virus.Win32.VB.he
[10/15/2007] IM-Worm.Win32.Sohanad.as
[10/14/2007] Virus.Win32.AutoRun.acw
[08/24/2006] Backdoor.Win32.Allaple.a
[06/02/2006] Email-Worm.Win32.Brontok.n
[12/09/2005] not-a-virus:RiskTool.Win32.XCP.a-b
[11/14/2005] Trojan.Win32.Krotten
[10/13/2005] Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.cx-dw
[01/21/2005] not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.Visiter
[01/21/2005] Virus.Win32.Implinker.a
[11/01/2004] Email-Worm.Win32.Zafi.b
[11/01/2004] Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.at,au
[05/28/2004] Net-Worm.Win32.Sasser.a-d,f
[05/28/2004] Trojan.Win32.StartPage.fw
[05/28/2004] Backdoor.Win32.Agent.ac
[05/28/2004] Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.a-j,n-r,z
[03/02/2004] Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Agent.a-j
[03/02/2004] Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.b-d
[02/26/2004] Email-Worm.Win32.Mydoom.a-b,e
[02/20/2004] Email-Worm.Win32.Torvil.d
[01/21/2004] Backdoor.Win32.Afcore.l-ad
[12/26/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Sober.a,c
[12/01/2003] Net-Worm.Win32.Opasoft.a-p
[09/18/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Swen
[09/17/2003] Backdoor.Win32.Small.d
[09/17/2003] Trojan.Win32.SilentLog.a-b
[09/17/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Dumaru.a-m
[08/25/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Sobig.f
[08/22/2003] Net-Worm.Win32.Welchia
[08/14/2003] Net-Worm.Win32.Lovesan
[06/26/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Magold.a-e
[06/17/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Tanatos.a,b
[06/03/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.LovGate.a-l
[05/12/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Fizzer
[03/05/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Lentin.a-p
[01/08/2003] Email-Worm.Win32.Avron.a-e
[12/17/2002] Net-Worm.Win32.Opasoft.a-h
[11/26/2002] Email-Worm.Win32.Winevar
[11/05/2002] Email-Worm.Win32.Bridex.a
[04/19/2002] Virus.Win32.Win32.Elkern.c
[12/05/2001] Email-Worm.Win32.Goner
[11/09/2001] Email-Worm.Win32.Klez.a,e,f,g,h
[09/17/2001] Email-Worm.Win32.Nimda.a
[07/19/2001] Email-Worm.Win32.Sircam.a
[11/30/2000] Email-Worm.Win32.Blebla.b
[11/11/2000] Email-Worm.Win32.Navidad.a
[11/11/1999] Virus.Win32.FunLove

Ordered by Name

Utility to detect and remove W32.MyDoom, W32.Netsky,W32.Bagle & other Viruses

2009-11-30T05:18:00.000-08:00

Killworm.zip (240 KB) Updated on March 02, 2004.

This utility will help you detect and remove following worms/variants from an infected system:

W32.MyDoom.A, W32.MyDoom.B
W32.NetSky.C , W32.NetSky.D , W32.Netsky.E
W32.Bagle.C ,W32.Bagle.E , W32.Bagle.F ,W32.Bagle.G , W32.Bagle.H

Steps to follow:

Create a temporary folder
Download this utility in a temporary folder.
Run this utility.
Disable the System Restore option if you are using Windows Me/XP
This will display an windows with two options "browse" and "Scan"
Browse the drive/ Folder you wish to scan
Select the Scan option
This will detect and remove all strains of this worm
Upgrade your Antivirus using the Online Update option.

Disable/Enable _Restore option on system having Windows ME and Windows XP:

Windows ME and Windows XP utilizes a backup utility that backs up selected files automatically to the C:\_Restore folder. There is no access to delete files kept as backup in _Restore folder. If W32.Klez.H infected file is stored in _Restore folder as a backup file, then in such case Quick Heal will be unable to delete these files. Below steps will help you how to remove the infected files from the C:\_Restore folder.

System having Windows ME

Disable _Restore option

Double-click System, and then select Performance tab.
Click File System, and then click the Troubleshooting tab.
Check Disable System Restore.
Click OK, and then click Close. Save the setting and restart Windows.
This disables _Restore folder.

Enable _Restore option

Go to Start / Settings / Control Panel.
Double-click System, and then select Performance tab.
Click File System, and then click the Troubleshooting tab.
Check Enable System Restore.
Restart your system.

System having Windows XP

Disable _Restore option

Go to Start - Right-click on My Computer and then select Properties.
Select the "System Restore" tab.
Check "Turn off system restore" or "Turn off system restore on all drives."
Click Apply, and then click OK. - Reboot your system

To enable Windows XP System Restore:

Go to Start.
Right-click on My Computer and then select Properties.
Select the "System Restore" tab.
Uncheck "Turn off system restore" or "Turn off system restore on all drives."
Click Apply, and then click OK
Reboot your system

Click here to download killworm.zip (240 Kb) Updated on March 02, 2004.

Tools for removing other viruses Using same procedure


killworm.com	Utility to detect and remove W32.MyDoom, W32.Netsky,W32.Bagle
killklez.com	to remove W32/Klez
ksircam.zip	to remove W32/Sircam
knimda.zip	to remove W32/Nimda
kflove.exe	to remove W32/Funlove
qhwkill.com	to remove W32/Happy99 and other prominent worms/backdoors

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 9.0.0.716

2009-11-30T02:45:00.000-08:00

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 9.0.0.716

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 – the backbone of your PC’s security system, offering protection from a range of IT threats. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 provides the basic tools needed to protect your PC.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 – the all-in-one security solution that offers a worry-free computing environment for you and your family. Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 has everything you need for a safe and secure Internet experience. Kaspersky Internet Security 9.0 – is a new line of Kaspersky Labs products, which is designed for the multi-tiered protection of personal computers. This product is based on in-house protection components, which are based on variety of technologies for maximum levels of user protection regardless of technical competencies. This product utilizes several technologies, which were jointly developed by Kaspersky Labs and other companies; part of them is implemented via online-services.

Our products for home and home office are specifically designed to provide hassle-free and quality protection against viruses, worms and other malicious programs, as well as hacker attacks, spam and spyware.

During product preparation several competitor offerings were considered and analyzed - firewalls, security suites systems, which position themselves as proactive in defence and HIPS systems. Combination of in-hosue innovative developments and results from analysis gathered through the industry allowed to jump onto a new level of protection for personal users, whereby offering even more hardened and less annoying computer protection from all types of electronic threats – malicious programs of different types, hacker attacks, spam mailings, program-root kits, phishing emails, advertisement popup windows etc.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 All Features:

Essential Protection:
* Protects from viruses, Trojans and worms
* Blocks spyware and adware
* Scans files in real time (on access) and on demand
* Scans email messages (regardless of email client)
* Scans Internet traffic (regardless of browser)
* Protects instant messengers (ICQ, MSN)
* Provides proactive protection from unknown threats
* Scans Java and Visual Basic scripts

Extended Protection:
* Two-way personal firewall
* Safe Wi-Fi and VPN connections
* Intrusion prevention system
* Intelligent application management and control
o automatically configured application rules
o security rating is assigned to unknown applications
o access to the user’s resources and data is restricted for unknown applications

Preventive Protection:
* Scans operating system and installed applications for vulnerabilities
* Analyzes and closes Internet Explorer vulnerabilities
* Disables links to malware sites
* Detects viruses based on the packers used to compress code
* Global threat monitoring (Kaspersky Security Network)

Advanced Protection & Recovery:
* The program can be installed on infected computers
* Self-protection from being disabled or stopped
* Restores correct system settings after removing malicious software
* Tools for creating a rescue disk

Data & Identity Theft Protection:
* Disables links to fake (phishing) websites
* Blocks all types of keyloggers
* Virtual keyboard is provided for safely entering logins and passwords
* Prevents the theft of data exchanged via secure connections (HTTPS / SSL)
* Blocks unauthorized dial-up connections
* Cleans up any traces of user activity (deletes temporary files, cookies etc.)

Content Filtering:
* Parental control
* Improved antispam protection (plugins for Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, The Bat!, Thunderbird)
* Blocks banners on web pages

Usability:
* Automatic configuration during installation
* Wizards for common tasks
* Visual reports with charts and diagrams
* Alerts provide all the information necessary for informed user decisions
* Automatic or interactive mode
* Round-the-clock technical support
* Automatic database updates

Kaspersky Internet Security 8.0.0.506 FINAL

2009-11-30T02:20:00.000-08:00

Kaspersky Internet Security 8.0.0.506 FINAL

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 ????? the all-in-one security solution that offers a worry-free computing environment for you and your family. Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 has everything you need for a safe and secure Internet experience.
Kaspersky Internet Security 8.0 ????? is a new line of Kaspersky Labs products, which is designed for the multi-tiered protection of personal computers. This product is based on in-house protection components, which are based on variety of technologies for maximum levels of user protection regardless of technical competencies. This product utilizes several technologies, which were jointly developed by Kaspersky Labs and other companies; part of them is implemented via online-services.
Our products for home and home office are specifically designed to provide hassle-free and quality protection against viruses, worms and other malicious programs, as well as hacker attacks, spam and spyware.

During product preparation several competitor offerings were considered and analyzed - firewalls, security suites systems, which position themselves as proactive in defence and HIPS systems. Combination of in-hosue innovative developments and results from analysis gathered through the industry allowed to jump onto a new level of protection for personal users, whereby offering even more hardened and less annoying computer protection from all types of electronic threats ????? malicious programs of different types, hacker attacks, spam mailings, program-root kits, phishing emails, advertisement popup windows etc.

Portable Eset NOD32 On-Demand Scanner v.4611

2009-11-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

Portable Eset NOD32 On-Demand Scanner v.4611
Antivirus protection is spelled NOD32. Built on the award-winning ThreatSense engine, ESET NOD32 Antivirus software proactively detects and eliminates more viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware, phishing, rootkits and other Internet threats than any program available.

No matter what your system, there is no better antivirus protection. ESET NOD32 Antivirus was awarded the "BEST Antivirus Solution” in 2006 and 2007 by AV-Comparatives. Compare antivirus solutions here to learn more, or check out the latest Virus Bulletin.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus provides:
Proactive Protection: The award winning ThreatSense technology combines multiple layers of detection protecting you from Internet threats before it is too late.
Precise Detection: ESET accurately identifies known and unknown threats. It consistently wins top awards from testing labs and is recognized for having zero false positives.1
Lightweight Design: Requires less memory and CPU power, allowing your computer to run fast, making more room for games, web browsing, and emailing.
Fast Scanning Speeds: Highly efficient program ensuring fast file scanning and product updates. It runs quietly in the background.

ESET Smart Security 4 version 4.0.474

2009-11-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

ESET Smart Security 4 version 4.0.474 Business Edition (32-bit)

ESET Smart Security is a tightly integrated solution designed to protect computers from a range of threats. Built on the award-winning ESET NOD32® Antivirus and its powerful ThreatSense® engine, ESET Smart Security provides antispyware, antispam and customized firewall features. Utilizing ThreatSense — the industry's most advanced heuristics — the window of vulnerability between virus outbreak and signature update is reduced.
The key advantage of this approach is that individual protection modules are able to communicate together seamlessly, to create unparalleled synergy to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of protection. Moreover, the integrated architecture guarantees optimal utilization of system resources, so ESET Smart Security continues ESET's well know reputation for providing rock solid security in a small footprint that will not slow down an individual's computer.

ESET Smart Security provides:
* Proactive Protection: award winning ThreatSense technology combines multiple layers of detection protecting you from Internet threats before it is too late. The included antispam and personal firewall features provide you with a total security solution.
* Precise Detection: ESET accurately identifies known and unknown threats. It consistently wins top awards from testing labs and is recognized for having zero false positives.
* Lightweight Design: Smart Security requires less memory and CPU power, allowing your computer to run fast, making more room for games, web browsing, and emailing.
* Fast Scanning Speeds: ESET Smart Security is a highly efficient program ensuring fast file scanning and product updates, while running quietly in the background.

Norton™ Internet Security 2010 v17.1.0.19

2009-11-29T04:48:00.000-08:00

Norton™ Internet Security 2010 v17.1.0.19 | 117,29 Mb

Norton Internet Security was designed to be the fastest virus, spyware and internet protection you can buy. The Norton Internet Security main window acts as a security management interface.

Norton Internet Security 2010 will be the fastest and lightest security suite Symantec has ever delivered. It guards your PC, network, online activities and your identity with innovative, intelligent detection technologies optimized to combat today’s aggressive, rapid-fire attacks. Improved Norton Safe Web technology blocks Internet threats before they can infect your PC.

So you can browse, buy and bank online with confidence. It even warns you of unsafe web sites right in your search results. Plus, unlike other Internet security suites, it provides easy-to-understand threat and performance information to help you avoid future threats and keep your PC running fast.

Here are some key features of "Norton Internet Security":

Engineered for Speed:
· Proven fastest and lightest security suite available
· Intelligence-driven Norton Insight technology targets only those files at risk for faster, fewer, shorter scans
· Installs in under one minute on average requires less than 7 MB of memory
· Up-to-the-minute Protection
· Delivers up-to-the-minute protection with rapid pulse updates every 5 to 15 minutes.
· The Norton Protection System provides multilayered protection technologies that work in concert to stop threats before they impact you.
· Real-time SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response) helps prevent bots from taking control of your PC.
· Prevents threats from entering through your firewall.
· Detects and automatically removes online threats.
· Defends against Web-based attacks with patent-pending technology.
· Recovery Tool boots and repairs badly infected PCs
· Delivers our most complete deep-cleaning scan possible.
· Prevents bots from taking control of your PC.
· Norton Ongoing Protection provides continuous protection updates and new product features as they become available throughout your product subscription period, helping to keep your computer protected against the latest Internet threats and risks.
· Norton Automatic Renewal Service helps to ensure that you’re protected by automatically renewing your product subscription before it expires.

Norton Identity Safe:
· Keeps your online identity safer than ever when you buy, bank, browse, and game online.
· Advanced phishing protection keeps your personal identification out of the hands of fraudulent Web sites.
· Stores and encrypts your passwords and other confidential data.
· Fills in online forms at your request to save time and protect you from keystroke loggers.

Control without disruptions:
· Puts every element of your security at your fingertips
· NEW! Schedules resource intensive tasks for when you’re not using your PC.
· Review the security status of every process on your PC.
· Silent mode suspends alerts and updates to avoid interrupting or slowing games and movies.
· Smart two-way firewall automatically makes security decisions for you.

Secure Networking:
· Helps you secure your home network.
· Conceals and secures your PC on public Wi-Fi networks.

Parental Controls:
· Create individual user profiles with enhanced parental controls.

Spam Blocking:
· Filters spam better than ever.

Requirements:

· 300 MHz or faster processor
· 256 MB of RAM (512 MB RAM required for the Recovery Tool)
· 200 MB of available hard disk space
· Standard Web browser
· Email scanning supported for POP3- and SMTP-compatible email clients.Required for all installations:
· CD-ROM or DVD drive (if not installing via electronic download)
· Support for AntiSpam feature
· Microsoft Outlook 97 or later
· Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 or later
· Browser support for Browser Defense and Phishing Protection features
· Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (32-bit only) and later
· Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and later

Avira AntiVir Premium 9.0.0.447 + License (Dec 2010)

2009-11-29T04:45:00.000-08:00

Avira AntiVir Premium 9.0.0.447 + License (Dec 2010)|34MB

The Avira AntiVir Premium application was designed to be a comprehensive and flexible tool you can rely on to protect your computer from viruses, malware, unwanted programs, and other threats.

