More Awesome Than You!

OK -

I've just spent the last 45 minutes fighting with Norten Internet Security and it is the last straw. Can anyone recommend a good firewall and virus scanning program that I can get?

Thanks bunches!

We've been using McAfee here at the Uni, but the deal's gone off so we've switched to either Avast! or AVG. I've installed Avast! on my 'puter and I really like it. It includes a firewall as well. Its only drawback is slow scan time, it takes an hour and a half to scan 30 GB of stuff (but at the same time I'm browsing the internet and using Winamp without a hitch). BTW, they're both free.
As for other antivirus programs I've used, I'd recommend Ewido. It's not free (15 day trial after which you just have to manually download any updates and do scans, but I can live with that!), but it's helped me in the past when Norton was caught pants down during a trojan attack!

My mum swears by Avast. Says it's great. :)

I use AVG, since Norton is a bloated, system-resource-hogging, nannying pile of shit. But I'm sure you've learned that, and that's why you've decided to bin it. ;)

I also use Sygate personal firewall (free).

 >:( Yep.

Thanks for the suggestions.
I just uninstalled the damn thing and am feeling a little naked.

I use the free version of Avast and have had no problems with it. It seems to catch things that nortons misses.

I hear good things about bit-defender. It's a complete internet security package with an ani-virus, firewall, apyware dtector, ect.

 http://www.bitdefender.com  (http://www.bitdefender.com) It ain't free though.

AVG and ZoneAlarm treat me right.

That's what I use, AVG and Zone Alarm.  I also have the Microsoft AntiSpyware program.  I've used other virus programs, including P...cillin (can't remember the name), which I got the full version of free from my ISP, but I always go back to AVG free edition.  It's always served me well, on all my computers.

I use Avast (Thanks HOOK!) and Zonealarm. At first I didnt like zonealarm but now I have found that its pretty useful for stopping programs I have running to try and access the internet which is a pretty nice feature.

I use Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security.  Even though it hogs resources, it does a good job.  Recently, the supreme techie in my family totally converted to Avast! on their computer because it was free, but I'm skeptical because something that's free can't really do as good of a job as Norton....

Zone Alarm is a good firewall, I prefer McAfee because it's easier for me to use but I'm kind of strange with firewalls.  The great thing about Zone Alarm is that even though you can get it free it's still among the better firewalls.  I wouldn't touch Norton with a 10ft barge pole.

I've been using the free version of avast! for a few years now and love it, it also protects your instant messengers (handy if you share files with people while IMing)

http://www.avast.com/


I am going to check out Zone Alarm one of these days  ::)

ZoneAlarm+NOD32+Microsoft's Antispyware for me. Nothing ever comes in, guaranteed :D They can even do they work silently and don't jump into my face for every little thing. Okay, ZoneAlarm used to, but just until I tamed it. I feel like a bad commercial.

Zone Alarm beats Norton any day - and that's the free version, which you can find at http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

I have ZA pro on my home system, but use the free version combined with AVG at my office (broadband) connection.

i've got ewido at the moment as it did a fab job of removing a difficult case of spyware that housecall by trend micro couldn't remove.
i have adaware and did  have escorcher as well but i inadvertently deleted that and now i can't seem to download it anymore
i might look into some of the others as well once ewido runs out of its freebie

i have used zone alarms one but i wasn't too keen on it

never liked Norton and it always seems to come bundled with every conputer i've ever had. it's the first thing i always get rid of

I've switched all the computers at work and home to Computer Associates products.  Their antivirus is very good and they are also the makers of Pest Patrol.  IMO it's the best spyware product available.

http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayHomePage&SiteID=caconsum&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE (http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayHomePage&SiteID=caconsum&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE)

Good luck   :)

I've read really good things about Zone Alarm Pro and Panda (both are user- and resource-friendly and do an excellent job).  I've used the free version of Zone Alarm for years now and really love it.  I agree it's very handy when it comes to software trying to access the internet (I'd like to know who programmers think they are, anyway, to build stuff like that into software.  I'm using the software, it does what I tell it to do.)  Up until now I've never run anti-virus software--never had a need.  I think I'll download Avast, though, and give it a shot.

