Does it seem like anti virus programs r going down the capper latly? I just got a virus 2 hours ago, off MSN networks, way to go mcaffee. Nav finds it, but can't do anything about it, not even quarrentine! Way to go symantec. Grisoft doesn't even see anything, but u get what u pay for. I had to sit in front of my pc and read through my win.ini and system.ini files in command prompt all freakin night comparing it to the print out back up I made last week to repair my pc. Oh yeah, and I had to delete the file myself in dos too. And restore my stuff using SFC!!!! Ack, ok I'm done now, I'm just curious, and I'm doomed to stupid computer problems, or is anyone else finding that AVs today suck the big one?

I think what we are experiencing is more virus, hacker, cracker, ad placing activity than a few years ago. I use Norton, Zone Alarm Pro firewall, Adaware, Spider, Spybot, Ad/Subtract just to keep my system somewhat clean, and according to Wilder's and Gibson research I should have a separate Trojan virus protection program. Going on line is now a risk that requires many resources of protection. Eventually Big brother will step in and than it will be too protected and watched. I would rather take the risk, than have Government intervention.

"Koby" Antivirus on its own is not enough. Regardless of what type you use you are always at some risk since they rely on signature updates which occur after the virus infection. Virus defence is reactive and not proactive. You should try a proactive defence like a sandbox from www.finjan.com or www.pelicansecurity.com.

I don't know what other security programs you run, "John T" has the right idea, relying on a some what layered defence. I advise using seperate Anti-Trojan defence as well. The only one I can recommend is TDS-3. Also a previous Norton GHost image would have saved you alot of the trouble of recovering from the Virus. All you would have had to do was restore from an image that had been created before the Virus infection.

Before spending a full night trying to clean your PC by deleting the infected files from DOS did you think about trying to run the virus scan from safe mode so that the files were not in use and could be deleted?

Did you create a DOS based boot rescue disk boot to it and run the scan from floppy to clean the files?

Its not that the AV software cant clean it. Its the fact that some of the new viruses must be cleaned in diferent ways then just running a scan in normal mode and deleting files. After finding a virus on your PC and not being able to remove files check the database at symantec.com and other places to find out how to remove the virus properly and you may save yourself hours of work.

Problem is, that virus writers test their programs against the major AV programs before they release them. They have time to make them difficult for the AV programs to clean. Takes time for the AV people to catch up.

I have tried removing it in safe mode, it didn't even pick up the ifected file while it was still on my pc.... Now I'm really afraid to reconnect it to my network because the other pc has XP and I don't like it or know how to deal with it. Oh and by the way, I have a mechanical firewall and 2 different AVs running. I figure that should be enough. DO u ever wonder y someone would spend upwards of a month writing virus softwear just to piss other ppl off. I mean I feel bad for these ppl cause they really need a life....

and another question, if I have xp home on my other pc and can't access any system files, does that mean that it can't be infected, cause I know the file goes to windows\temporary internet files\.... and such. And if I can get norton system works, leagally, should I?

And another.... U know the symantec classifications for viruses 1-5. Has there ever been a 5? And what was it's name and payload?

I think you should use kaspersky AVP..it is great...detects trojans as well..it was the only program that detected BO2K in my system...i am also using AVG(grisoft)...seem to work fine for me...never had problems...

There is a new opaserve variant that is very destructive going around. Decide what antivirus program you want, then uninstall the other one. You can go to Symantec and Microsoft websites and read their instructions/reasons about why you do not want to run two antivirus programs at the same time. Then go to PC Pitstop, Gibson Research, Browsertune, PC Flank, Wilders.org, thepublicworks and spywareinfo and make sure that you have the security settings for your browser/email are set correctly, and to learn about other security problems that you must deal with. You are the most important part of your computer's security, as any antivirus or any other security program only provides support and backup. Use the on line virus scans from Trend Micro/Symantec, the trojan scan from PC Flank, if it is positive download one of the folowing anti-trojan programs from that site: TDS, Tauscan, Trojan Hunter, Trojan Remover to detect and clean your system. You might also check out Finjan's "Surfinguardpro". Take care and all the best!

all i can say is NORTON and McAFFEE are called CRAPWARE .. absolutely useless .. norton can detect , but cleaning it doesn't seem to do. and macaffe can't detect or clean very well at all ... get a copy of NOD32 or SOLO virus scanner and you have NO problems once you have the up to date dat files ... there isn't one single scanner that can compare to nod32 :)

I have not lost faith in antivirus software. Panda & Norton work well for me. 99% of the viruses i come in contact with are via email. The other 1% came from clicking a link at google and being attacked from what i imagine was an infected server. Panda Blocked that.

I stopped using mail clients for a while and only checked mail online. Now i use mailwasher to bounce & delete junk before i open my mail client.

Nothing slips by because all the Klez attempts are 100K+ [duh] and all the spam was wirtten by software trying to evade filters with subjects like "876987fsdfsdf Get bigger now" or "you won something" . Unless you know thousands of people who email you every day.. the average user should have no problem sorting valid email from junk. If for some reason the "viagra" or "live webcam" subject sparks an interest.. delete the junk mail and go to a search engine.

Your best defense is yourself. E-card? Virus info? Gimme a break.. Delete that garbage and move on. File sharing? Good luck with that.. The question isnt "if" anymore.. now its "when" will i be infected.

I spend a fair amount of time online [allover the web].. 5 hours or more most days. My email address is posted in many forums so the spam harvesters target me frequently and lunatics who dont like my opinion can send me viruses. Some nut sends me Klez each holiday. One for Thanksgiving, christmas and 2 for newyears. Each titled to match the holiday and each from someone i know [spoofed address].

Education.. me knowing a tiny little [teeny tiny almost nothing] bit about virus and spammer tricks eliminates the problem. All the protection in the world wont help some people. No amount of hardware or software will protect a sloppy surfer. I knew about kazaa's spyware before i knew about kazaa. Use a little caution before jumping on board.

Im not claiming to be some guru far from it infact.. and i admit that maybe.. just maybe ive been real lucky but.. Pay attention to what your doing and you wont have 3 antivirus programs conflicting with each other and you wont be running 12 other programs to fight the problem. If you get paranoid about a virus after downloading that britney spears movie and your antivirus software says your safe.. go do an online scan.. Whats a few more minutes?

I dont know which AV is best or which is a bigger resource hog. I know that norton2001 sucked big time with windows me and pandas titanium sat quietly in my task bar and did its job. I also know that norton 2002 works just fine with windows 2000 after getting over that weird update thing a few weeks ago.

Virus Bulletin shows grisofts free avg as failing every test over the last couple years yet its free and many people swear by it. Does it matter which one we have so long as we have one and we use it right?

Well shutmeupordown, I've seen ur posts over this site and u're a pretty knowledgeable guy. Iono, I was stupid and cocky and I figured what could happen, I lost three hours of my life to 3 seconds of stupidity... But the thing with GAV is, I really think it's a placebo, u get what u pay for, and GAV is free so yeah. But I'm really concerned about the viruses that r coming. The three that I checked out at symantec that got a 4 rateing were actually kinda funny and not that cruel seeing as u still can boot ur pc after u've been infected. A Klez sent out all of ur media files including jpgs and docs to everyone on ur mailing lists, so get rid of those ranchy photos with ur wife u made that one night, put them on a cd up on a high shelf away from ur kids reach or something. But yeah, what I'm concerned about is, the next big one. I read an article that when someone unleashes this thing, they may shut down the net and the web for a week before they find a solution to it, or an inoculate or something. Is this true, I mean anything could happen, but could this ever really happen?