Avira Security Suite Premium v9.0.0 Build 387

2009-11-29T04:40:00.000-08:00

Avira Security Suite Premium v9.0.0 Build 387 | 33.8 MB

Avira presents the Premium Security Suite with Full protection: Includes basic and advanced antivirus protection, email protection, AntiPhishing, Anti-Spyware and Anti-Adware PLUS: Anti-Spam, Firewall, WebGuard (Safe Surfing), Game Mode and more.! Complete security for workstations! The repeatedly awarded and worldwide used virus and malware protection by over 30 million users now also with WebGuard!Avira is a German antivirus software company. Its antivirus applications are based on the AntiVir antivirus engine, first launched in 1988. It was called "H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH" when it was founded. One of theantivirus software, AntiVir Personal, is free for personal usage. Avira is launching a new, comprehensive protection package for end-users as well as small offices and home workers: the Avira Premium Security Suite is a combination of Avira’s brand-new firewall and the proven anti-virus software AntiVir Personal Premium.Even less experienced users can cope with the numerous security threats from the Internet with the central, intuitively operated user interface of the Suite.

Premium Security Protection:
• AntiVir stops all types of viruses
• AntiAd/Spyware eliminates ad/spyware
• AntiPhishing proactive protection against phising
• AntiRootkit against hidden rootkit threats
• AntiDrive-by prevents against downloading viruses when surfing
• AntiBot prevents dangerous bot networks
• EmailScannerEnhanced email protection
• WebGuard protection against malicious websites
• RescueSystem create a bootable rescue CD
• BackupSystem configurable data backup solution
• AntiSpam filters out unwanted emails
• FireWall protection against hackers
• GameMode uninterrupted game play
• QuickRemoval eliminate viruses at the push of a button NEW!
• NetbookSupport for laptops with low resolution NEW!
• ParentalControl block websites unsuitable for children NEW!

Highlights from the WebGuard:
• Checks Internet downloads against viruses
• Recognizes defective files before they are loaded on your computer
• Affected websites can be blocked, isolated or ignored
• Specific files and URLs can be excluded from the examination
• Works independently from the browser you are using

Homepage - http://www.avira.com

ZoneAlarm ForceField 1.5.53.49 Final

2009-11-29T04:29:00.000-08:00

ZoneAlarm ForceField 1.5.53.49 Final | 7.85 MB

ZoneAlarm ForceField provides a protective layer around your browser, shielding you from drive-by downloads, browser exploits, phishing attempts, spyware and keyloggers. So your passwords, your confidential information, and your financial data remain protected. Nothing else protects you like ZoneAlarm ForceField.

Very reliable barrier against intruders to your confidential data can be a utility for ZoneAlarm ForceField. It is a resident module, available in the system tray, as well as embedded in popular browsers are MS Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox as a kind of filter. Utility ZoneAlarm ForceField blocks access to sites containing spyware. Thanks to the database and a special heuristic detection, it can also detect bogus phishing sites. Protect your computer and from a variety of Spyware-modules. The presence of infiltrators program will test all your downloaded files.

In addition, it serves as antikeylogera, blocking the possibility of control by pressing the keys on the keyboard. That's just enjoy some useful programs, such as proofreaders wrong keyboard layout when typing, it becomes impossible. However, in settings ZoneAlarm ForceField, activated Parameter Settings, you can set the resistance keylogeram only when you enter passwords or disable this option. If you want to hide information that remains after the Web-surfing on the local computer, including cookies, activate a special mode of the Private Browser. In this case, all the temporary files will be automatically canceled.

Features:
- Virtual Browsing
- Blocking keyloggers and screen grabber
- Detection of hazardous zgruzok
- Anti-Phishing
- Bokirovanie spyware sites
- Check the web site safety
- Encryption on the fly
- Compatible with all populyarnmi Internet browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox
- Compatibility with other programs on safety
- Quick and easy to use

Shadow Defender 1.1.0.315

2009-11-29T04:25:00.000-08:00

Shadow Defender 1.1.0.315 (x32/x64) | 2.32 Mb

Shadow Defender is an easy-to-use desktop security and privacy protection tool for Windows operating systems. It provides an excellent way to prevent unwanted or malicious changes from being made to a PC. With Shadow Defender you can run system in a virtual environment, called Shadow Mode and all the attacks will happed in the virtual environment, not the real environment. If attacks happened, all you need to do is to reboot your system. After reboot, the system will be restored to the original state, as if nothing happened. And meanwhile you can save the selected files and folders to the real environment. Shadow Defender's protection concept is very easy to grasp.

Features
1. Prevent all viruses and malware.
2. Surf the internet safely and eliminate unwanted traces.
3. Protect your privacy.
4. Eliminate system downtime and maintenance costs.
5. Reboot to restore your system back to its original state.

Dr.Web AntiVirus 5.0.8.11100

2009-11-29T04:21:00.000-08:00

Dr.Web AntiVirus 5.0.8.11100 | 29.68 Mb

Dr.Web® for Windows provides reliable and highly efficient protection of your system and data regardless what type of the Microsoft operating system is installed on your computer. The Dr.Web® for Windows components allow in a real time mode to detect malicious programs from any external sources.

Created in the early 90s in Russia by Igor Daniloff, Dr.Web® has always reflected its author’s basic philosophy: security means no compromise. Many innovations marked by Dr.Web has long become a standard for the AV industry, for example, cross-platform structure. Having appeared as the response to the growing threat of polymorphic viruses, Dr.Web Anti-virus still remains in the lead, always showing 100% results in the Virus Bulletin comparative reviews for this type of the most complicated viruses.
The other feature that has always distinguished the Dr.Web® anti-virus from its competitors is its low memory/resource usage, so that this AV remains unnoticeable to a user. This low footprint TOGETHER with its high detection abilities have attracted millions of users around the world to Dr.Web.

Dr.Web® for Windows main components:
• The Dr.Web® scanner with graphical interface - It scans the selected by a user objects on drives by request, detects and neutralizes viruses in memory, checks autorun files and processes.
• On-access monitor SpIDer Guard™ - It intercepts in a real time mode all accesses to files, detects and blocks suspicious behaviour of programs.
• SpIDer Mail® resident mail filter - Assures safe work with e-mail messages scanning POP3/SMTP/IMAP/NNTP protocols. Provides a top-level security for handling both Inbound and Outbound e-mail.
• The Dr.Web command line scanner - Scans selected objects on drives by request, detects and neutralizes viruses in memory, checks autorun files and processes.
• The automatic updating utility - Downloads updates of the virus bases and program modules, and also conducts a registration procedure and delivers the license or the demo key files.
• The Scheduler - Schedules automations for the anti-virus protection, for example, virus bases updates, scanning of computer drives, scanning of autorun files.

UnHackMe 6.8 Build 852

2009-11-29T04:13:00.000-08:00

UnHackMe 6.8 Build 852 | 7.2MB | HF/RS

UnHackMe - First BootWatch AntiRootkit! Now it is the must have tool for you! UnHackMe is specially designed to detect and remove Rootkits (a new generation of Trojan programs - invisible Trojans). A rootkit is a program that a hacker uses to mask intrusion and obtain administrator-level access to a computer or computer network.

Loaris Trojan Remover 1.1.9.5

2009-11-29T04:07:00.000-08:00

Windows Software | Loaris Trojan Remover | 27.53 MB

Trojan Remover aids in the removal of Malware - Trojan Horses, Worms, Adware, Spyware - when standard anti-virus software either fails to detect them or fails to effectively eliminate them. Standard antivirus programs are good at detecting this Malware, but not always good at effectively removing it. The majority of Anti-Malware Scanners are well able to detect malicious software - Trojan Horses, Internet Worms, Adware/Spyware etc. - but are not always efficient in removing them once they have been triggered.

Title: Loaris Trojan Remover
Version: 1.1.9.5
Developer: Loaris LLC
Homepage: loaris.com
Updated: 2009.11
License / Price: 30.00 EUR(patch)
Language: EN
Platform: Windows 2K/XP/2K3/Vista/7
Size: 27.53 mb

Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus → Anti-Trojan Elite 4.7.7

2009-11-29T04:02:00.000-08:00

Anti-Trojan Elite 4.7.7 Multilanguage | 6.44 Mb
Anti Trojan Elite(ATE) is a malware remover, it can detect and clean malware in disk or memory.Anti Trojan Elite provide a real-time malware firewall for user, once a trojan or keylogger would been loaded, the ATE can detect, block and then clean it in time before it starts. The ATE can detect more than 22000 trojans, worms and keyloggers currently, and the number of malware ATE could clean is growing up very quickly, we collect world-wide malwares, user can using our auto live update feature to get the power to clean these new malwares in time.

Anti Trojan Elite has some useful utilities especially. The network utility can been used to disconnect suspicious TCP connections; The process utility can been used to kill suspicious processes even the process has the system priviage, even it has the ability to unload suspicious modules in all processes; The registry repair utility can been used to repair registry altered by malware; The registry monitor utility can been used to repair any change of important registry keys and values with real time.

THE REASONS CHOOSE ANTI TROJAN ELITE
- Real-time malware firewall, protecting user's computer in real-time.
- Detecting and cleaning binded malware, doesn't hurt normal file and clean the malware.
- Detecting and cleaning no process malware, some malware don't have a EXE file, they are only some DLL files and running as some threads in other process, ATE can detect and clean this type of malware even it's running.
- Free tools. View the information of Tcp/Ip states and processes informations.

FEATURES
- Disk and memory scan supported.
- Real-time malware firewall.
- Compressed files (RAR ZIP CAB) scan supported.
- Backup module: Backup trojan files before killing.
- Network Manager. View the tcp/udp states and the processes they belonged to. User can disconnect any tcp connection and stop the opposite process.
- Process manager. View the processes and its DLL modules' information. User can terminate any process and unload any DLL module.
- Internet Explorer and registry repair utility.
- Updating online supported, and auto check updates when ATE starts.
- Real-time registry monitor utility.

AntiVirus Utilities

2009-11-29T02:57:00.000-08:00

Portable Antivirus, Antispywares & Other Security Tools

Content Filters

Keyloggers

Virus Removal Tools

Serials & Keys For AntiVirus Programmes

Offline Updates

Tips, Trics & Tutorials

2009-11-29T01:29:00.000-08:00

AntiVirus Downloads

2009-11-29T01:11:00.000-08:00

Avast! Professional Edition 5.0.252 Beta

2009-11-29T00:12:00.000-08:00

Avast! Professional Edition 5.0.252 Beta | 37.51 MB

The professional solution to great protection. Avast! Professional Edition is a collection of award winning, high-end technologies that work in perfect synergy, having one common goal: to protect your system and valuable data against computer viruses. It represents a best-in-class solution for any Windows-based workstation. Avast! rofessional Edition comes with anti-spyware, anti-rootkit and strong self-protection built-in. It is designed to protect your valuable data and programs, as well as keep itself up-to-date and has the kind of built-in features that many vendors charge for additionally, or don't include at all.

Protection against viruses

2009-11-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

A computer virus is a term applied to any program designed to damage data stored on a computer system or network. The affected data may include documents, photographs, applications or worst of all system files that are vital to the proper operation of the computer system. The virus is written by an ill-intentioned computer programmer and spread to other systems by means of e-mail, floppy disks or downloaded software.

A computer virus only affects the software of your computer, not the hardware. In a worst case scenario where a virus has taken control of your system and caused irreparable damage, you may still regain your system by formatting (deleting) the hard drive and reinstalling your OS (Operating System, such as Windows 95, Windows 98 etc.). This is a painful solution of course as you lose all of your data! There are better solutions to prevent this from happening, as I will discuss here. Firstly here is a more detailed description of the main types of viruses:

Trojan horses

The 'Trojan Horse' is a very apt name for a particularly nasty type of virus. Although technically not a virus, a Trojan Horse is in many ways a more important treat to be aware off. A Trojan Horse must be installed on your computer to become effective. This may be achieved by someone having physical access to your computer, e.g. in an office, or in the more common way by you downloading and installing a seemingly harmless pieces of software. Like the soldiers hidden within the fabled wooden horse, the Trojan Horse has the ability to attach itself to another programme then install itself onto your machine covertly when you install the programme it resides within.

Many Trojan Horses are 'key-logger' programmes that record every key press on your keyboard and store them in a log file. This log file is then e-mail to the person who sent the Trojan Horse to you in a convert way every time you access the Internet. Everything you type; e-mails, letters, credit card numbers, passwords, phone numbers etc. are all logged and received by the hacker, your privacy is completely compromised. Some more advanced key-loggers or password sniffers also keep account of all of the web sites that you have visited and when.

Worms

Worms have the ability to replicate themselves, and generally do not require human interactivity to do so. They may be designed to e-mail themselves to other computers. Worms copy themselves from computer to computer rather than file to file like most viruses, and because they require no human help to do so, they can spread much more rapidly through a system than a normal virus.

A Worm may arrive in an unsolicited e-mail in an attachment that tempts you to open it, once you do the worm spreads to your computer. E-mail Worms that have the ability to replicate and e-mail themselves to many people simultaneously have resulted in the crashing of e-mail severs in the past due to the excessive strain of all the traffic!

Zombies

Zombies may remain dormant on your computer system for an extended period of time. They are normally programmes used by hackers in a coordinated attack on a system, whereby the hacker triggers the Zombie to aid his/her attack on a system or network. Zombies by themselves normally cause no damage, but their presence on your computer is of course unwelcome. Like many other kinds of viruses, they are normally received by e-mail.

General prevention methods

The number one rule is to always be aware of unsolicited e-mails, especially ones of an 'unsavoury' nature such as pornography related e-mails. Any executable .EXE files should not be opened unless you trust the sources, e.g. you got it from your mother! Otherwise, be very vigilant.

Another source of viruses is that of downloaded programmes that promise to entertain or be useful. Always be wary of what software you install, and check the company's credentials. Downloaded 'Warez' (illegal pirated software) is another source, so be very careful of this.

Backup all important data and applications onto floppies, zip disks or CD ROMs. If the worst does happen, at least all of your hard work will not be lost with the deletion of your hard drive.

Anti-virus software

There is only of type of computer user that does not require anti-virus software to be installed: those that have NO Internet connection, do not share floppy disks or zip disks with anyone, and if they live in a remote log cabin that might help also. For the rest of us, you really should go out straight away and buy some decent software. They are many brands available at good prices, so I will avoid mentioning particular brand names. All provide similar functions at various levels of success.

Anti-virus software resides in the active memory of your computer, and takes control of it to alert you to an active virus present on your machine. If the software cannot repair the infected file, it will quarantine this file or give you the option of safely deleting the file.

Anti-virus software may also be used to scan your hard drive, floppy disks, zip disks or CD ROMs. It may also be used to scan attachment files to e-mails. The important thing to remember is that new viruses are being discovered daily, so if you have anti-virus software installed then make sure that you keep it's library of known viruses up-to-date, otherwise you will have no protection against the latest batch.

Personal Firewall

Firewall technology is nothing new; it has been present on most Internet and LAN servers for many years. What is new is that firewall technology is now available on a smaller scale for the single user with one computer connected to the Internet. While not as immediately important as anti-virus software, if you are serious about your security and protecting your privacy online, you might consider buying a firewall.

Firewall software acts as a secure barrier between your computer and the outside world. It monitors all traffic to and from your computer, and decides whether or not this is normal Internet activity or an unauthorised security risk. To the hacker, firewall gives the impression of your computer not being there, or at very least being difficult to locate. Furthermore firewall provides additional protection against Trojan Horses as it will block the unauthorised e-mailing of the key-log file to it's intended recipient, and alert you of the Trojan Horse's attempt to do so.

Like anti-virus software, there are many brands of firewall software on the market. Many companies now offer anti-virus and firewall technologies bundled together at a reduced price, which generally prove to be excellent value for piece of mind.

Conclusion

The likelihood of being the victim of a virus increases with the level of your web presence. If you browse the Net only occasionally, never download software and do not open attachments, you run a very small chance of being affected. If you have a web site (or several!), many e-mail accounts and receive many unsolicited e-mails per week, you need to be more careful about your web security than the average person.

Attack from viruses is not the only thing you need to worry about on the Net, you may also fall victim to hackers or fraudsters. Internet crime is now a genuine reality and no individual or business on the Net can be complacent about this. If you following the above advice on viruses you should have no virus-related problems, I intend to write on other Internet related personal security issues at a latter date.

