KWSN Orbiting Fortress

[alpha_fruit]

I found this on another board, if any of you PC geeks see something wrong on this post, let me know and tell me what to change and I will.

Free Virus and Spyware Removers
Lavasoft Ad-aware
http://www.lavasoft.de/
or http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
or http://www.lavasoftusa.net/
or http://www.lavasoftusa.org/
or http://www.lavasoft.nu/
or http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=506
Can't say enough good things about this one.

Microsoft AntiSpyware Windows Defender(Beta)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx
Real time protection, excellent scanner. Still in beta mode. You must have a legal version of XP installed. If for some reason you do not have a LEGAL copy of Windows XP, do not try to download this. It will put your machine through the Windows Genuine Advantage test, and it will fail.

Webroot Spy Sweeper
http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php
30 day free trial, very good scanner. If your machine is infected, download and run
after Spybot S&D

X-Cleaner Deluxe
http://www.xblock.com/
http://www.xblock.com/deluxe.shtml
http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads/x/
They have a free version available. This thing can fit on a single floppy, which makes it nice if you are using a public access machine.

On heavily infected machines run this while running Trend micros Clean Sys



Spybot S & D Intranet Update Server
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/iuserver/index.html
Can't say enough good things about this program either. I always run it first.
S&D is the most gentlest on the machine and can fix New.net infections with out knocking the entire Internet off line.
Real good innoculation program, and a massive host file list.

HijackThis
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/
or http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html
or http://www.spywareinfo.com/.../hijackthis.zip (direct download)
Very good program in the hands of someone trained to use it. Big warning, don't delete anything
until you are told what to delete, don't. This thing shows all running processes.

Yahoo Tool Bar with Anti Spy
http://toolbar.yahoo.com/
Uses Pest Patrol Engine.


SpywareBlaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
or http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html

Will not get rid of spyware, but innoculates your machine against Active X and hazardous websites and many of the drive by downloads.
Highly- highly recommend the downloading and updating at least on a monthly bases with this one

Free Virus scanners

AVAST! home
http://www.avast.com/
The most powerful of all the free anti-virus programs. Slight learning curve,
Regular updates. Great E-mail scanning. This also has some great skins, I use the Star Trek skin.
Sometimes this thing just won't install. If that happens, Use one of the others below.

Grisoft AVG Antivirus Free Edition
http://free.grisoft.com/
Most easy to use of all the three. Very nice e-mail scanner. Daily updates. Can set it to do full scan everyday.
This is rated as the weakest of the three scanners when it comes to ratings. But don't let that discourage you from using it. I can say nothing but good about this one.


AntiVir Personal Edition
http://www.free-av.com/ Use this one on your crunching machines.
Very small CPU usage and footprint. Only thing I don't like about the scanner is on many updates you have to download and re-install the whole thing.
Virus updates either require task manager running or do it manually. Updates do come out quite regularly.

ClamWin
http://www.clamwin.com/
Please note that ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access real-time scanner. You need to run manual scans in order to detect a virus or spyware. But if any of you are using Server2003 as a home computer operating system, this will work. You can also combine Clamwin with Winpooch another Public GNU project to get real time scanning. http://winpooch.free.fr Winpooch is an Antispyware/Trojan remover.


In a class by itself

A2 Anti-Malware Free
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/
Hmmm, Not really a virus scanner, not really a spyware/malware scanner. But it does remove a lot of both of them.
This scanner mainly goes after Trojans and keyloggers and it does a very good job of it. It does take a real simple registration to get the program activated. I have gotten a grand total of 6 emails in one year (and I'm signed up for everything they send out) so don't be worried about getting spammed.
Highly-highly recommend adding it to your personnel and update/run it at least once a month

"Many available products have weaknesses in detecting other malicious software (Malware) like Trojans, Dialers, Worms and Spyware (Adware). a² fills the gap that malware writers exploit."

Ewido
http://www.ewido.net/en/

14 day full trial, after that you can still use the scanner manually and have to do manual updates. Ewido just recently merged with AVG. This scanner is very popular on all the anti malware security forums. It is one powerful tool.

"Widow Security Suite supplements existing safety systems and becomes a complete solution, because only a complete safety system is effective. We offer protection in real time against more than 67,000 threats and our malware database is updated daily."

On Line Virus Scanners

Trend Online
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Panda Active Scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
Requires you to provide an e-mail address. I always use my gmail to get through that. Will not remove all malware, but gives the name and path of where it is located.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus: Free Online Virus Scanner
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
This might not actually remove everything it finds, but it does give the full path to for manual cleaning.

CA E-Trust online scanner
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

F-Secure Online Scanner
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml

Windows Live
http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/ce...cid=mscom_msrt
I knew it was just a matter of time before Microsoft started one.

No matter how good of a scanner that you have, these will sometimes find something that yours missed.
Many of the viruses will target your scanner. Feel free to use them anytime you want.


