Tag Archives: anti-virus

Whats the Best Anti-Virus / Firewall? Both Paid and Free?

Ive been using Avast 4.8 as my Anti-Virus program for about 4-5 years now and its been quite good however it does seem to have the strange habbit of reporting false postives once in a while which can be very annoying which left me wondering is there a better Anti-Virus out there thats Free.

Ive been using Comodo Firewall for about the same time too and its very good but it can be annoying to set up which again leads to the question is there a good All in One solution thats not “Norton” which i detest and slows your PC Down way too much.

Free Anti-Virus:

Avast:
After Avast failed me and let in a nasty virus on a USB Stick i use at college and let some bastard hack my world of warcraft account it was time to change Anti-Virus and Firewall Software. So i changed from Windows Vista 64 bit to Windows 7 64 Bit and started using ESET Smart Security and as soon as i plugged in my USB stick ESET Smart Security detected and deleted the Virus. It gave great detail on the virus on what accounts it does etc and it soom became clear that this was the bugger that let my World of Warcraft (inactive) Account get hacked.

Avast 5:
Avast have updated there anti-virus and now you can both a firewall and anti-virus. The Anti-Virus solution is free while you will need to pay for the AV and Firewall. It seems a lot better than it use to be the user-interface is a lot clearer and you can find all the settings you need to change.

AVG:
Ive never tried AVG but its the one people always reccommend when i ask whats the best free Anti-Virus software out there.

Microsoft Security Essentials:
As recommended by a commentor is also Free, ive never heard of it but it seems to be excellent.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

Paid Anti-Virus:

ESET Smart Security:
This is one of those All-in-one prodcuts that has a firewall and Anti-Virus it Seems a very good product but its not free buy you can get a 30 day trial and if your a student you can get at a student rate.

Id recommend it as you hardly know its there and it deletes any viruses it finds and the firewall is very non-intrusive . Ive bought this software at the student rate and its well worth the money. You can get it cheap if your a student which is great.


How to CLEAN your PC from keyloggers.

wowkoAfter having my World of Warcraft Account hacked i set about searching for how to remove any viruses and other crap that had made there way on to my PC so a quick google came up with these two great tips.

1) A program called KeyScrambler — it is free for your web browser.
2) An addon for Firefox called “NoScript” — this defaults to denying scripts to run on pages you view. But, if you are absolutely certain that the site is safe, you can quite easily allow scripts.
3) A program called “SnoopFree Privacy Shield 1.0.7″ — which alerts you to any program trying to attach itself to your computers keystrokes.

Magekíd’s guide: How to CLEAN your PC from keyloggers.

Hi all, this guide will help you on how to clean your pc from keyloggers.
Please take a look.

Screenshots have now been added!!!
Please also take a look at the Unofficial Helper’s Forum (with IRC!)
> http://forum.anayra.info/ < (Thanks to Anayra for running this!)

English is not my mother tongue, so some things are hard for me to explain, but I think i’m doing a good job, in general ^^

First of all, a note: Hijackthis is a tool, used for finding infections in your computer. Please note: THIS IS NOT A SCANNER. It shows both malicous rules, but also LEGIT rules. Do not fix rules in Hijackthis yourself!
You can find a list of forums that are qualified to look at your Hijackthis log here: http://asap.maddoktor2.com
In addition, here’s a list of forums where you can post your hijackthis logfile. – If you know any others, please let me know in a comment/reply!
Dutch/Belgium:
www.hijackthis.nl/forum
www.minatica.be/forum.php
http://www.antispywareoffensief.nl/forum/

English:
http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/
http://forums.techguy.org/
http://www.techsupportforum.com/

Before posting a Hijackthis log, please do the following steps upfront. I know this is alot of work, but that way most malware is already deleted and your logfile can be looked at faster.
Please remember: Follow ALL steps, including step 7

Note: Vista Users must run installations and the downloaded programs as Administrator. You can do this by right-clicking the program and select Run as Administrator (The screenshot shows it for Hijackthis, You must use this for every program we use here)
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6665/guide1bb5.jpg <– Screenshot