Guidelines For Computer Virus Prevention

2009-11-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

¡§Prevention is better than Cure¡¨. We would like to emphasize that the protection against virus and worm attacks before it actually hits you is a better measure than recovery after you are infected. Please follow the guidelines below.

1. Install protection tools

Install anti-virus software to prevent your machine from virus attack.

2. Maintain your protection tool

Keep your virus signature (also called virus definition file) updated daily before the start of the office hour. We recommend automating the update process.

3. Periodic virus scanning

Schedule at least a weekly scan of your harddisk to check for viruses. The scheduled scan could be done in non-peak hours, such as during the lunch-break or after office hour.
Turn on ¡§Scan ALL files¡¨ option in your anti-virus software. Do not just scan program files. Many current virus and worms are distributed via other forms like .EML, .VBS and .SHS.

4. Limit the permission of access to user your computer

Do not allow other people to use your computer unless really necessary. These people might introduce malicious software and virus to your machine. In case you really need to allow third party accessing your computer, limit their access privilege to restricted folders and drives.
Avoid sharing out folders. If there is a valid reason to do so, share the folder with user name and password settings. The setting can restrict an infected machine from implanting virus/worm on that share folder.

5. Uninstall /disable unnecessary software

If your are using Windows 2000 Professional or Server versions and if you do not need the web service (IIS) on your machine, uninstall/disable it. Many current worms try to exploit vulnerabilities on IIS.
This principle also applies to other applications like SQL server, DNS server, etc.

6. Handle email attachment carefully

Do not open e-mail attachments from unexpected sources. Some viruses / worms disguise itself as season's greetings / celebrations. Do not execute any attachment unless you are sure what it does.
Use MS Office Viewer (Word / Excel / Powerpoint) to read office documents attached to emails. These viewers do not run the macro scripts embedded in the documents and can therefore avoid macro viruses. They are available for download at the Microsoft web site.

7. Check external files before use

Check floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs and files downloaded from the Internet (especially those from unknown origin) with anti-virus software before use.

8. Patch your system and applications in a timely manner

Patch the commonly used software, including the operation system, browser and office application.
Monitor the latest patch information, e.g. turning on the Windows Update feature or subscribe to information security news.

9. Centrally managed your corporate anti-virus software

When managing the anti-virus software of a corporation, turn on the ¡§central management option¡¨ of your anti-virus solution. The option allows you to manage and monitor virus signature update, virus-scanning schedules, scanning reports and infection status of all machines in a central location.

10. Screen all transport media of virus/worm

The email system is not the only transport medium of virus/worm. Consider screening mechanisms in other transport media like web browsing and FTP access as well to block virus/worm.

11. Guard your network against virus/worm spreading by external parties

Restrict external parties, e.g. guests and contractors, from tapping into your network before you have approved their machines are clean.

12. Prepare for the recovery of system and data

Create one or more Emergency Recovery Diskette/CD-ROM and put in a safe place. This is a diskette/CD that helps to start your system. Create also the Rescue Diskette of your anti-virus software. The rescue diskette helps you to delete any virus in your system during recovery.
Backup your data regularly to another media (e.g. tape or server) other than your local harddisk. Data can be recovered even if your machine is totally crashed.

13. Keep yourself informed of virus information and alerts

Subscribe to information security and virus news, e.g. HKCERT and your corporate anti-virus software provider mailing group.

14. Establish incident response capabilities

Develop reporting, response and recovery procedure to handle security incidents that include virus infection. Define the responsibilities of users and response/recovery personnel.

15. Learn about hoaxes

Do not send hoaxes to others. Hoaxes often spread fake alarms. They usually come in an email in a chain letter fashion describing some highly unlikely type of virus. A hoax usually has no reference to a trustworthy third party who can validate the claim of the message.

16. Do not use illegal software

Using illegal software is very dangerous. It may contain virus, worm or trojan. You may infect your own system by installing them on your machine.

17. Other Protection Procedure

Make sure your server and PC does not boot from floppy diskette drive or CDROM drive. Change the BIOS setting to boot from the local hard disk only. This is an effective measure against boot sector viruses.
Make sure your Windows Explorer show all file extensions. Go to ¡§Tools à Folder Options à View¡¨ and deselect ¡§Hide file extensions for known file types.¡¨
Configure your firewall to restrict outgoing traffic. The outbound filter can effectively stop most of the trojans from making outbound connections to leak confidential information. Firewall filtering for incoming traffic only is not safe enough.

Destructive And Popular Email Viruses

2009-11-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

What Are Email Viruses?
Email viruses are viruses which can infect your computer simply through the reading or in some cases even the previewing of email messages. Email viruses work by spreading around through email messages, and they usually replicate
themselves by automatically mailing themselves to dozens of people in the victim's email address book. There are several other different types of computer viruses, including that of computer viruses through email, however email viruses are separate from all of these other viruses in several particular ways. For instance, when comparing email viruses to that of worms, the differences are remarkable and incredibly significant.

Worms are pieces of software that use that of computer networks and security holes to replicate themselves, and they work because after the worm has replicated itself, a copy of it will then scan the network for any another machine that has a security hole, and if it finds one, it will then copy itself to this new mac hine, and will then start replicating from there as well.

How To Prevent Email Viruses
There are many steps that you can take if you are looking to stop email viruses, and you can obviously never be absolutely sure that any of these methods will work. Taking the proper precautionary steps is essential to protecting and securing your computer and your privacy. The best way to stop email viruses or to go about avoiding email viruses altogether would be to use the proper safety measures whenever you receive an email, especially if you weren't expecting it. Typically, if you receive an email from someone - even if you know the person- and you were not expecting it, you should simply delete it, especially if there is an attachment that came with the email itself. Never open the attachment to see what it is, for even if you know the person who sent the email, their computer may be infected with a virus and they may not even realize it, and so there is no point in taking that risk if you don't have to.

Email computer viruses are incredibly popular, including hoaxes email viruses, many of which have been rather notorious in their own time. Creating email viruses is a dangerous and illegal crime. It is then quite obviously that they send fake email viruses. There are in fact an incredible amount of hoax virus warnings that are presently circulating around through email.
In order to determine whether or not a virus that you hear is a hoax, you can check out the Computer Incident Advisory Capability Site, which is a website that is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, and which is used to truthfully tell you whether or not a particular virus threat is a hoax or not. A good way to prevent any of this from happening to you is by installing the most recent and best quality antivirus software on your computer.

You should also learn how to understand the nature of an attachment, as any executable type of attachment has the potential to be infected. The best idea here is to make sure that you have file extension viewing enabled. This is especially if you are using client software like MS Outlook to download the mail to your PC. Also, you will want to patch your system. In fact it should be known that Microsoft routinely releases approximate ly 10 security patches in a single year, and they also offer a Windows update site, which is able to automatically scan your system and provide a list of any recommended updates that are available for your computer system. Antivirus software is an essential factor involved to keep your computer safe from viruses and hackers. Any properly configured antivirus program will be able to intercept and deactivate known email viruses which are contained in the emails you receive. However, even with the widespread use of antivirus software, there still is an incredible number of computer users who are frequently infected with viruses of sorts, which begs the question of how this could be.

Basically, regardless of how quickly antivirus vendors work to cre ate new and more technologically advanced software, the new threats traveling via email are created my thousand virus writers with programs to do it faster these are much faster than these vendors. This is why no matter how fast or hard these antivirus v endors work, they will truly never be able to keep up with the ever increasing and constantly advancing virus threats. If you do get a virus from an infected file, there are several things that you should remember to do including: inform the person that you originally got the infected file from, inform all the people who have access to the file on the network, and as well, remember to inform anyone that you may have happened to email the infected file to; this will stop the cycle rather than having the virus continue to spread.

Protect Your Information From Viruses

2009-11-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

The term computer virus can refer to different things, as there are separate types of computer viruses. Most of them must be taken into consideration with utmost seriousness. The most common types are viruses, email viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.
A virus is a piece of software that connects and attaches itself to certain programs and then uses this initiative to reproduce itself through computer system. Email viruses are those viruses which move around via email messages and who usually replicates by automatically mailing themselves to as many people as possible through the use of email messaging. Worms on the other hand, are small pieces of software, but these types of viruses work by computer networks and security holes to replicate themselves. Finally Trojan horses are those viruses which are computer programs, and which pretend to be one thing and then once you execute it you see that it is different and it can begin to attack and infect your compu ter system.

What Is Spyware And How Does It Help To Protect Your Privacy?
Spyware is a malicious software which is designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation.. Basically it is a program that is able to watch what users are doing with their computers and can then send that information through Internet., Spyware consists of lots of computer programs that are able to attach themselves to your operating system in nefarious ways, and which can destroy the power of your computer's processing system.

Recent studies have shown that more than two-thirds of all personal computers are infected with some form of Spyware and that many times people will mistake Spyware for a computer virus of some sort. This can be a serious problem because the computer user may go about it the wrong way and enact the wrong methods to fight the problem. Therefore, it is essential to learn about the different types of computer viruses including Spyware, so that you will know a lot in the entire matter and as well as be able to determine whether the computer problem you are experiencing is a bug or virus or Spyware.

How To Prevent Spyware
There are many steps that you can take to prevent Spyware from attaching itself to your computer, and this should result in seriou s computer virus prevention at any cost. Even if the problem is not solved partially there is no big difference as computer viruses can multiply like human beings. You must learn how to prevent computer virus, as learning how to prevent computer viruses will be essential in the end. As previously discussed, you must also know many issues [pertaining to virus prevention, computer viruses prevention, anti virus guard, and free anti virus protection.
However this is only a generic classification and it should not be taken intotality.. The most common virus prevention with regards to Spyware is anti-Spyware programs, which are designed specifically to protect your computer from any Spyware that might have been attached to it. There are two basic ways that this anti-Spyware helps as far as computer virus prevention on combating Spyware is concerned. Real-time protection prevents the entire installation of Spyware, and as well as ensures the detection and removal of Spyware that is already present.

This form of computer virus prevention is highly effective and produces fantastic results, and generally people find that the detection and removal types. AntiSpyware software are the best option, as they are considered to be simpler. However there are also fake anti-Spyware programs, of which you should be cautious. Some of the known offenders are: Malware Wipe, Pest Trap, SpyAxe, AntiVirus Gold, Spyware Strike, SpyFalcon, WorldAntiSpy, WinFixer, SpyTrooper, Spy Sheriff, SpyBan, SpyWiper, PAL Spyware Stormer, PSGuard, AlfaCleaner. Other methods that are used to deter Spyware includes changing your web browser from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox or Opera, as the latter two options are not targeted nearly as much as Internet Explorer because users on these two browsers are less vulnerable to Spyware. Many Internet Service Providers have also improved. They have taken a particularly different approach for combating Spyware, such as using their network firewalls and web proxies to block acce ss to certain web sites which are commonly known to install Spyware.

If you use Windows XP one method is useful for protecting against Spyware, and that is to make sure that all your Windows updates are kept updated frequently, as there are constantly new and improved Window programs and accessories that you must installl if you want your computer system to have the highest standard of security and protection possible.

Remove a Trojan Virus Safely From Your Computer Today!

2009-11-28T11:47:00.001-08:00

The first thing that you need to do upon finding out that your computer has a Trojan horse on it, is to remove the Trojan virus. If you have never heard the term Trojan horse used before when it comes to your computer you need to understand what this virus can do to your computer.
A Trojan virus is considered to be a form of malicious software. This particular software will affect the way your computer performs. The virus also leaves your system open so hackers can come in and seize your information.
The virus attaches itself to everything on your computer. It will cause programs that your computer needs in order to function properly to cease working entirely.
Trojan viruses completely delete important files that your computer needs in order to operate, so if you ever run across one of these viruses the first thing that you are going to want to do is get rid of it before it wreaks havoc on your system that cannot be rectified.
One way to try to cease the virus from getting on your computer is to install the proper antivirus software for it. This software has the ability to stop the virus from entering into your computers main frame where it will go in and make your computer inoperable.
Making sure that you have the proper internet security tools set up on your computer is something that you must adhere to as well. The internet, is used by millions of people, however it only takes a hacker seeing one network is unsecured to be able to hack into it and steal everything that your computer has and then cause it to com bust.
You need to ensure that if you are going to remove Trojan horses that your antivirus software is consistently updated. The sad thing is there are always new versions of the virus being released, so you want to ensure that your software always has the correct version downloaded onto your computers main frame.
Upon installing the proper internet security tools and antivirus software on your computer you can then safely remove Trojan horses from your system. Normally the virus will be put into a vault or place of quarantine so it cannot get released., You simply go into the vault and completely delete it out of your system.

Computer viruses: description, prevention, and recovery

2009-11-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

What is a computer virus?

A computer virus is a small software program that spreads from one computer to another computer and that interferes with computer operation. A computer virus may corrupt or delete data on a computer, use an e-mail program to spread the virus to other computers, or even delete everything on the hard disk.

Computer viruses are most easily spread by attachments in e-mail messages or by instant messaging messages. Therefore, you must never open an e-mail attachment unless you know who sent the message or unless you are expecting the e-mail attachment. Computer viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files. Computer viruses also spread by using downloads on the Internet. Computer viruses can be hidden in pirated software or in other files or programs that you may download.

Symptoms of a computer virus

If you suspect or confirm that your computer is infected with a computer virus, obtain the current antivirus software. The following are some primary indicators that a computer may be infected:

The computer runs slower than usual.
The computer stops responding, or it locks up frequently.
The computer crashes, and then it restarts every few minutes.
The computer restarts on its own. Additionally, the computer does not run as usual.
Applications on the computer do not work correctly.
Disks or disk drives are inaccessible.
You cannot print items correctly.
You see unusual error messages.
You see distorted menus and dialog boxes.
There is a double extension on an attachment that you recently opened, such as a .jpg, .vbs, .gif, or .exe. extension.
An antivirus program is disabled for no reason. Additionally, the antivirus program cannot be restarted.
An antivirus program cannot be installed on the computer, or the antivirus program will not run.
New icons appear on the desktop that you did not put there, or the icons are not associated with any recently installed programs.
Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers unexpectedly.
A program disappears from the computer even though you did not intentionally remove the program.

Note These are common signs of infection. However, these signs may also be caused by hardware or software problems that have nothing to do with a computer virus. Unless you run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, and then you install industry-standard, up-to-date antivirus software on your computer, you cannot be certain whether a computer is infected with a computer virus or not.

Symptoms of worms and trojan horse viruses in e-mail messages

When a computer virus infects e-mail messages or infects other files on a computer, you may notice the following symptoms:

The infected file may make copies of itself. This behavior may use up all the free space on the hard disk.
A copy of the infected file may be sent to all the addresses in an e-mail address list.
The computer virus may reformat the hard disk. This behavior will delete files and programs.
The computer virus may install hidden programs, such as pirated software. This pirated software may then be distributed and sold from the computer.
The computer virus may reduce security. This could enable intruders to remotely access the computer or the network.
You receive an e-mail message that has a strange attachment. When you open the attachment, dialog boxes appear, or a sudden degradation in system performance occurs.
Someone tells you that they have recently received e-mail messages from you that contained attached files that you did not send. The files that are attached to the e-mail messages have extensions such as .exe, .bat, .scr, and .vbs extensions.

Symptoms that may be the result of ordinary Windows functions

A computer virus infection may cause the following problems:

Windows does not start even though you have not made any system changes or even though you have not installed or removed any programs.
There is frequent modem activity. If you have an external modem, you may notice the lights blinking frequently when the modem is not being used. You may be unknowingly supplying pirated software.
Windows does not start because certain important system files are missing. Additionally, you receive an error message that lists the missing files.
The computer sometimes starts as expected. However, at other times, the computer stops responding before the desktop icons and the taskbar appear.
The computer runs very slowly. Additionally, the computer takes longer than expected to start.
You receive out-of-memory error messages even though the computer has sufficient RAM.
New programs are installed incorrectly.
Windows spontaneously restarts unexpectedly.
Programs that used to run stop responding frequently. Even if you remove and reinstall the programs, the issue continues to occur.
A disk utility such as Scandisk reports multiple serious disk errors.
A partition disappears.
The computer always stops responding when you try to use Microsoft Office products.
You cannot start Windows Task Manager.
Antivirus software indicates that a computer virus is present.