One good reference I've found is www.newegg.com  You can search for anything they have for sale and read the reviews. :)

Sure it can.

The difference between Avast and Norton is that Norton wants to be everything it can possibly be, all at the same time. This makes it clunky and annoying. It also likes to decide for you what you should be doing with your computer, which will annoy anybody who has their own ideas about what's appropriate and what isn't. Avast! on the other hand, is just an antivirus program. It's not trying to be a soopa-elite-computer-media-multi-function-strategic-security-solution. It just looks for viruses and then removes them. Unlike Norton, which wants to quarantine them all instead of FIXING THEM. Gah.

Thank you all for the links. I have McAffee, but I'm not happy with it. We are having problems; I want things my way, it wants things its way. I know that many people use McAffee and are completely satisfied, I however, am not. Personal thing, ya know.

I hear you. It did a pretty lame job too protecting my PC. I'm actually glad the Uni dumped it in favor of Avast! or AVG. My line of defense consists of Avast!, ewido (though I rarely use it any more, but it's a good backup player if the damage is done again), Spybot-SD, and Ad-aware SE. I *think* Avast! has a firewall, so I didn't bother getting Zone Alarm (I've heard only good things regarding this program). But, as always, my best defense is not trudging into murky sites.

You know what else is nice about the avast zonealarm combo (I also have MS antispyware so maybe its the one thats doing it) but there are a lot of decent free programs out there that sneak in what is considered spyware, which they force you to install to get the main program to work. Well avast/ZA/MS Antipyware nixes the tag along spyware program during install so you get a clean install of the main program everytime without the "required" spyware. HA HA take that!

Oh, that is nice, Nectere. I hope it's the avast! that does it, or the zone alarm. I just finished installing both, and although they seemed to have some problems getting along, avast! offered a work-around tutorial for that. So here's to it working.

I know what you mean Dr. Beast. I try to stay away from murky (I like that label) sites myself, but you can't always tell. As Nectere mentioned, sometimes the sites are perfectly legit, but try to invade anyways. I use spybot too, and it has not disappointed me yet.

McAffee found it prudent to pop up and warn me that I should buy their updated version, to remind me that the 60-day trial expired, etc. Thank you, but if I want something, I'll go and get it, stay off my computer. Meanwhile, their protection was haphazard at best.

Zone Alarm is the devil. No really, it is. I did tech support at Earthlink (before they decided to give our jobs to people in india), and earthlink sends out zone alarm bundled with it's crappy software. Seriously, in my experience with the average computer user, Zone Alarm is more trouble than it's worth, many people had problems figuring out how to configure it, or configured it improperly, and the whole process is a bit counter-intuitive. Also, it is kind of a POS, but it is free and you get what you pay for sometimes.

Macafee and Norton are both pretty bloated, and with Macafee in particular, installing the firewall with spam blocker usually makes it impossible for Outlook to fetch your mail. I'm not really a big fan of software firewalls in general, I'd rather have a good hardware firewall, but if you are going to install one Sygate is pretty good.

As for antiviruses, I use Etrust InnoculateIT. It works quite well, though it may not be as user friendly as some other products. I never had any problems with Pandasoft, but I would stay away from Macafee and Norton, as they tend to be resource hogs.

With both a firewall and a good antivirus, you will still want to run a couple spyware cleaners once a month or so. I use Spybot and Adaware. It is recommended to use at least two scanning programs, as they can miss things that the other will pick up. Ewido is something I don't generally keep installed, but will employ if nothing else is working. Also, killbox is a good tool if (and only if!) you know what you are doing with it. Keep in mind though that adware cleaners are not antiviruses, and won't protect you against some of the worst nasties.

I guess in the end, what you need is really directly related to what kind of user you are. If you are a light user, ie, someone who uses the computer to surf the net, play a few games, check email and that kind of thing, you aren't going to need a heavy duty IT grade antivirus and firewall. The average user probably has a better chance of being struck by lightening than being hacked, and really you just need something that scans incomming files and email for viruses, trojans and that kind of thing. If you run any kind of server, do a lot of PVP filesharing, run linux or unix, then you'll want something a little more potent to ward off more agressive potential threats.

Anyway, I am going to stop blathering on now, hopefully you got something useful out of all that.