1. Download ATF Cleaner here:  http://www.atribune.org/ccount/click.php?id=1 – and save it somewhere (Desktop for example)

– Start ATF Cleaner and check everything except “Prefetch” at the tab “Main“. Then press “Empty Selected
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5641/guide2xo7.jpg <– screenshot

– If you use Firefox as your browser, go to the Firefox tab and check everything except “Firefox Saved passwords”. Then press “Empty Selected
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9761/guide2qu7.jpg <– Screenshot

– If you use Opera as your browser, go to the Opera tab and check everything except “Saved Passwords“. Then press Empty Selected.

2. Download Ad-aware 2008 Free here: http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5&cdlPid=10903602 –  and install it. If you get an license note during the installation, press Use Free After the installation, start Ad-Aware and press Update.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/3198/guide3po0.jpg <– screenshot
When Ad-Aware is finished updating, press Scan and do a Full system scan
When the scanning is completed, You’ll see two tabs with infected objects. The first tab contains Critical Objects and the second tab Privacy Objects Check everything at both tabs and press Remove At the top of both tabs you see a number which says the amount of infections found. Please wait until both numbers say “0” and then press Complete.
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2029/guide4pg7.jpg <– screenshot
Close Ad-Aware

3. Download Spybot Search & Destroy here: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html –  and install it. During the installation, uncheckUse Internet Explorer protection (SDHelper)” and “Use system settings Protection (TeaTimer)

When the installation is completed, start Spybot S&D and press OK at the notice you get about Ad-Aware. It may also notify you about deleting temporary files. Just select yes Follow the Wizard, and when the wizard is done press Update in Spybot. Search for updates, check all available updates and install the updates. After that press the Immunize tab and Immunize your system. When the Immunization is done, press the Search & Destroy tab and start scanning your computer.
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7301/guide5br0.jpg <– screenshot

When Spybot S&D is done scanning. Check all found objects and press Fix Selected Problems.
If Spybot S&D cannot delete all found objects, it will ask if it can scan at the next reboot to fix the problems. Press Yes.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/439/guide6uc1.gif <– screenshot
Now close Spybot S&D.

4. Download MBAM (MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware) here: http://www.besttechie.net/tools/mbam-setup.exe –  and install it. Make sure that at the end of the installation, Update MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware and Start MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware is checked.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9350/guide7bi9.jpg <– screenshot
When MBAM is started. Go to the Scanner tab and do a Full scan
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9767/guide8iv5.jpg <– screenshot
Once MBAM is done scanning, press Show Results and make sure all found objects are selected. After that press Remove Selected
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5509/guide9sm1.jpg <– screenshot
When MBAM is done deleting objects a logfile will open. You can close this logfile.
The Logfile will automatically be saved at the Logs tab in MBAM.

If MBAM found objects that can’t be deleted, it will ask to reboot your computer. Allow this and restart your computer.

4. If you didn’t restart your computer after running MBAM, restart it now anyway.

5. Do a full system scan with your virusscanner and remove all found infections.
If you do not have a virusscanner, you can scan online with one of these scanners. (Use Internet Explorer to scan)

BitDefender: http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
Panda: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
Kaspersky: http://www.kaspersky.nl/scanner

Remove all infections found.

6. Restart your computer.

7. Download Hijackthis here: http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/hijackthis/HJTInstall.exe – and install it. After the installation Hijackthis will open. Press Do a systemscan and save a logfile.
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4533/guide10pz1.jpg <– screenshot
A notepad file will open. In the Notepad file, press CTRL + A to select everything, CTRL + C to Copy everything. Then press CTRL + V in a new topic at the forum you want to post the log.

Also paste the MBAM log on the forum you place the Hijackthis logfile.

Many thanks for reading, if you have questions or problems, please ask Smiley

Also: Please note: Doing this all, is NOT A GUARANTEE your computer is not infected. There is no scanner that has a 100% detection rate.

– Magekid