Note These problems may also occur because of ordinary Windows functions or problems in Windows that are not caused by a computer virus.

How to remove a computer virus

Even for an expert, removing a computer virus can be a difficult task without the help of computer virus removal tools. Some computer viruses and other unwanted software, such as spyware, even reinstall themselves after the viruses have been detected and removed. Fortunately, by updating the computer and by using antivirus tools, you can help permanently remove unwanted software.

To remove a computer virus, follow these steps:

Install the latest updates from Microsoft Update on the computer.
Update the antivirus software on the computer. Then, perform a thorough scan of the computer by using the antivirus software.
Download, install, and then run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool to remove existing viruses on the computer. To download the Malicious Software Removal Tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx)

For more information about how to remove a computer virus, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/remove.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/remove.mspx)

How to protect your computer against viruses

To protect your computer against viruses, follow these steps:

On the computer, turn on the firewall.
Keep the computer operating system up-to-date.
Use updated antivirus software on the computer.
Use updated antispyware software on the computer.

For more information about how to protect a computer against viruses, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/default.mspx)

Web safety

2009-11-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Web, email, chat, password and kids safety
.

Reports show that 74% of all e-mail is spam, and that one in 137.5 e-mails contain a malware of some sort, and that one in 200 e-mails is a phishing attempt.
Viruses are most easily spread by attachments in e-mail or instant messages. Phishing e-mails impersonate Banks, PayPal, eBay and Retailers.

If your e-mail application allows it, disable images in your e-mail. The primary reasons behind image blocking features are to prevent spammers from knowing if users open their messages.
Never open a Chat or e-mail attachment without virus scanning it first!

Don’t open any attachment unless you know whom it’s from and you were expecting it.
Never unsubscribe from spam e-mail as this just validates your e-mail address to the spammer. Instead just delete it.
If you receive a chat or e-mail message with an attachment from someone you don’t know, delete it immediately.
Use antivirus software that scans attachments as you open them and keep it updated.
Use an e-mail program with spam filtering built-in.

Never respond to request for personal information through an embedded link in e-mail or through chatting.

Keep your chat software up to date.
Never send personal information through an instant message.
When you’re asked to enter or sign up for a chat nickname, choose a name that doesn’t give away your personal information.
Don’t open attachments or click on Web links sent by someone you don’t know

Phishing scams typically masquerade as e-mails from legitimate companies such as a financial institutions and contain links back to sites that look real. The reality, though, is these sites and e-mails are all fake and are
simply being used to try and steal your information so that they can attempt an identity theft with your information.
Spam mail is basically unwanted and unsolicited e-mail. There are companies whose entire business model is to send out unsolicited e-mail and flood your inbox with trash. People have and still do loose their entire life savings to spammers.
Keyloggers can be installed by opening attachments in e-mail or in chat sessions.
Chat rooms and social networking websites are virtual magnets for harvesting software.
One address posted in a chat room received spam mail nine minutes after it was posted.
Spambots constantly scour websites and chat rooms looking for email addresses to
add to their lists. It’s not that they might lift the address, it’s that they will lift the address.
CHATDANGER is a site all about the potential dangers on interactive services online like chat, IM, online games, email and mobiles.

Pop-ups and URL redirection
Never click on pop-ups ads! Many of these actually lead to some form of malware including virus, trojans, adware, spyware and browser hijackers.

URL redirection is the first sign that your PC may be infected.
Be very suspicious if you click a link and end up somewhere you didn’t intend to be or start seeing pop-ups for porn and security software.
You might be left with an adware toolbar installed into your browser as well as some pesky pop-up advertising for rogue security software.
Avoid clicking on pop-ups even to close them. Instead, close pop-ups from the system tray with a right mouse click and choose Close.
Increase your browser security settings by using the Pop-up blocker.

Basic Anti-Virus Tips

2009-11-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

Tips for Virus Detection and Prevention

Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown or suspicious sender or any unknown files found on the Internet.

Do not download any files from strangers. Any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. If the subject line is questionable or unexpected confirm that your friend really sent an attachment. If it looks like spam it probably is and should be deleted without being opened.

Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any to them. These types of email are considered spam. If it is unsolicited then it is intrusive. They clog up inboxes and networks and by replying or forwarding them you are only adding to the problem. Also spammers use this method to harvest new email addresses. Don’t trust you and your friends emails with a stranger any more then you would your home address or phone number.

Exercise caution. When downloading files from the Internet ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Always have your antivirus turned on and updated. This will ensure that any file being downloaded is scanned with the latest virus definitions and help keep you safe.

Update your antivirus software regularly. Ensure that your antivirus and firewall are set to use automatic updates. Out of date security tools are almost like having no security at all.

Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files at least you can replace them with your back-up copy! System files can be replaced or restored but your personal pictures and documents usually can not. You should store your backup files in a separate location. Somewhere other than on your computer like a flash drive or CD.

Update everything regularly! Check with your product vendors for updates for your operating system, web browser, and email. One example is Microsoft Security Central and another is the Secunia Software Inspector.

Follow up on your suspicions. If you find a suspicious file on you computer you scan it with multiple antivirus scanners to determine if it is a threat or not. Use one or more of the following online file scanners.

Webroot Antivirus with Antispyware v6.1.0.128

2009-11-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

Webroot Antivirus with Antispyware v6.1.0.128 | 34 MB

Webroot’s antivirus detection is powered by Sophos®, known globally as a pioneer and industry leader in the fight against viruses.This leading technology has been awarded the Virus Bulletin 100 award 39 times. No other major antivirus provider has done better!* Webroot Spy Sweeper is the industry leader in antispyware protection and the most award winning. Our technology has been proven by independent testing to find and remove 40% more spies than any other antispyware software.

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-products-antivirus.html

AVG AntiVirus Free 9.0.686a1719

2009-11-28T04:40:00.000-08:00

AVG AntiVirus Free 9.0.686a1719 | 71.24MB

With this free distribution version of the popular AVG Anti-Virus system, you will get a reliable tool for your computer protection against computer viruses.
Features:
* Automatic update functionality
* The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run
* The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail
* The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows the user to perform scheduled and manual tests
* Free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product
* AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files
* Great customer satisfaction!
Please note that any previous version of AVG Free will be un-installed automatically during the installation of the new AVG Free.

Homepage:- http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage

ZoneAlarm with Antivirus 9.1.008.000

2009-11-28T04:24:00.000-08:00

ZoneAlarm with Antivirus 9.1.008.000 | 92.91 Mb

ZoneAlarm with Antivirus Block hackers and other unknown threats, with comprehensive virus protection ZoneAlarm with Antivirus combines Zone Labs' robust firewall protection with antivirus features in an easy-to-use package. The ZoneAlarm with Antivirus award-winning firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats, while comprehensive virus protection stops worms and viruses protecting you against emerging viruses before they attack.
Here are some key features of "ZoneAlarm with Antivirus":
Anti-Virus:
· New antivirus engine stops, blocks, and removes attacks before they infect your PC.
Operating System Firewall:
· OSFirewall monitors installation, registry and file changes - spotting and stopping all suspicious behavior.
2-Way Firewall:
· Proactively protects against inbound and outbound attacks while making you invisible to hackers.
Auto-learn:
· Automatically configures security settings based on your behavior.
Additional Layers:
· Multiple layers of advanced protection for unsurpassed security.
Fast & Easy:
· New interface that delivers a simple overview, One-click "Fix It" buttons and customization controls for more advanced users.
http://www.zonealarm.com

Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 9.01.00

2009-11-28T04:09:00.000-08:00

Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 9.01.00

The new Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 is the easiEST-to-use and most intuitive protection for your computer. Just install it and forget about viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers, online fraud and identity theft. Chat, share photos and videos, bank and buy online, read your favorite blogs or simply surf the Web, with complete peace of mind. And thanks to the improved Collective Intelligence technology, the solution is now much faster than previous versions.You will also have at your disposal Tech Support 24h-365d, 24h-SOS service and the daily updates that ensure you are protected against all new threats that appear around the world. Its ease-of-use, simplicity and offer a Maximum protection with minimum Impact on your PC. New version includes Panda

USB Vaccine tool.

Here are some key features of “Panda Antivirus Pro”:
· Protection against spyware. Protects your privacy by preventing spyware from being installed on your computer. The anti-spyware protection prevents this type of software from compiling data about your Internet habits and preferences.
· Protection against unknown threats. Thanks to the revolutionary TruPrevent Technologies now, more than ever, you will be protected against malware at all times.
· Protection against all types of malware. Not only are you protected against viruses. Now you have integrated protection capable of combating all types of malicious software: hacking tools, jokes, malicious cookies, viruses, etc.
· Firewall. Neutralizes network viruses and prevents possible intrusions or attacks by hackers trying to enter your computer through the Internet.
· Protection against vulnerabilities. Protects you against security holes in certain applications that could make your computer easy prey to all types of malicious software and hackers. Now you can fix vulnerabilities detected in your computer, giving you even greater security.
· Services. Enjoy the wide range of services that we offer. Now you have a whole team of IT security experts to help you resolve any queries that could arise. In addition, on our Web page, you can access the latest versions of our products and all the information you need.

FEATURES & BENEFITS:

+ Includes:

Anti-Virus
Anti-Spyware
Anti-Phishing
Anti-Rootkit
Firewall
Identity Protect
Technical support service and automatic upgrades

Requirements:
· Processor: Pentium 300 MHz or faster.
· RAM: 128 MB without TruPrevent, 512 MB with TruPrevent (1 GB recommended).
· Hard disk: 265 MB free space.
· MS Internet Explorer 6.0
· CD-ROM drive

Panda Antivirus for Netbooks 9.01.00

2009-11-28T03:49:00.000-08:00

Panda Antivirus for Netbooks 9.01.00 | 54,73 Mb

Surf, browse, email or chat with your netbook, mini laptop and ultra portable with complete peace of mind thanks to our ultra-lightweight protection. Panda Antivirus for Netbooks is price sensitive, easy to install, extremely light on resource consumption and has been tested on the most common netbook configurations. Detection has been increased thanks to the improved Collective Intelligence and new Panda technologies. Get Panda Antivirus for Netbooks and take it for a spin to see just how useful it can be for you!

Here are some key features of "Panda Antivirus for Netbooks":

Anti-Malware Engine:

· Automatically detects and eliminates viruses, spyware, Trojans, rootkits, bots and other malwarebefore they infect your computer.

Advanced Proactive Protection:

· Technologies from Panda Security are widely recognized as the most effective against new and unknown malware.

Personal Firewall:
· Protects you against Internet-borne worms and hacker attacks.

Anti-Rootkit Technology:
· Detects and removes silently-installed rootkits used by malware or hackers to evade traditional

antivirus products.

Anti-Phishing Filter:
· Recognizes fraudulent email and protects you from scams while you shop, bank or pay bills online.

Anti-Banking Trojan Engine:
· Detects the most dangerous identity theft malware used by cyber-criminals to steal banking

credentials. Specialized heuristics and generic detection techniques ensure maximum protection for online transactions.

Requirements:

· Processor: Intel Atom, Intel Celeron M, VIA C7-M
· 128 MB RAM without TruPrevent
· 512 MB RAM with TruPrevent (1 GB recommended)
· Hard Disk: 265 MB free space
· MS Internet Explorer 6.0

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 01.00.00

2009-11-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 01.00.00

The company Panda Security has released a Panda Cloud Antivirus - the world's first free "cloud" the antivirus, which is entirely based on the principle of protection "from the clouds" in real time.
Ultralight "thin client" to help protect your computer affects the performance of a PC on average 50% lowerthan traditional anti-virus. With Panda Cloud Antivirus company Panda Security presents a new security model, which uses agent "thin client" installed locally on your computer and communicates with servers Panda.
According to the press service of the company, this principle allows to organize more effectively detect and block malicious software, compared with a locally established and based on the principle of protection signature. The scanning of malicious software, and the decision to treat the threats blocked and moved to the "cloud" (on the servers, Panda), and the "thin client" on a local PC used by today's "ultra" technology to intercept. As a result, the product Panda Cloud Antivirus enables the most effective protection against new and unknown viruses from a record low consumption of resources of a PC. Traditional computer security solutions rely on sophisticated, locally established technology, which carry out the interception of a file on several different levels (line input, a file system, performance) and test them using different techniques (anti-virus, heuristic, to prevent intrusions, behavioral analysis, etc.) . As a result, this process takes place rich use of local memory and CPU resources, which negatively affects productivity. Agent "thin client" Panda Cloud Antivirus offers a new philosophy for asynchronous crawling "in the cloud." It combines local detection technology verification "in cloud" real-time to improve the detection results, and at the same time minimally affecting productivity. This model is optimized to block malicious programs as they attempt to implement any action, doing less dangerous operations through subtle background checks. Panda Cloud Antivirus combines local and remote antivirus, antishpion, antirutkit, heuristic checking and caching nevredonosnogo ON (goodware), while using 17 MB of RAM and has 50% less impact on computer performance, as compared with the averages of the antivirus market. Using his own "cloudy" technology under the name of collective wisdom, Panda Cloud Antivirus uses the expertise of a global community of millions of users of Panda products worldwide, and automatically detects and classifies new types of malicious programs practically in real time. Each new file, which comes in the collective mind, automatically classified within 6 minutes. Collective Intellect servers automatically receive and classify more than 50 000 new designs every day. In addition, the system of collective wisdom, to have data on the malicious program from every computer, automatically and quickly disseminates this knowledge among all users worldwide.

Homepage

AVG Antivirus Professional 9.0.707

2009-11-28T03:05:00.000-08:00

AVG Antivirus Professional 9.0.707 Build 1765 | 93,51 Mb

If you use your computer every day, you need protection that’s always there, constantly keeping
you safe. With AVG Anti-Virus, you get hassle-free protection against today’s most sophisticated
threats, online and offline. AVG Anti-Virus includes our unique LinkScanner to prevent you from
accidentally visiting harmful sites.It’s faster, smarter security that won’t slow you down.
- Enjoy consistently high speed scanning performance with our NEW enhanced virus scanner
- Surf, and search with confidence, with LinkScanner checking web pages at the only time that matters – right before you click that link

Here are some key features of "AVG Antivirus Professional":

· Surfing and searching the web, social networking
LinkScanner Active Surf-Shield:
· Ensures every web page you visit is safe – even before you go there
LinkScanner Search-Shield:
· Applies safety ratings to your Google, Bing/MSN and Yahoo search results
Superior Phishing Protection:
· Checks to make sure web pages really are what they appear to be
· Emailing, chatting, and downloading
Web Shield :
· Lets you download and exchange files without risking virus infections
E-mail Scanner:
· Keeps you safe from dangerous attachments and links in your e-mail
· Whether you’re online or offline
Anti-Virus:
· Makes sure you can’t get or spread a virus, worm, or Trojan horse
Anti-Spyware:
· Prevents unauthorized information access by spyware and adware
Anti-Rootkit:
· Ensures even the toughest and most sophisticated threats are kept off your PC
Game Mode:
· Keeps you safe without interrupting your game-play
Update Manager:
· Makes sure you’re always protected against the latest threats automatically

Requirements:

· Processor: Intel Pentium 1.5 GHz
· Memory: 512 MB RAM
· Hard disk free space (for installation): 350 MB HDD

What's New in This Release:

· Core: Detection of the next modification of Virut has been added.
· Core: Fixed possible false alarm caused by improper parsing of html files.
· Core: Fixed report of broken digital signature on correctly signed files.
· Firewall: Improved AVG Firewall configuration import from version 8.5 to AVG 9.0.
· Firewall: Fixed problem with possible connection hang-ups.
· Firewall: Filtering details in AVG Firewall configuration has human readable names.
· Outlook: Fixed possible crash after clicking on a button in the AntiSpam toolbar.
· Safe Search: Improved blocking of certain types of known malicious web sites.
· Safe Search: Added support for Japanese version of Yahoo!
· Settings Manager: Fixed problem with possible freeze of Settings manager.
· Settings Manager: Fixed problem with downloading installation package through proxy.
· Settings Manager: Fixed problem with parsing cmd line with space characters in Settings manager

cmd utility.
· Settings Manager: Added option of saving Resident Shield set...