I'm glad I found this thread.

Norton has been bitching at me for the last couple of days because its subscription has run out.  So instead of going through the toil of reinstalling it I went and downloaded Avast as was suggested here.

It found seven different trojans on its first scan....  All in the Temporary Internet Files folder.  And I'm not sure how long they've been there either since I'm sure Norton ignored them.

Maybe I should give this Zonealarm a try.  I use the Windows Firewall that comes with XP, but its pretty annoying.

Avast just found a Trojan in my Program files that won't seem to go away.  I am freaking out a little because it's a keylogger program apparently, but Norton never found it in like a fucking year that I had that stupid program!  >:(

Oh, thank god somebody else has said it! Too many people are too frightened of what's going to happen to them without a firewall or antivirus running 24/7.

I regularly turn the whole shebang off if I'm playing games, and the only thing that's ever happened is my computer... runs a bit faster. Terrifying.

Really? I just got Avast and it said I had one of them too.  :-X

Same here Blue. Avast found several things that McAffee overlooked. I guess it was busy popping up on my screen every five minutes telling me the trial expired and I should really now go and buy the premium download for upgrading purposes.

One of those trojans was found in the 'windows' file, and I'm worried about just pulling it. I wish I were a little more computer savy, sigh.

Trepie, I didn't have any problems with zone alarm. It does have an issue with avast, but avast gives you a work-around tutorial that is pretty easy to follow. Believe me, if I can do it, you most definitely can. If it starts annoying me and becomes the devil in disguise, as Liegenschonheit says, I will yank it out again, but so far so good.

I just checked my spybot because I was curious about immunized spyware numbers to-date. I was quite shocked when I saw that it had blocked 8500+ problems so far. Those trackers might not be dangerous, but they should stay the hell out of my computer.

Yeah, I am pretty positive it came with an Internet Optimizer, which I had a horrible time trying to remove but I was finally able to with Microsoft Antispyware.  I was aware of this program in my Program Files, but it would never let me delete it and none of the programs ever said anything about it, so....STUPID BLUESOUP!  :P  This program won't seem to be deleted, so next it's disconnecting the Internet and running all the programs again.

Veilchen, I know next to nothing about this stuff, it's a wonder I can even turn it on.  :-[  But nectere is helping me (gotta love her).

:D Blue. If I knew as little as you claim you know, I would still be ahead of the game by miles.

Maybe it would be a good idea to get in line behind you. ...ahem...Nectere?

I ran the avast program as a boot scan, and it found several nasties. The last one was a trojan in the windows files. When I chose the "put into chest' action, a window popped up saying "this is a windows file, are you sure you want to remove it?"

Don't say that to me, because it intimidates me. I had visions of my whole computer exploding should I touch this infected file (well, not really, but you know what I mean :D). So for now, the infected file is where it was. I don't like the idea though, I want my computer to be clean. Especially because I do a lot of work on it, should I lose that, I shall cry. I do save regularly to a storage hard-drive, but I can easily picture doing hours of research just to have the computer go wonky on me and lose all of it.

I ran it as a boot scan too, and that's when it found this program.  HVAI.exe it's called.  It wouldn't let me choose to delete or escape or anything, so finally I just disconnected the computer and rebooted.  I do know that I got it from Internet Optimizer, and I do know that it's been on there a long while, since long before I was a regular on the Internet.

I found one is System Volume Information/_Restore/Whatever and yanked it like the rest.  Though I might be a little leary to go yanking stuff out of the Windows folder myself.

When you know the name of a suspect file, it's a good idea to put that through a google search to find out what it is, both by itself and in conjunction with the name of the virus. You can find out a lot about what things do and what may or may not be safe to move, or if the file is just masquerading as an important windows file. I did that a lot when I repaired computers when I needed to know just how to fix particular problems.

Blue, it might have a self-replicating dll which means it will come back no matter how often you uninstall it. Those are always such good fun. It is important not to let yourself get too frustrated with it and do something hasty, like reinstalling your OS. That may be an option, but only after you've explored all others.


