quote:
Originally posted by John Anderton
I gotta say norton's ok but it ain't for my pc cause i have only 128 Mb ram so the system becomes slow. What were config's u were talkin bout cookie cause i used to use the default configs.
That doesn't matter. For each program you install (from word processor to Anti-whatever tool), you need to check the preferences if they are to your likings. This doesn't only go for anti-virus software. Default settings are very often not the proper configuration for your likings/system...
The same goes for Norton. You need to check the preferences the first time you're going to use it. Norton is a very powerfull anti-virus (too powerfull for some though; it nests deeply into the system, some people don't like that), and if people say it doesn't detect anything or less then others, then mostlikely they a) didn't configured it properly (to dedect everything) or b) didn't had the updated virus libraries (people often do forget about this)...
Of course it is possible that some virusscanner doesn't detect one particualr virus by name, but almost all virusscanners can be configured so that they still detect these kind of new virusses. Although false alarms may occur; and it is up to the user to interpret those.
I'm not saying that Norton is _thé_ virusscanner though, of course it has his flaws (like: it can detect almost anything, but can't always delete the virus completely although it will prevent execution.)
quote:
Originally posted by John Anderton
When i put f-prot it found 2 viruses nesting in my pc. Also since we are talkin bout av's. My friend had nav and it didn't show any virus. He removed it and put some other av it think avg ang it showed that there was a virus in the system restore folder. So is that a virus or is it incorrectly detected ???
This can still be a false detection. It depends on many things: first of all, how are the virusscanners configured. Second of all, not all virusscanners use the same strict/not so strict categoration of virusses.
eg: some scanners tell you, by default, a dos format program is a dangerous virus/trojan, others ignore it because there is nothing to worry about because it is a tool. A nice example of this is the tagging of the sponsor by AVG, AVG calls it a dangerous swizzor-trojan/virus, while in fact it is just adware. But it is quite possible that the sponsor has some kind of signature/code that resembles that of the swizzor trojan, yet it isn't, etc...
Again, a virusscanner is a very powerful tool and should be used and interpreted as that, not as an automatically out-of-the-box, "easy" n00b util. Although many people and even viruscompanies advertise it like that (of course)....
My advise would be: use 2 different virusscanners for the regular full diskscanning. And use one of the two to monitor activities. Before using them configure them properly and make sure you understand each option. If not, then seek further help/explaination of those options in the help files or on the sites, this is very important!
If something is detected, get more info about:
A) the program itself (read the EULA's, helpfiles, etc..., go to the site of that program, ask questions, etc...)
B) the actual detected virus/trojan/whatever. Again search the major virus-databases for more info (also the one from the concurrent virusscanner companies)
After all this ask yourself the questions: from where did I get the program? Did I downloaded it from some warez site or client (eg: emule, kazaa, etc...)? Then mostlikely it WILL be a virus... Did I used the program before without any problems and is the virus/trojan not some thing that would infect other programs? What did I run before? Then it could be a false alarm (especially if one virusscanner detects it and another not), etc.. etc..
You see, common sense is something you must not forget to use. Virusscanners (and other related tools like adware/spyware-monitors and even other things like HOSTS files and stuff) are not the almighty holy grales of security. They still are and always will be databases of stuff and tools to detect something automatically. And since programs and PC's still haven't an artificial intelligents there can still be errors and misinterpretations...
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