Homepage

Norton™ Antivirus 2010 v17.1.0.19

2009-11-28T02:35:00.000-08:00

Norton™ Antivirus 2010 v17.1.0.19 | 90,77 Mb

Norton AntiVirus 2010 will be the fastest and lightest malware scanner Symantec has ever delivered. The Norton AntiVirus application scans faster and uses less memory than any other antivirus product on the market. Unlike free solutions from Microsoft, Norton AntiVirus includes intrusion detection to detect malicious code hidden in web sites before it can strike.
And Norton AntiVirus’s pulse updates ensure that you are always plugged into Symantec’s global security grid and you are never more than a few minutes away from the latest update. Improved Norton Safe Web technology blocks Internet threats before they can infect your PC. So you can browse, buy and bank online with confidence. Plus, unlike other antivirus products, Norton AntiVirus 2010 provides easy-to-understand threat and performance information to help you avoid future threats and keep your PC running

Key Benefits
Stops viruses, worms, spyware, bots, and more—Keeps your system protected against all types of malicious threats.Norton Insight—Delivers innovative intelligence-driven technology for faster, fewer, shorter scans.
Rapid pulse updates every 5 to 15 minutes—provides up-to-the-minute protection.
Prevents virus-infected emails and instant messages from spreading—Feel secure while you keep in touch.
Blocks browser exploits and protects against infected Web sites
Here are some key features of "Norton AntiVirus":

Engineered for Speed:
· Scans only files and processes at risk using Norton Insight.
· NEW! Installs in under one minute on average, requires less than 8 MB of memory

Up-to-the-minute Protection:
· Delivers up-to-the-minute protection with rapid pulse updates every 5 to 15 minutes.
· IMPROVED! Provides multilayered security through the Norton Protection System.
· Prevents bots from taking control of your PC.
· Detects and automatically removes malicious threats.
· IMPROVED! Defends against Web-based attacks.
· Automatically detects and removes spyware, viruses, Trojans, bots and Internet worms.
· Recovery tool boots and repairs badly infected PCs. Delivers our most complete, deep cleaning

scan possible.
· Norton Ongoing Protection provides continuous protection updates and new product features as they become available throughout your product subscription period, helping to keep your computer protected against the latest Internet threats and risks.
· Norton Automatic Renewal Service helps to ensure that you’re protected by automatically renewing your product subscription before it expires.

Control without disruptions:
· Automatically schedules scans and updates to occur while PC is idle.
· Review the security status of every process on your PC.
· Silent mode helps ensures movies and games are never interrupted.
· Maps your wireless home network.

Requirements:

· 300 MHz or faster processor
· 256 MB of RAM (512 MB RAM required for the Recovery Tool)
· 150 MB of available hard disk space.
· Email scanning supported for POP3- and SMTP-compatible email clients.Required for all

installations:
· CD-ROM or DVD drive (if not installing via electronic download)
· Support for AntiSpam feature
· Microsoft Outlook 97 or later
· Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 or later
· Browser support for Browser Protection feature
· Microsoft Internet Explorer 32-bit 6.0 or higher
· Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher

What's New in This Release:

· New and Improved Features
· Performance Enhancements
· The 2010 products improve on the very high performance bar already set by the 2009 products.

The Beta builds will be regularly updated, with later builds improving on performance and

functionality.

· Enhanced Norton Insight
· Norton Insight is built on the Symantec Quorum backend intelligence technology first introduced in the 2009 products. In 2009 Norton Insight only quantified trustworthiness, in 2010 Norton Insight also provides information on prevalence, age, and runtime performance data.
· Download Insight
· Download Insight is a new line of defense against the introduction of untrusted applications on your system. Download Insight monitors new application or installer downloads, automatically analyzes and classifies the application using the Quorum technology, and provides you with a trust rating for the application before allowing the application or installer to execute.
· Performance Monitoring
· The system performance ...

System requirements for all versions

Microsoft® Windows® XP (32-bit) with Service Pack 2 or later4 Home/Professional/Media Center

Microsoft Windows Vista® (32-bit and 64-bit) Starter/Home Basic/Home

Premium/Business/Ultimate

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AntiVirus Reviews

2009-11-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

Review of F-Secure AntiVirus 2009

2009-11-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Installation time of 2.5 minutes (plus 1 reboot).
• Questionable Effectiveness.
• Sluggish performance (2nd-worst we tested).
• Nothing that stands out above its competition.
• Overall Rating: Below Average

F-Secure isn't a well known name to most computer users. See our F-Secure Review below to see if it's a worthy antivirus alternative...

1) Installation:

F-Secure AntiVirus 2009 installed in 2 minutes and 35 seconds plus 1 reboot - which is one of the slower antivirus installations we tested this year. F-Secure has both Automatic and Custom installation options - unfortunately the automatic installation option doesn't set up "Scheduled Scanning." This is a shame since most users won't have scheduled scanning set up which is a nice option to have enabled for added security. Another problem we had with the installation is that it tried to install Google Sidebar - we're not fans of programs, especially paid programs, trying to install bundled software for a few more dollar$ in the software publisher's pocket no doubt.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

F-Secure's user-interface is outdated and not very user-friendly. Its options are simplistic, even when using the Advanced Settings. Overall the user-interface is in need of a major update. Besides virus protection, F-Secure also protects against Spyware, Worms, Rootkits, and other Malware like most every good Antivirus program does these days. However, F-Secure Antivirus doesn't prevent attacks from Hackers like some Antivirus programs do - such as Norton Antivirus.

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

F-Secure Anti-Virus 2009 has several virus scan options - Scan Target, Scan Hard Drives, Full Computer Check, Quick Malware Scan, and Quick Rootkit Scan. A full scan of our test computer with 70 GB of used space on its hard-drive took just over 61 minutes, which was the 6th-fastest virus scanner we tested in this year - just slightly below average. A Quick Malware Scan took just over 3 minutes (187s). (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

F-Secure installs with its Scheduled Scanning disabled - which should be enabled for added protection. This may not seem like a big deal, but most users will never adjust their antivirus program's options, so this will leave them with a less-secure computer than they should have.

Updates:
Our testing showed that F-Secure updated its virus definitions on average 4.5 times per day, which was about average (#5 of 10 programs tested), but it was considerably less than Norton which updated on average 242 times per day. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

F-Secure AntiVirus was the second-worst program in our System Resource Usage Testing this year. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...

• Memory Use: F-Secure AntiVirus uses 94.8 MB of memory. Worst rated (#10) of the 10 Antivirus programs tested. Almost double as much memory use as the next worse program, plus it has a whopping 15 processes using up your computer's memory - a Resource Hog!

• Reboot Time: F-Secure added 12.9 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. 5th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: F-Secure takes 248 MB hard-drive space for installation. 8th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: F-Secure AntiVirus 2009 added 0.243s on average to launch a web browser. 9th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: F-Secure added 1.18s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 5th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. F-Secure 2009 scored a total of only 18 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested - second-worst overall! These poor results indicate that F-Secure uses up a lot of computer resources and it is very noticeable when running other applications on your computer.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the first, the On Demand Detection Test, F-Secure was rated 2 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, F-Secure performed worse - receiving only a 1-Star rating. (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild." Fsecure received the VB 100% Certification in the 4 previous tests - the only recent test they failed being in October, 2008.
• West Coast Labs' has not tested F-Secure since 2007, when it passed its last test. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

F-Secure offers its support via an online Knowledgebase (although not very extensive), Email Support, and Toll-Free Phone Support. We tested their Email support and they responded with a good answer 4.5 hours later.

Besides F-Secure's not very extensive Knowledgebase, one other draw-back of their support is that they try to forward you to their resellers if you made your purchase through one - resellers often give sub-par support. On top of all these concerns, F-Secure also doesn't offer Chat support which can be valuable in certain circumstances.

CONCLUSION:

F-Secure isn't the most well-known of Antivirus vendors, and from our testing there isn't any reason to give its antivirus software a try. F-Secure's user-interface is dated, its virus scanner barely average in terms of speed, its System Resource Usage sluggish (2nd-worst overall), and its Effectiveness average at best. Nothing about F-Secure stood out above its competition - one of the most disappointing Antivirus reviews we've done this year.

Overall Rating: Below Average

F-Secure Software Description:

Advanced Virus Protection for Your Online Life
With F-Secure Anti-Virus 2009, you can use your PC without worrying about virus infections, spyware intrusion or other malicious programs taking over your computer. F-Secure 2009 has been designed to automate the key tasks required to keep your computer and data safe from viruses. It's so easy - just install & forget it!

DeepGuard 2.0 – Protects Your Computer Against the Unknown
Fast-spreading hidden attacks designed by money-driven online criminals are a major problem on the Internet. F-Secure AntiVirus 2009 comes with DeepGuard 2.0 technology that automatically protects you against anything that might be a sign of danger in your computer. The new version also introduces instant recognition of both safe and potentially bad software which makes the technology virtually unnoticeable and more accurate than ever.

Protect your Privacy with Anti-spyware
Spyware can secretly track your surfing habits and profile your shopping preferences. It can even hijack your web browser or abuse your Internet connection by sending data to a third party. F-Secure protects your privacy by detecting and removing such software from your computer.

The Fastest Protection with Automatic Updates
Antivirus software is only as good as the capability of antivirus software manufacturer to provide a timely update for new virus outbreaks. F-Secure Anti-Virus Research Team updates virus definition databases several times a day to ensure that customers have 24-hour protection against new, fast-spreading viruses.

Protection Against Unknown Threats and Rootkits
Modern malware can break into your computer even if you have up-to-date security components installed. F-Secure DeepGuard detects and prevents any suspicious activity that might indicate a danger in your computer. Rootkits are also detected and removed.

Scans E-mail and Web Traffic
POP3, IMAP and SMTP traffic are scanned for viruses so that you do not have to worry about infected e-mails. Web Traffic Scanning protects you against web sites that can infect your computer even if you do not download anything from them.

Easy to Install and Use
F-Secure AntiVirus 2009 is extremely easy to install and use. As the software is highly automated, you do not have to understand the complexities of PC security.

The Fastest Protection Against Virus Outbreaks
Immediate reaction times and fast removal during new and emerging threats ensured by F-Secure Research Team working 24 hours a day.

Security News
Get information about new viruses and their behavior immediately, as well as the instructions on how to avoid the infection and a confirmation whether your computer is already protected against the latest threat.

Review of AVG AntiVirus Version 8.5

2009-11-27T09:38:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Installation time of 1 minute and 50 seconds.
• Virus scanner significantly slowed down the computer.
• System Resource Usage was one of the worst we tested.
• Below Average detection rates of Viruses and other malware.
• Overall Rating: Average

AVG has long been one of the most popular free Antivirus programs, however, how does their paid version compare to the competition? See our AVG Review below to see if the paid version is indeed worth paying for...

1) Installation:

AVG AntiVirus 8.5 installed in 1 minute and 50 seconds, and required no reboots after installation. The AVG installation process was very smooth and allowed you to customize the settings at the end of the install process - asking if you want to install the optional AVG Toolbar, as well as asking for your Daily Scan preferences. Overall a very quick and thorough installation that also guides users through important customization options (which not all Antivirus programs do).

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

AVG has a nicely laid out user-interface. All AVG's components and their statuses are well laid out when you launch the user-interface. However, the usability is a little suspect - clicking one of the components like "Anti-Rootkit" gives a description, but one has to double-click to be able to adjust the Anti-Rootkit settings. This isn't clear from the way AVG presents the display screen.

AVG Version 8+ also comes with 3 new components: Web Shield, Link Scanner and AVG Toolbar. These 3 components can be disabled and probably should as they can significantly slow down web browsing - although they do provide another layer of protection, but the cost in performance may be too high. AVG also provides the usual protection against Spyware, Rootkits, Email viruses, as well as several other options.

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

AVG gives its users both the options to Scan the whole computer or Scan specific files or folders. Unfortunately AVG doesn't have a Quick Scan option like many other Antivirus programs - scanning the most vulnerable areas of your computer quickly. A full scan of our test computer with 70 GB of used space on its hard-drive took just over 81 minutes, this was one of the slowest scanning engines we tested this year. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

AVG's Scheduled Scans can be configured during installation or from the program options. When the scheduled scanner turns on it eats up system resources making it hard to use your computer while the scanner is running - a very obtrusive scanner indeed.

Updates:
Our testing showed that AVG updated its virus definition database on average 2.6 times per day. This is considerably less than industry leader Norton which updates its antivirus software on average 242 times per day. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

AVG AntiVirus may be a popular free antivirus program, but even its paid version, which should be better than its free version, failed our System Resource Usage testing - finishing 3rd worst. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...

• Memory Use: AVG Antivirus uses 14.7 MB of memory. 4th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: AVG added 20.8 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. Worst rated (#10) of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: AVG takes 189 MB hard-drive space for installation. 6th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: AVG Antivirus Version 8.5 added 0.212s on average to launch a web browser. 8th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: AVG added 1.59s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 9th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. AVG Version 8.5 scored a total of 18 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested - making it one of the worst programs we tested this year (#8 overall out of 10 programs). Disappointing to say the least!

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the first, the On Demand Detection Test, AVG was rated 1 out of 3 Stars - the worst rating given. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, AVG again only received a 1-Star rating. (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

AVG has several support options available. It has in-program help files, an extensive online FAQ section, and free Email support. We tested their Email support and were very impressed with a 4 minute response time - plus the response wasn't merely a canned response but was very helpful and on topic. AVG support also uses a file (called "runner.avgdx") which helps diagnose the software problem more easily. Our major problem with AVG support is that it doesn't have any free Phone support (only paid Phone support was available), nor did it have any Chat support which can be useful in certain circumstances.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, AVG failed to impress in every category we tested. AVG had suspect new add-ons (Web Shield, Link Scanner, & Toolbar) which significantly slowed down web browsing. Also, AVG has one of the slower virus-scanning engines we tested, and when running it was very obtrusive and slowed the computer down noticeably.

In our System Resource Testing, AVG was one of the worst we tested this year (#8 of 10). On top of all the above shortcomings, AVG's Effectiveness in detecting Viruses and other malware was below average. Fittingly, we have awarded AVG an 'AVE' rating - average at best! We suggest reading our other Antivirus Reviews for a better alternative.

Overall Rating: Average

AVG Software Description:

Integrated protection:
• Anti-Virus: protection against viruses, worms and trojans
• Anti-Spyware: protection against spyware, adware and identity-theft
• Anti-Rootkit: protection against hidden threats (rootkits)
• Web Shield & LinkScanner: protection against malicious websites

Easy-to-use, automated protection:
Real-time protection, automatic updates, low-impact background scanning for on-line threats, and instant quarantining or removal of infected files ensures maximum protection. Every interaction between your computer and the Internet is monitored, so nothing can get onto your system without your knowledge. AVG scans in real time:
• All files including documents, pictures and applications
• E-mails (all major email clients supported)
• Instant messaging and P2P communications
• File downloads and online transactions such as shopping and banking
• Search results and any other links you click on

Internet use with peace of mind:
The new web shield checks every web page at the moment you click on the link to ensure you’re not hit by a stealthy drive-by download or any other exploits. All links on search results pages in Google, Yahoo, and MSN are analyzed and their current threat level is reported in real time before you click on the link and visit the site.