If you do a google search, you should be able to get some information and step by step instructions for a manual uninstall. I don't know how much you know about these kind of things, so I'll give you a warning just in case: if it says to go into the registry, read the instructions carefully and doublecheck filenames before you delete anything. And also, don't delete anything other than what the instructions say, even if it looks suspicious. It is always best to backup your registry before starting, just in case.

I did a quick search and found these instructions (http://www.spyany.com/program/article_spy_rm_Internet_Optimizer.html). It looks like your internet optimizer is adware.

With anything you guys are unsure of yanking, Renatus offered the best advice ever. There are databases out there that list what a dll is and what it does, so you know for sure it isn't important before yanking it.

Thanks for all the links guys.  :-*  It *appears* that the file is gone, after 4 different scans and a reboot with no Internet connected.  I do know where the file was kept and I looked and it is indeed gone.  Whether it comes back or not is a different story, but I have never been able to get this file folder to disappear before either.

I'll definitely keep this link bookmarked in case it does come back.

Edit:  I also looked through the link you gave me, Motoki, and followed along with the instructions and the files it said I would have with this are not there.  :-\ :)

I think it might have been calling to the internet, I have had some replicating trojans that do that, nasty buggers. Its always best if you can disconnect the internet and run your scans, boot scanning is best if you have a virus scanner that supports it. Blue follow the instructions to get avast and Zone Alarm playing nicely together, and that microsoft anitspyware is a pretty good product, I have good success with it. (remember that trojan I got not long ago...)

I did do a search every where I could think of for the exe file Blue mentions and couldnt find anything, she went through the steps that I know and are known through searches and it looks like it worked. Once you get all your security programs set up to play together and you keep them turned on while at least you dl some program, it will stop the spyware tag alongs from coming in, in the future. Although, actually I didnt have to reconfigure anything to get avast and zonealarm to play together, it just works although avast isnt showing up in ZA's list of virus protection, but it isnt broke so I am not going to try to "fix" it. lol

If I'm looking for techie info on PC cleanup jobs like this, I usually go here for info www.majorgeeks.com  I think this is a great place, so if anyone has any bad XP there, I want to know!   Reading that support forum has helped me a lot.  Like "what is all that crap in startup?".  searching on hvai.exe  didn't find anything there nor on www.symantec.com which is where I go for virus info.

I've got a cable connection with a firewall in the router.  I use AVG free version and I'm very happy with that. Plus I run sypbot and adaware occasionally.  My ISP provider is also doing a virus scan for me and keeps sending messages saying they've saved me from an e-mail virus.

I put Avast in and was quite amused when this popped up - alarms ringing and all:

(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a303/SimmieCal/Maxis-virus.jpg)

If your carefull and only download from places you know and trust then their isnt actually any need for a Anti Virus application at all.   Im a heavy internet user but I dont have any virus protection on my computers at all and I havent received any viruses trojems in a very long time, I havent even got any addware or spyware.   so, If your careful you dont need one.

and as for firewalls,  if you use any type of router setup you should be OK as nearly all have a better firewall than you can have on your PC anyway.

PS.  If you use any of the P2P programs such as KaZaa or Limeware or whatever then ignor what I sed because you definatley eed a virus scanner if you use them.

I learned that system mechanic really doesn't like .package files. It deletes them wherever it finds them, while it's running through its "remove junk and obsolete files" stage. Heh.

Some pictures of what my game looked like afterwards:

Brandi Broke (http://prft.co.uk/brandi.jpg) with her funky 010101 hairdo and mesh clothing.
Marylena Hamilton (http://prft.co.uk/marylena.jpg) and her trendy black gloves and tights.

Plus all my textures crapped out on me. Deleting everything from my clothing downloads folder fixed the problem, which was odd since the problems were showing up in a clean game with no modifications directly applied to any of the characters. Just the presence of the (now corrupted) clothing files in the downloads folder make the textures freak out.

It *is* quite amusing that System Mechanic thinks the package files are obsolete junk, in much the same way Avast! thinks that the game's a trojan. The makers of these programs are clearly trying to tell us something.

*giggles* SimmieCal I had it respond that way to zoo tycoon 2's exe on my other computer

If you haven't done it already - you can set it to ignore that "so called trogan"  - right-click on the icon in the taskbar/Program Settings/Exclusions (then Browse and select the .exe)