Review of Trend AntiVirus 2009 (Version 17.1)

2009-11-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Installation time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds.
• Failed several important Antivirus Certification tests.
• Worst System Resource Usage we tested of any Antivirus
program this year.
• Overall Rating: Average

Just a few short years ago, the 2005 version of Trend Micro Antivirus was one of the top antivirus programs in the industry - with awards from CNET and other technology websites. However, 4 years later Trend Micro doesn't appear to be at the top of the antivirus industry any longer. See our Trend Micro Review below to see how it currently compares to the competition...

1) Installation:

Trend Micro AntiVirus 2009 installed in 2 minutes and 24 seconds and the computer was immediately ready for use - requiring no reboots. The installation process was smooth and easy, however it would have been nice to see some customization of options built into the install process since users rarely alter options after installation. Overall, a good installation process.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

From a quick look at Trend Micro's software we are unable to find any glaring flaws in its user interface, however it does seem very similar to the same program of 2-3 years ago. Nonetheless, Trend Micro is a very easy to use program and gives its users an excellent set of options for control over the program (although there are no cutting edge features to speak of). Trend Micro Antivirus also protects against Spyware and Rootkits, as well as having Email scanning and Proactive intrusion blocking capabilities.

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

Trend Micro offers 3 scanning alternatives - Quick Scan, Full System Scan, and Custom Scan. A full scan of our test computer with 70 GB of used space on its hard-drive took just under 65 minutes, this was the 4th slowest virus scanner we tested this year. The Quick Scan of our test computer took just under 3.5 minutes - giving users a nice quick check of their system's security. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

There have also been several reports on various forums (including Trend's own forum and support website) that the program can crash or stall when the virus scanner starts up. We were unable to reproduce this issue, however these negative reports should be given some consideration.

Updates:
Our testing showed that Trend Micro updated its virus definition database on average only 2.2 times per day - much less than Norton Antivirus, which updates its software on average 242 times per day. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

Trend Micro AntiVirus was the worst program in our System Resource Usage Testing this year. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...

• Memory Use: Trend Micro AntiVirus uses 17.9 MB of memory. 5th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: Trend Micro added 10.1 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. 3rd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: Trend Micro takes 435 MB hard-drive space for installation. Worst rated (#10) of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: TrendMicro AntiVirus 2009 added 0.407s on average to launch a web browser. Again, Trend is the Worst rated (#10) of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: Trend Micro added 1.97s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. Yet again, Worst rated (#10) of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. Trend Micro 2009 scored a total of only 17 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested. Trend Micro 2009 was the worst Antivirus program we tested in 2009. A very poor showing by Trend.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry. However, AV Comparatives hasn't tested Trend Micro Antivirus since 2005 when it was one of the worst products and dropped from further testing. No rating by AV Comparatives due to poor previous results should be a red-flag for those considering this Antivirus program.
• ICSA Labs Certified (although it hasn't been included in testing since March/09). ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's certification is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild." Trend FAILED the last 3 tests it was part of (in 2007 and 2008), and has since been dropped from further testing.
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

Trend Micro's support is very thorough. They have an extensive online Knowledge Base, Free Email Support, Free Chat, and Free Phone Support - which not many Antivirus vendors offer anymore.

We tested Trend's email support and received an answer 80 minutes later. The email reply was prompt and answered our question very well. Our only problem with Trend's support was that on several occasions their support website often lagged out or gave an error - obviously overworked servers.

CONCLUSION:

From a quick glance, Trend Micro appears to be a good Antivirus program, but when you look at the program's all-important Performance its failures become very apparent. Its System Resource Usage was the worst we tested this year, and it failed several important Antivirus Certification tests - making one question its Effectiveness as an Antivirus program. An Antivirus program that appears quite good, yet fails in terms of Performance and Effectiveness should be a red-flag to avoid it and to instead try another Antivirus program.

Overall Rating: Average

TrendMicro Software Description:

What's New:

Prevent Unauthorized Changes
Improved security finds and stops unwanted attempts to change your operating system & other critical software.
Enhanced Software History Cleaner
Protect your privacy by getting rid of records listing Websites visited & files recently opened.
Improved Web Browser Cookie Management
Get rid of Internet browser cookies deposited on your PC.
Customizable Security Warnings
Decide exactly when you want to receive warnings about security threats.
Security Activity Report
Regular reports inform you how Trend Micro AntiVirus plus Anti-Spyware has protected you.
Fully Compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista
Install Trend Micro on computers running any version of the latest Microsoft operating system - Windows Vista.

Key Features of Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware:

Protects against current and future Viruses
An award-winning Anti-Virus engine protects against computer Viruses, Worms, Trojan horse programs, and other security threats. Automatic updates immunize you against new computer virus outbreaks for the full duration of your subscription.
Defends your personal information with Anti-Spyware technology
Powerful Anti-Spyware technology guards your personal information and privacy against spyware, rootkits, and other malicious software.
Provides real-time protection with automated computer scans
On-demand, scheduled and real-time scanning options actively protect your computer from viruses or spyware in files, incoming and outgoing mail, webmail and instant messages.
Prevents unauthorized changes
Improved security policies find and stop unwanted attempts to change your operating system and critical software.
Quarantines suspicious files
Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware isolates potential or uncleanable threats in a quarantine folder rather than deleting them immediately, allowing you to recover specific files and programs.
Cleans browser history, cookies and unnecessary files
Protect your privacy by removing records listing recently opened websites, and allows you to manage cookies and temp files deposited on your computer from websites.
Provides customizable security warnings
You can decide exactly how often you want to receive warnings about security threats.
Includes free product support
FREE phone, email, and chat support with your annual subscription.

Review of Avast Anti Virus Professional Edition 4

2009-11-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Installation time of only 39 seconds (plus 1 reboot).
• Good Performance and Effectiveness.
• Very difficult & cumbersome user-interface.
• Poor software support - including no Chat or Phone support.
• Overall Rating: Fair

1) Installation:

Avast Antivirus Professional Edition v4.8 installed in only 39 seconds plus 1 reboot. Although one of the quicker installations, it did require one reboot which increases the time significantly. Overall, it was a very straight-forward installation though.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

After examining the user-interface of Avast Antivirus Pro 4.8, it's obvious Avast tried for a futuristic user-interface that looks similar to a Car Stereo (see screenshots), but the end result was instead a very frustrating program to use. Navigation is difficult due to Avast's image-orientated display - accompanying text only appears if you hover over the options for a couple seconds. Avast does offer different program skins that you can select, but none of them are much easier to navigate. Besides Virus Protection, Avast also protects against Spyware, Rootkits, Script Blocking, and offers a Web Shield (to prevent malicious websites spreading malware) and a Network Shield (which is a lightweight firewall which prevents Internet Worms and other attacks). Avast offers a good set of features, but its user-interface isn't user-friendly!

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

Just getting Avast to start scanning is a chore with its confusing user-interface. There is nothing simple about its Simple User Interface. Once you finally figure out how to start a scan, Avast Antivirus is extremely fast - scanning our test computer with 70 GB of used hard-drive space in just 36.5 minutes. This was the fastest scanning Antivirus program we tested this year (#1 of 10 programs tested). Avast scanned our test computer over 10 minutes quicker than its nearest competitors - Kaspersky Antivirus and Norton Antivirus. Overall, Avast's virus scanner is a mix of good & bad - it has a great virus-scanning engine, but it also has a confusing user-interface. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

Updates:
Our testing showed that Avast only updated its virus definitions once per day - well behind industry leader Norton which has over 200 updates per day. Are 200+ updates necessary? Probably not, but 1 update per day is also likely not enough. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

Avast Antivirus Professional Edition tested quite good in most of the tests we performed on it. View the results of our Antivirus testing below...

• Memory Use: Avast AntiVirus uses 20.1 MB of memory. 6th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: Avast added 16.2 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. Second-worst rated (#9) of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: Avast requires 88.3 MB of hard-drive space for installation. Top-rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: Avast Antivirus Professional Edition added 0.085s on average to launch a web browser. 3rd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: Avast added only 0.80s to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 3rd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. Avast v4.8 scored a total of 33 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested - this was the 4th best program we tested in 2009.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the first, the On Demand Detection Test, Avast was rated 2 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, Avast only received a 1-Star rating - the worst rating given. (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. Avast has passed all 3 tests in 2009 so far, however in 2008 Avast failed half the tests (3 failures over 6 tests). The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

Avast offers the following support options: a Knowledgebase (although not all that extensive or "knowledgeable"), an online support Forum, as well as Email support. Unfortunately, Avast doesn't offer any type of Chat support or Phone support - not even paid phone support. We tested their Email support and it took over 14 hours to receive a reply - which is an extremely long response time considering many other Antivirus vendors response time could be measured in minutes. We've rated Avast's support Below Average due to the long response time, and since it lacks both Chat & Phone support, as well as its Knowledgebase isn't very extensive.

CONCLUSION:

Avast Antivirus Pro performs very well and is effective against Viruses and other Malware. However, Avast has a poor user-interface that is difficult to use and its software support is one of the worst we've seen. Avast does provide good Virus protection, but we have a hard time recommending it with its other drawbacks - especially its cumbersome user-interface. There are better antivirus programs for now - see our other Antivirus software reviews for alternatives.

Overall Rating: Fair

Avast Software Description:

Avast Antivirus Professional Edition 4.8 is a collection of high-end technologies that work in synergy, having one common goal: to protect your system and valuable data against computer Viruses, Spyware and Rootkits.

Key Features of Avast:

Anti-Spyware Protection
Spyware is software installed on a computer that is designed to collect information about the computer user, usually without their knowledge or consent. This can result in identity theft (ex. bank or credit card info), or loss of important business data. Spyware is often developed by organized crime rings rather than lone individuals and may be installed by a Virus.

Anti-Rootkit Protection
Rootkits are programs that install on your computer while keeping themselves and their activities hidden to remain invisible. They represent a significant security risk on both home computers and company networks and are notoriously difficult to find and remove. Rootkits themselves are normally installed by a Virus or other type of Malware and it is therefore highly recommended that computer users have up to date Antivirus/Anti-Spyware software installed and running on their computer - such as Avast Antivirus.

Resident Protection
Resident protection (the real-time protection of the computer system), is one of the most important features of an antivirus program today. Avast has a powerful resident module that is able to detect a Virus before it has any chance to infect your computer.

Script Blocker
Avast's Script Blocker watches all scripts being executed in the operating system, and scans all the scripts run as a part of a web page within your web browser.

P2P and IM Shields
Avast features a module for the protection of IM (Instant Messaging / "Chat") programs, and a module for the protection of P2P (peer-to-peer) programs. The list of supported IM and P2P programs is extensive, with more than 30 programs currently supported.

Web Shield
Web Shield is a unique feature that enables Avast to monitor and filter all HTTP traffic coming from Web sites on the Internet. Since an increasing number of Viruses and other Malware are being distributed via the World Wide Web, the need for effective countermeasures has also increased. Web Shield acts as a transparent HTTP proxy and is compatible with all major web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, FireFox, Mozilla and Opera.

Network Shield
A new resident protection module was added to avast! 4.5: the Network Shield. This module provides protection against known Internet worms/attacks. It analyzes all network traffic and scans for malicious content. It can be viewed as a lightweight firewall (or, more precisely, an IDS (Intrusion Detection System)).

Automatic Updates
Automatic updates are another key need in virus protection. Both the Virus database and the program itself can be updated automatically. The updates are incremental, with only new or missing data downloaded: thus reducing the transfer heavily.

PUSH Updates
A special feature of the Professional Edition is PUSH updates. It is a dramatic change in the philosophy of updates. Usually, every installed program checks occasionally for new version availability. PUSH updates, however, are initialized by Avast's server; they result in your computer quickly responding and performing the necessary update.

Review of McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009

2009-11-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Installation time of 2 minutes.
• Includes a Firewall and other useful system tools.
• Good Effectiveness against Viruses.
• Slow Virus Scanner, plus Updates are infrequent.
• Below average Performance - quite slow on several tests.
• Overall Rating: Fair

McAfee is one of the big names in the Antivirus industry. How does it compare to the competition? Read our McAfee Review below to find out...

1) Installation:

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 installed quickly in just under 2 minutes

(1 minute, 57 seconds). McAfee has a download manager that helps in the download & installation process that makes for a very easy install - there were no negative concerns that we had. (See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

McAfee is the only Antivirus program that we tested that includes a fully functioning Firewall in its base Antivirus program. Some Antivirus programs include a one-way Firewall, but McAfee takes this a step further including McAfee Personal Firewall with their VirusScan software. McAfee VirusScan's user-interface has both a Basic Menu and an Advanced Menu. The Basic Menu is very concise and user-friendly - giving quick access to all the important components in a well laid-out user-interface. The Advanced Menu gives users access to other features like McAfee QuickClean, Disk Defragmenter, and access to program Logs.

McAfee has many additional features not seen in most other basic Antivirus programs - which is why they probably refer to it as VirusScan "Plus". In addition to Virus Protection and a Firewall program, McAfee VirusScan also has Spyware Protection, and McAfee's own unique SiteAdvisor - which quickly rates the safety of websites before you click on them (green, yellow or red colors). Overall, an impressive set of features, although some of these extra features definitely had an impact on McAfee's Performance which was below average in our testing - see 3b) for more details.

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

McAfee VirusScan has 3 scanning options: Quick Scan, Full Scan, and Custom Scan. McAfee is one of the slowest scanning programs we tested, taking almost 84 minutes to scan our test computer's 70 GB of used hard-drive space. McAfee took about double as long to scan our test computer than the top 2 antivirus programs - Avast Antivirus and Kaspersky Antivirus. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

Updates:
McAfee updated on average only 1.2 times per day - this was the 2nd least updates per day that we tested. By Comparison, Norton Antivirus updated itself over 200 times per day. Quite a significant difference! (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 didn't fair well in our Antivirus testing - considering its one of the big names in the Antivirus industry we were expecting it to perform better than it did. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...

• Memory Use: McAfee VirusScan Plus uses 52.2 MB of memory. 9th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested (second-worst rating).

• Reboot Time: McAfee added 14.9 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. 8th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: McAfee takes 198 MB hard-drive space for installation. 7th-place rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: McAfee Virus Scan 2009 added 0.156s on average to launch a web browser. 7th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: McAfee added 0.82s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 4th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested, and McAfee's best result in our testing this year.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. McAfee 2009 scored a total of 20 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested. This gave McAfee a 7th-place rating overall - disappointing for such a major Antivirus program.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the first, the On Demand Detection Test, McAfee was rated 2 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, McAfee again received a 2-Star rating. (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. McAfee has passed the 2 most recent tests in 2009 so far, however throughout 2008 and 2009 McAfee failed 25% of the tests (2 failures over 8 tests). The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

McAfee offers Email, Chat, an Online FAQ section, a Virtual Technician, as well as paid Phone support options. McAfee's Virtual Technician is a program that diagnoses and attempts to automatically fix any problems it finds with your McAfee software. The FAQ Section is extensive and offers several Video Tutorials for common problems. McAfee's Email support took 15 hours to receive a reply - which was the longest of any Antivirus company we reviewed this year.

Our main problem with McAfee's support system is that they try to push you towards their paid support services too often - almost all Phone support is fee-based (except for billing questions), and all Virus Removal support is fee-based.

CONCLUSION:

McAfee has all the qualities of a good Antivirus program - easy to use, good set of features, and it's effective against Viruses & other Malware. The only drawback is that it's teetering on being considered slow when compared to its competition. The Virus Scanner is the 2nd-slowest we tested, and its Updates were also 2nd-slowest. Our testing also found that it was one of the worst in impacting your computer's speed - especially in our tests of Memory Use, Reboot Time, Installation Size, and Application Launch Time - which McAfee placed near the bottom of. McAfee is a good Antivirus program, but its large impact on system performance makes it a questionable pick. Norton Antivirus and NOD32 Antivirus may make better alternative Antivirus programs due to their much better performance.

Overall Rating: Fair

McAfee Software Description:

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 takes the worry and hassle out of PC protection for everyone — from experts to novices, shielding PCs from Viruses, Spyware, and includes a Firewall to protect you against hacker attacks. It also features award-winning, easy-to-use McAfee SiteAdvisor® - an online safety guide that warns you about risky web sites before you visit.

McAfee VirusScan Plus is now available with revolutionary Active Protection technology, providing immediate protection against malicious threats to your PC. A new threat can be analyzed and blocked in milliseconds, rather than waiting hours for traditional techniques. Active Protection is the best technology to keep you safe from emerging online threats.

With unmatched performance, MacAfee Virus Scan Plus runs silently in the background without slowing down your PC - now boasting faster start-up, shut-down and scan times.

McAfee’s security products use award-winning technology, are easy to install, and come with unlimited email and chat assistance. With continuous and automatic updates, McAffee ensures that you’re running the most current security to combat the ever-evolving threats on the Internet for the duration of your subscription.

An Internet connection is required to install this software and to receive automatic updates and upgrades to keep your security up-to-date. McAfee VirusScan is available for one computer license or for multiple licenses.

Review of BitDefender AntiVirus 2009

2009-11-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Installation time of 2 minutes and 15 seconds, plus one
computer restart.
• Very good feature set including Game & Laptop Modes.
• Sub-par testing for malicious software detection.
• Only average Performance in our testing.
• Overall Rating: Fair

1) Installation:

BitDefender AntiVirus 2009 installed fairly quickly in 2 minutes and 15 seconds, but it did require one system restart after installation. The installation process was not as quick as other antivirus programs, such as Norton AntiVirus 2009 which installed in under 1 minute and required no reboots, but BitDefender did install fairly quickly and was a straightforward process nonetheless.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

After installation BitDefender runs a useful configuration wizard that helps personalize the program's options for the user - a nice touch over just installing the standard "default" settings.

2) Features & Ease of Use:

BitDefender AntiVirus has both an Advanced View and Basic View for its user-interface, similar to NOD32's Advanced/Standard Modes. We find this to be a very useful feature so not to overwhelm novice computer users with "advanced" options.

The 2009 version of BitDefender is much improved over its user-interface from 2 years ago. The main menu, or "Dashboard" as BitDefender calls it, quickly lets you see at a glance any problems with your computer's protection - and allows you to correct the problem with just one click. BitDefender also boasts a two nice optional features not seen in many antivirus programs: Game Mode, and Laptop Mode. In Game Mode all alerts & pop-ups are disabled, updates aren't performed, scheduled scans are disabled, and real-time protection level uses less resources. Laptop Mode attempts to minimize BitDefender's impact on the laptop's power consumption while it's running on battery. BitDefender detects when your laptop is switched to battery power and automatically enters Laptop Mode (can be disabled and configured).

One last nice feature with BitDefender Antivirus 2009 is its Vulnerability Monitoring. BitDefender helps keep your crucial software on your computer up-to-date and alerts you when critical software needs to be updated to keep your computer secure. This is a nice touch for an antivirus program, it's about time a security program takes full responsibility for the entire security of your computer, and not just do its limited role to stop viruses and other malware!

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

BitDefender 2009 has 3 different scanning options when in Basic View: My Documents Scan, Full System Scan, and Deep System Scan. The Deep System Scan is equivalent to many other antivirus programs Full System Scan, so we used this mode to scan our test computer's 70GB of used space on its hard-drive. It took BitDefender 103 minutes to complete the virus scan, which was much slower than Norton Antivirus (which took 49 minutes), and Kaspersky Antivirus (which took 47 minutes). (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

In the Advanced View, BitDefender offers more scan options including Quick System Scan and Autologon Scan, as well as providing more antivirus & scanning options. Our main problem is that in Basic View the antivirus & scanning options are too basic (little or no customization is allowed).

Updates:
The 2009 version of BitDefender has a scheduled update every hour, which is quite good, but not the most up-to-date protection in the industry with Norton now updating every 5-15 minutes with its new Pulse Update feature. According to Virus Bulletin, BitDefender takes on average 2-4 hours to respond to new threats, this is 2nd-tier response time when compared to Avira, Kaspersky, and Norton which all respond to new virus threats in less than 2 hours time. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below to see how BitDefender compares to its competition...

• Memory Use: BitDefender Antivirus uses only 7.6 MB of memory. 2nd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: BitDefender added 14.6 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. 7th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: BitDefender requires 272 MB of hard-drive space for installation. 9th-place rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: BitDefender Antivirus added 0.110s on average to launch a web browser. 5th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: BitDefender added 1.50s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 5th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. BitDefender 2009 scored a total of 24 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested. This gave BitDefender a 6th-place overall rating - just behind Kaspersky.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives rating of Advanced for on-demand detection of malicious software. "Advanced" is the 2nd-highest ranking, and falls short of many other Antivirus programs that were tested including Avira, Kaspersky, and Norton. AV Comparatives is a reputable independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria.
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's certification is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild." BitDefender FAILED the last test in June, and has failed 2 of the last 3 tests it has been a part of.
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

BitDefender has all the basics of a good support system - 24 hour Email Support, Chat Support, Toll-Free Phone Support, as well as an online Knowledgebase and program Help Files. Support appeared to be good in all areas, our only concern would be the Knowledgebase and Help Files are not the most extensive or easiest systems to use when compared to other antivirus programs.

CONCLUSION:

BitDefender has many nice features, including Game & Laptop Modes, and a good overall layout. It uses a very small amount of your computer's memory (7.6 MB), but our other Performance tests were not as favourable on BitDefender. Our concern with BitDefender 2009 is that its detection rates for malicious software is sub-par, and it has a very slow virus scanner. These features are the heart and soul of any antivirus program, and BitDefender's average results in these tests is worrisome. This leaves us thinking another antivirus program may be a better alternative - see our Antivirus Reviews for suggestions.

Warning: BitDefender 2009 seems to have a compatibility issue with Gmail. For those of you using Google's Email service we'd highly recommend avoiding BitDefender since it slows down to a crawl unless you use the Older/HTML Version which works fine. This Gmail incompatibility makes one wonder what other script intensive Web 2.0 websites may not work with BitDefender 2009...

Overall Rating: Fair

BitDefender Software Description:

BitDefender Antivirus 2009 provides advanced proactive protection against Viruses, Spyware, Phishing Attacks and Identity Theft, without slowing down your PC.

Confidently download, share and open files from friends, family, co-workers – and even total strangers!

Improved: Scans all web, e-mail and instant messaging traffic for viruses and spyware, in real-time.
Proactively protects against new virus outbreaks using advanced heuristics.

Protect your identity: shop, bank, listen, watch privately and securely.

Blocks attempted identity theft (phishing).
Improved: Prevents personal information from leaking via e-mail, web or instant messaging.

Guard your conversations with top-of-the line encryption.

NEW! Instant Messaging Encryption.

Play safe, play seamlessly!

Improved: Reduces the system load and avoids requesting user interaction during games.

Get fine-tuned performance from your computer!

Uses few system resources.
NEW! Laptop mode prolongs battery life.
Improved: Scans all web, e-mail and instant messaging traffic for viruses and spyware, in real-time.
Proactively protects against new virus outbreaks using advanced heuristics.

NEW! Family network protection.
Manage the security of your home network from a single location. BitDefender software from other computers in the network can be remotely configured, while tasks such as scans, backups tune-ups and updates can be run on-demand or scheduled to run during off-hours.

Hassle – Free Hourly Updates
Hourly updates ensure that you are protected against the latest threats without pushing a button. Lost program files are not a problem either. In the rare event of file damage due to PC problems, BitDefender automatically repairs and updates itself.

FREE 24/7 Support
Got a question? Our security experts are available to help you 24/7 via phone, email or chat at no additional cost.

Review of Avira AntiVir Premium Version 9

2009-11-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Quick installation time of 1 minute and 20 seconds.
• Great Virus & Malware detection rates.
• System Resource Usage was 3rd best we tested.
• Very outdated & poorly organized user-interface.
• Poor Support, including no phone-support in North America.
• Overall Rating: Fair

1) Installation:

Avira AntiVir Premium Version 9 installed in just 1 minute 20 seconds and the computer was immediately ready for use - requiring no restarts after installation. It was a very quick and straight-forward installation process, perhaps a few extra prompts than some other antivirus programs, but let's not get too picky over an installation process.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

Avira's user-interface at first glance looks like a program from 4-5 years ago. It's simple, but perhaps a little too simple. Options are very limited unless you select the "Expert Mode" option - that is if you can find it. Expert Mode is hidden in the upper corner of the Configuration Menu and we almost gave up trying to find it. Even once Expert Mode is selected the options are limited when compared to NOD32 Antivirus or Kaspersky Antivirus, which have much more in-depth options available. Avira protects against all the major types of Malware - including Viruses, Trojans, Worms, Spyware, and Adware.

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

Avira AntiVir Premium has both a Full Scan as well as a Custom Scan option. On our test computer with 70GB of used space on its hard-drive it took Avira just 52 minutes to perform its Full Scan. This was slightly slower than fellow competitors Kaspersky Antivirus (which took 47 minutes) and Norton Antivirus (which took 49 minutes). (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

Our only problem with Avira's scanning engine was how the options were laid out in the user-interface. Unlike many other antivirus programs, Avira doesn't have its Full Scan and Custom Scan options clearly laid out, instead you have to stumble through their out-dated tree-structure to choose what you want to scan. Again, this seems a little out-dated like much of the user-interface. We would have liked to see some clearly labeled scanning buttons, however, none were found with Avira. Some modernization as well as a better thought-out layout is a must for their next edition.

Updates:
Version 9.0 of Avira AntiVir updates about 5 times per day, which is a fair bit slower than many other antivirus programs. For comparison, Norton updates over 200 times per day, while Kaspersky updates about 21 times per day. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) System Resource Usage:

Avira Antivirus performed good in our Antivirus testing this year - finishing 3rd overall. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...

• Memory Use: Avira Antivirus uses only 9.6 MB of memory. 3rd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: Avira added 14.0 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. 6th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs we tested this year.

• Installation Size: Avira takes 130 MB hard-drive space for installation. 3rd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: Avira Antivirus added 0.067s on average to launch a web browser - almost no noticeable change. 1st-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: Avira added 1.42s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 7th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested, and Avira's worst test result.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. Avira 2009 scored a total of 35 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested. This gave Avira a 3rd-place rating overall - just behind NOD32 and Norton.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives highest Antivirus software rating of Advanced+. Avira was the #1 antivirus program tested for the most viruses and malware detected. AV Comparatives is a reputable independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria.
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

Avira's support system is limited when compared to other antivirus companies. Avira only provides telephone support in parts of Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Italy) - and it's costly too (over $2.50/min). No telephone support of any kind is offered in North America. This lack of live phone-support can be a red-flag for many novice users who may feel more confident purchasing Avira if it had telephone-support... "just in case!"

Avira does offer good email support, it has an active forum for its customers which appears well-moderated, and its Knowledge Base appears satisfactory, though not outstanding. Users can also read the in-program Help Files which are decent, but the presentation could use some modernization.

CONCLUSION:

Avira AntiVir Premium has world-class virus & malware detection rates (top in the industry), however, its user-interface is in need of a make-over from the ground up. The user-interface not only looks outdated but it isn't very easy to use as well. Its Virus Scanner is quite fast, and its System Resource Usage was the 3rd best we tested. Avira's lack of phone support in North America is also a red-flag. If Avira is serious about competing in the North American market they will need to remedy this lack of phone support soon.

Overall, despite being excellent at detecting Viruses & Malware we cannot give Avira top marks due to its very disappointing user-interface and lack of adequate support. We recommend taking a look at our other Antivirus Reviews for a better alternative.

Overall Rating: Fair

Avira Software Description:

Avira AntiVir Premium 2009 reliably protects you against all threats from viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, phishings, adware, spyware, bots, and dangerous “drive-by” downloads. Best detection rates and top-class security with several updates every day.

Avira AntiVir Premium Features:

NEW! QuickRemoval eliminate viruses at the push of a button.
NEW! NetbookSupport for laptops with low resolution.
AntiVir stops all types of viruses!
AntiAd/Spyware eliminates ad/spyware!
AntiPhishing proactive protection against phising.
AntiRootkit against hidden rootkit threats.
AntiDrive-by prevents against downloading viruses when surfing.
EmailScanner enhanced email protection.
WebGuard protection against malicious websites.
RescueSystem create a bootable rescue CD.

Review of Kaspersky AntiVirus 2010

2009-11-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

:Kaspersky AntiVirus has long been a favourite antivirus solution amongst "techies". But Kaspersky's performance has started to fall over the last few years. Will Kaspersky 2010 reverse these trends and retake the throne as the best antivirus program? Read on.

1) Installation:

Kaspersky AntiVirus 2010 is one of the slowest installing programs that we've tested - requiring 2 minutes and 47 seconds to install - which really isn't all that slow! It does install slightly faster than last years version, and it also doesn't require any reboots this year unlike the 2009 version. Overall, it's a fairly straight-forward installation process that shouldn't cause any problems.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

Kaspersky AntiVirus 2010 has one of the cleaner, better laid-out user-interfaces in the market. Everything is intuitively accessible from the main program screen, as well as very prominent warnings if anything needs to be addressed. Features like Kaspersky Security Network gives users the benefit of the millions of Kaspersky users around the globe - allowing Kaspersky to quickly identify emerging threats. While Kaspersky Whitelisting determines the threat posed by each application and sets their security privileges accordingly.

Like last year, our main concern is with Kaspersky's lack of system messages. For example, when a computer scan is finished there isn't any confirmation screen showing the scan report. Yes, this may be less obtrusive to not show these reports, however, if a user initiates a scan then they probably want to see the results of that scan, not to mention knowing when it is completed. Despite this, Kaspersky offers one of the more comprehensive feature sets in the industry and has an easy to use interface.

New Features:

• Kaspersky URL Advisor - warns of dangerous websites.

• Game Mode - suspends scans, updates and alerts while you play.

Features Checklist:

Anti-Spyware

Anti-Rootkit

Bot Protection

Email Scanning

IM Protection

Trojan Protection

Worm Protection

Anti-Phishing

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

Kaspersky has 4 scanning options: Quick Scan, Full Scan, Vulnerability Scan (scans your computer and software for system vulnerabilities), and Objects Scan (ie. Custom Scan). On our test computer with 70GB of used space on its hard-drive it took Kaspersky 2010 just 48 seconds to perform its Quick Scan, while the Full Scan took 44 minutes making it one of the fastest virus scanners - just behind Norton 2010 and Avast. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

Updates:
Kaspersky claims to deliver "hourly" updates, however, our testing shows that it only updates 10 times per day (or once every 2.4 hours). Last year Kaspersky did provide hourly updates (see our 2009 Updates Testing), so perhaps this is a temporary issue.
(See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) Performance Testing:

View the results below of the Antivirus tests we performed this year to see how well the 2010 version of Kaspersky fared against its competition...

• Memory Use: Kaspersky 2010 uses 18.4 MB of memory. #6 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: Kaspersky added only 9.5 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. #3 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: Kaspersky Antivirus 2010 takes 227 MB of hard-drive space for installation. #7 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: Kaspersky added 0.178s on average to launch a web browser. This was the #7 rated program tested.

• File Conversion Time: Kaspersky added only 0.57s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. #2 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested, and Kaspersky's best performance test this year (a great improvement over the 1.23s it took last year).

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. Kaspersky 2010 scored a total of 30 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus programs. This placed Kaspersky 5th overall - right in the middle. Last year, Kaspersky 2009 also finished 5th overall in our 2009 Antivirus Performance testing, so even though Kaspersky did improve in several tests, its overall performance was marginally better.

• View graphs showing the results of the above Performance Tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the most recent test in August, the On Demand Detection Test, Kaspersky was rated only 2 out of 3 Stars - coming in the middle of the pack with a 94.7% detection rate. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, Kaspersky performed much better - receiving a 3-Star rating (only NOD32 & Microsoft's new AV were also rated 3-stars). (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. Kaspersky passed the most recent VB100 test (Oct./09), and has passed all VB100 tests going back to October, 2008 (a span of 6 tests). The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

Kaspersky offers one of the top support networks in the industry. They have an extensive online Knowledgebase, a Support Forum with over 1 million posts and nearly 200,000 members, useful in-program Help Files, Live Chat, Email Support, and Phone Support (not 1-800 toll free though). Whatever your preferred support method may be, Kaspersky will not disappoint.

CONCLUSION:

Kaspersky 2010 is very similar to last year's version, with only a slightly updated user-interface distinguishing the two versions apart. Kaspersky continues to be one of the top antivirus programs on the market, but if it's going to once again take top place it'll have to work on its Performance - for 2 consecutive years now Kaspersky has only been in the middle of the pack in our Antivirus Performance Testing. Nevertheless, users can be assured they are getting top-tier protection with Kaspersky 2010.

Overall Rating: Very Good

Review of NOD32 Anti Virus Version 4.0

2009-11-27T07:26:00.000-08:00

OVERVIEW:

• Very simple interface!
• Quick & straightforward installation (1 minute and 29 seconds).
• The Standard and Advanced modes are great for novice users
so as not to confuse them with complex options.
• Top-Notch Performance and Effectiveness.
• Overall Rating: Very Good!

1) Installation:

ESET NOD32 Antivirus v4 installed in 1 minute and 29 seconds, and the computer was immediately ready for use - requiring no restarts after installation. It was a very quick and straight-forward installation process, but if you have another antivirus program on your computer you have to manually search & run the correct uninstaller. NOD32 Antivirus will hopefully remedy this next year.

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

NOD32's user-interface is very clean and simple looking, yet very effective. The program comes defaulted to Standard Mode which is fine for most users. In Standard Mode the options are limited but the antivirus program runs fine - it's probably a good idea to hide the majority of the options, since for most users the extra options can be confusing. Simple is definitely good in this case.

For advanced users NOD32 has an Advanced Mode that gives the user much more control over the software with the many more options made available (see screenshot #6 to see the Options Menu). NOD32's options are well thought out and give you more control over the program than any other antivirus program we've tested this year (except maybe Kaspersky).

Eset's ThreatSense technology gives you protection against new viruses before they can be analyzed - this gives you Zero-Day protection against viruses and other malware.

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

ESET NOD32 AntiVirus has both a Smart Scan as well as a Custom Scan option. On our test computer with 70GB of used space on its hard-drive it took NOD32 54 minutes to perform its Smart Scan, which scans all local hard-drives and disks. The Smart Scan was comparable in speed to Norton Antivirus (which took 49 minutes), and Kaspersky Antivirus (which took 47 minutes). NOD32's virus scanner also found 3 virus infections that several other antivirus programs (including Kaspersky & Norton) missed on our test computer which we thought was virus-free. So, Eset's virus database definitely impressed us. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

Updates:
Version 4 of ESET NOD32 updates 2 times per day, which is less than several other antivirus programs. For comparison, Norton updates about every 6-7 minutes, while Kaspersky updates almost every hour. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

Testing by AV-Test.org found that NOD32's response time to new threats is approximately 4-6 hours, slightly better than the industry average of 6-8 hours.

3b) System Resource Usage:

NOD32 Antivirus 4 performed very well in our Antivirus testing this year - finishing 2nd overall. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...

• Memory Use: NOD32 Antivirus uses 44.6 MB of memory. 8th-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested, and NOD32's worst test result in our testing this year.

• Reboot Time: NOD32 added 7.3 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. 2nd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: NOD32 takes 143 MB hard-drive space for installation. 4th-place rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: NOD32 Antivirus ver 4 added 0.080s on average to launch a web browser - almost no noticeable change. 2nd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• File Conversion Time: NOD32 added 0.73s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. 2nd-place rating of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. NOD32 2009 scored a total of 37 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus 2009 programs we tested. This gave NOD32 a 2nd-place rating overall - just behind Norton.

• View graphs showing the results of the above 6 System Usage tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the first, the On Demand Detection Test, NOD32 was rated 3 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, NOD32 again received a 3-Star rating - very impressive test results for such a major Antivirus test! (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. NOD32 has passed the past 40 VB100% tests (it last failed in April, 2002). The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

ESET's Help Files within the program are very useful and well laid out, although why in Standard Mode we aren't sure why the "Help" link in the upper-right-hand corner of the program disappears. This "Help" link also links directly to the corresponding help file depending what task you're doing (ie. if you're doing a "Computer Scan" and click the "Help" link, then the help files on "Computer Scan" appear). ESET does also offer a very good Knowledgebase and user-forums. Their phone support is not all that impressive, since it has limited hours, deals with only a few topics (installing, downloading, purchasing, etc), and doesn't offer a toll-free phone number.

CONCLUSION:

NOD32 Version 4.0 is an extremely easy to use program. Its user-interface is the easiest to use that we've seen this year - with everything clearly laid out. NOD32's Performance and Effectiveness are both also top-notch. There are no draw-backs with NOD32 Antivirus - it's got everything a user of any level could possibly ask for. For computer novices, NOD32 is definitely the easiest Antivirus program to use we've reviewed this year, and accordingly receives our "Most User-Friendly" award!

Overall Rating: Very Good!

NOD32 Software Description:

ESET NOD32 provides:

Protection from the Unknown — Award-winning ThreatSense technology uses multiple layers of threat detection to deliver the most effective protection possible against new attacks. And ThreatSense is smart; it raises far fewer annoying "false alarms" than any other products that use heuristics.

Finds Malware Other AV Companies Missed — Typically when a new copy of ESET NOD32 replaces another antivirus product on a home computer the average user finds viruses or malware resident on the machine that were undetected by their previous antivirus product.

Built for Speed — ESET NOD32 Antivirus is lightning fast, so fast you won't even notice it's there. Even disk-intensive operations like performing a "full disk scan" to run smoothly in the background while you work or play.

Easy on Your System — ESET NOD32 Antivirus is "lean and mean," typically using just 45 MB of memory, a fraction of what other products consume. Because it's fast and "light," upgrading your existing antivirus protection to ESET NOD32 Antivirus can literally be like buying a new computer. And the new automatic energy-sipping battery mode lets you work or play longer.

Easy on You — ESET NOD32 Antivirus is easier to use than ever before. From its compact and intuitive user interface to its minimal use of alerts, you'll be up and running in a snap.You will receive the best possible proactive detection against malware, without enduring excessive system slowdowns and alerts, reboots or annoying false alarms.

What's New in Version 4?

Smarter Scanner — Threats don't always enter your network in ways you expect. ESET NOD32 Antivirus inspects SSL-encrypted communication channels like HTTPS and POP3S and intelligently scans compressed files to find hidden threats other products miss. Proactive protection begins at the earliest point in system startup to ensure your computer is always secure.

Clean and Safe Email — Email scanning for Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, and other POP3/IMAP mail clients, ensuring your email is free of viruses and other threats.

Removable Media Security — Threats can enter your PC from removable media such as USB thumb drives. For self-running media, ESET NOD32 Antivirus scans autorun.inf and associated files when the medium is inserted, in addition to scanning any file on any removable device when it is accessed, or during a full-scan of the media. Power users can adjust ESET NOD32 Antivirus to perform additional levels of scanning on removable media.

System Tools — ESET SysInspector and ESET SysRescue simplify diagnosing and cleaning of infected systems by allowing deep scans of system processes to find hidden threats, and creating bootable rescue CD/DVD or USB drives to help you repair an infected computer.

Self Defense — ESET NOD32 Antivirus has built-in technology to prevent malicious software from corrupting or disabling it, so you can rest assured your system is always protected.

Many Usability Improvements — ESET NOD32 Antivirus has numerous speed, security and usability upgrades, including:

Energy-sipping battery mode extends laptop battery life without compromising security
Advanced Protection Status screen informs you of threat detections
Information pop-ups are hidden when running full screen applications like games, video players or presentations
Password protection prevents ESET NOD32 Antivirus from being uninstalled by strangers
New interface and keyboard shortcuts simplify use for visually impaired users

NOD32 System Requirements:

Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP (32 and 64-bit editions), Microsoft Windows Vista (32 and 64-bit editions), and the new Windows 7.
Processors supported: 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) Intel, AMD or 100% compatible
Memory: 45 MB
Disk Space (download): 28MB
Disk Space (installation): 35MB

Review of Norton AntiVirus 2010:

2009-11-27T06:02:00.001-08:00

Norton AntiVirus is the world's best-selling security program. However, its performance has been scrutinized over the years - especially from those in the tech community. Symantec began to address these performance concerns with their 2009 version last year - let's see if this trend continues with Norton AntiVirus 2010...

1) Installation:

Norton AntiVirus 2010 quickly installs in only 54 seconds and requires no system reboots. With its Download Manager and Installation Wizard, Norton is now one of the easiest Anti Virus programs to install. Long gone are the days when Norton used to take 20+ minutes to install and required multiple reboots to install (4-5 years ago).

(See Installation Time Comparison Graph)

2) Features & Ease of Use:

Norton 2010's user-interface has a similar look & feel to last year's version. However, it builds upon previous versions with several new features such as Norton Download Insight and Norton File Insight which warn of dangerous downloads and files which may be threats. Norton System Insight offers details of your computer's resource usage so its performance can be improved. While Norton's scheduler automatically delays updates, scans and other tasks until your computer is idle - this idle time usage should make Norton Antivirus 2010 even less noticeable to users than it was before.

Also new this year, laptop battery life is conserved by delaying many tasks until the laptop is once again plugged in. On top of this are the many graphs and reports that Norton 2010 has added this year - allowing it to better inform its users of their computer's performance than previous versions did. In many ways Norton has moved closer to the feel of Kaspersky Antivirus with its abundance of charts and graphs that clearly show users their computer's performance in an easily understood visual format. Overall, a great improvement to Norton's feature-set this year.

New Features:

• Norton Download Insight, File Insight, Threat Insight, System Insight,
and Norton Insight Network

• SONAR™ 2 Behavioral Protection

Features Checklist:

Anti-Spyware

Anti-Rootkit

Bot Protection

Email Scanning

IM Protection

Trojan Protection

Worm Protection

Anti-Phishing (available with
Norton Internet Security)

3) PERFORMANCE

3a) Virus Scanner:

Norton has 3 scanning options: Quick Scan, Full System Scan, and Custom Scan. On our test computer with 70GB of used space on its hard-drive it took Norton 2010 just 27 seconds to perform its Quick Scan, while the Full System Scan took 42 minutes making it one of the fastest virus scanners on the market. (See Scan Time Comparison Graph)

New scanning technologies this year include Norton Insight Network (based on Quorum technology) and SONAR 2 (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response). These features are designed to detect whether a file is trustworthy or not based on behavioral and cloud-based data. This should result in Norton being better able to identify files as being trustworthy or untrustworthy that would have previously fallen into the grey/unknown category. Only time will tell how these new features perform.

Updates:
New last year (Norton 2009) was Norton's new Pulse Update feature that automatically downloads new Virus Definitions every 6 minutes on average (over 200 updates per day). This new feature gives you the most up-to-date protection of any antivirus program available - over 10 times more updates than its nearest competitor. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph)

3b) Performance Testing:

Last year marked the beginning of a new era for Norton, as they finally began to take the performance of their Antivirus software seriously. View the results below of the Antivirus tests we performed this year to see how well the 2010 version of Norton fared against its competition...

• Memory Use: Norton 2010 uses only 11.7 MB of system memory. #3 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Reboot Time: Norton added only 6.9 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. #1 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Installation Size: Norton Antivirus 2010 takes 153 MB of hard-drive space for installation. #4 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• Application Launch Time: Norton added 0.122s on average to launch a web browser. This was the #5 rated program tested, and Norton's worst ranking in our Antivirus testing.

• File Conversion Time: Norton added only 0.43s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. #1 rated of the 10 Antivirus programs tested.

• System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 5 Antivirus tests. Norton 2010 scored a total of 41 out of 50 points when compared to the other Antivirus programs. Norton 2010 was the top-rated Antivirus program we tested, just above NOD32 Antivirus which scored 38 points. This is another strong showing by Norton this year, however, Norton 2009 did perform slightly better against its competition last year. The main difference in our testing between the 2009 and 2010 versions was that Norton 2010 had a larger installation size and used slightly more memory than it did last year (11.7 MB of memory this year versus 6.3 MB in 2009). Despite all this, Norton Anti-Virus 2010 is still the top performing Antivirus program we tested - so we shouldn't get too critical.

• View graphs showing the results of the above Performance Tests.

3c) Effectiveness:

• AV Comparatives has 2 major Virus/Malware tests each year. In the most recent test in August, the On Demand Detection Test, Norton was rated 3 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test, the Proactive Test, Norton didn't perform as well - receiving a 2-Star rating. (*AV Comparatives is an independent Antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted Virus detection tests in the industry.)
• ICSA Labs Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software.
• Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. Norton passed the most recent VB100 test (Oct./09), however they did fail the previous test. Of the last 46 tests (going back to November 1999) Norton has passed an impressive 45 of them. The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild."
• West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products.

4) Help & Support:

Symantec's support has gotten better over the last few years. Previously the only good support was through their paid support systems. Now Symantec offers many good free support options. The Norton support website is comprehensive and easy to use. The in-program Help Files are informative and also offer step-by-step Tutorials for major issues. The "One Click Support" within Norton 2010 automatically scans your Norton software for known issues and offers suggestions. If this doesn't help you can use their free Chat, Email or Phone support - however, free phone support is only offered for limited program issues (virus removal and other PC problems require paid support). We tested their Email support and received a thorough response 9 hours later. Overall, despite negative opinions of Nortons support in the past, it has transformed itself into a top-tier support system.

CONCLUSION:

Norton Antivirus 2010 continues on its revitalization path that began last year towards becoming a better performing Antivirus program. Norton 2010 does have a larger installation size and requires slightly more memory than last year's version, but Norton Antivirus 2010 is still the top of its class in terms of performance. It is now apparent that Symantec is taking the performance of its Antivirus software seriously now as shown by 2 consecutive top-rated versions.

Norton 2010 has several new weapons in its virus-scanning arsenal (Norton Insight Network and SONAR 2) which should better protect against rogue downloads and malicious files. Norton has moved over the last few years to a multi-layered approach to computer security, and its new features this year add yet another layer to your computer's protection.

Our only real concern with Norton this year is that it did not perform as well in Malware testing as it has in previous years. Norton Antivirus passed all the major tests this year, but it received only 2 out of 3 stars in AV-Comparatives' May testing (it did receive 3 stars in the August test). Still, despite this result, Norton is overall the best Antivirus program that we tested.

Norton Antivirus 2010 is a good choice for computer novices and intermediates - for more advanced users we would recommend Norton Internet Security 2010 due to its added Firewall, Anti-Spam, Anti-Phishing, and other capabilities not included in Norton Antivirus - plus it can be installed on 3 computers unlike Norton Antivirus (1 computer).

Overall Rating: Excellent!

Misc Info:

• Version Tested:	NAV 17.0.0.136
• Program Manual:	Norton 2010 Manual [pdf]
• Release Date:	September 8, 2009
• Review Date:	October 12, 2009
• Last Updated:	November 20, 2009
• Previous Version:	Norton AntiVirus 2009
• Other Norton Software:	Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, Norton SystemWorks
• Software Description:	Norton 2010 Description

Top 5 Antivirus Software Reviews:

1) Norton AntiVirus 2010 Review	- Rating: Excellent
2) NOD32 Antivirus 4 Review	- Rating: Very Good
3) Kaspersky AntiVirus 2010 Review	- Rating: Very Good
4) Avira AntiVir 2009 Review	- Rating: Fair
5) BitDefender AntiVirus 2009 Review	- Rating: Fair

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