OnLine Anti Spyware Scans

http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html Note: very slow, will probably need to run overnight.

I did not mess with any of the free online scanners that only offers the scan and than will not actually remove what it finds.


Other Removal tools:

Microsoft GDI
http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software—including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom—and helps remove any infection found. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed.

This tool is not a replacement for an anti-virus product. To help protect your computer, you should use an anti-virus product.

Microsoft will release an updated version of this tool on the second Tuesday of each month. New versions will be made available through this web page, Windows Update, and the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site on Microsoft.com.


Mcafee Stinger
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.


Get the Zone Alarm Free Addition

Prevents unauthorized access into your computer. It will also tell you when a program tries to access the Internet. The first time a program tries to contact the Internet a box pops up, gives you the name of the program, the path and asks what you want to do. If you know a program is legit, just hit always allow. If you have no idea what the program is, Google it to find out. Think of it as a giant alarm bell.

Please Read: I have installed the popular ZA on several clients machine recently, and frankly it has become a bloat hog. Some machines I could not even get it to run and have had to make several trips back to remove the blasted thing. I now recommend using the one below.



Sunbelt Kerio Free Personal Firewall
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/kerio.cfm

You get the full product for 30 days, after that the firewall will still work but in a limited mode. But, you will still be much better protected than just using the Windows built in firewall.

"Most products you test function for a month and then they stop. But not the Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall. After 30 days, it shuts down selected features, but will continue to run in 'free' mode".

You can see the table that compares the differences between Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall running in a free mode vs. a full (paid) mode on the website. This does require a sign up, in order to get the download. But don't worry, they do not spam or sell your e-mail address.

HD Tune
http://www.hdtune.com/
While not a virus scanner sometimes hard drive failure will mimic that of computer viruses or a malware infection. This little jewl above will give you all the information on how your hard drive is behaving usually way before a complete hard drive failure. My advice is to get the thing and run it at least monthly to insure your hard drive is still performing properly. You can also leave it on all the time and if something goes wrong it will give you an alert message.



Many of the spyware programs out there are nothing but spyware themselves.
When in doubt check this website.
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_...re.htm#ss_note

Update, Just1Vet is the original writer of these wonderful programs, he is now a member of our board and brought us an update. Thank you for all you great work.



Firewall
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
Comodo Firewall, rated by PC Magazine Online as an Editor's Choice

Boclean Anti Malware
http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html
Used to be a buy item, now it is a freebe

Comodo AntiVirus 2.0 beta
http://www.antivirus.comodo.com/
Antivirus is still a beta. But it still managed to beat MS One Care #ni-2

AOL Antivirus
http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
This does require a sign up, and AOL reserves the right to send E-Mail to you in return. This is actually a Kapersky scanner, so your getting the best. Updates are about every 4 hours if not sooner.
_________________
Don't fuss about growing older, many are denied the chance.

[JerWA]

Couple quick things:

1) You've copied some abbreviated links. They show as ... and actually link as ... which doesn't work hehe.

Windows Defender - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Hijack This - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php for download. Direct downloads quickly become out-dated.

Windows Safety Center - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/default.mspx

Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner - http://safety.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm?s_cid=sah

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (GDI) - http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

The last link: http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

2) Add Comodo personal firewall. Lifetime free, probably the most feature rich and robust free firewall software on the market. Not as friendly as Zone Alarm, friendlier than a full blown firewall (as long as you stay out of the options, because it actually IS a full blown firewall, just with a nice interface hehe). http://www.comodogroup.com/

Great post.

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Stats: [BOINC Synergy] - [Free-DC] - [MundayWeb] - [Netsoft] - [All Project Stats]

[alpha_fruit]

Thanks, I was hoping you PC folks would add/make changes as needed. I know there is lots of great stuff out there for free.

I didn't know how to check all this stuff, but I knew the guy who posted it is an excellent PC person.

Thanks JerWA for the add ons.
_________________
Don't fuss about growing older, many are denied the chance.

[mohrorless]

Webroot Spy Sweeper is a great product. I also use the Symantec virus software.
_________________
Fetch me the Holy Hand Grenade!




Keeper of the Unending keg of PGGBs
Taunter in Training
Campaign Manager for Sir Shrubbery



Plus

[JerWA]

I wonder if, armed with all these new tools, John is going to be brave enough to finally try WhatPulse and join the KWSN team.

I'm not sure what that thing is, but maybe that's what John thinks will happen to his PC.

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Stats: [BOINC Synergy] - [Free-DC] - [MundayWeb] - [Netsoft] - [All Project Stats]

[mohrorless]

Not doing the click counter.
_________________
Fetch me the Holy Hand Grenade!




Keeper of the Unending keg of PGGBs
Taunter in Training
Campaign Manager for Sir Shrubbery



Plus

[Sir Hamster of Elderberry]

This post has so much useful stuff in it, I didn't want to see it get buried. thus the move to this forum. A shadow link remains in the Round Table.

ni! i!u

[bpowe]

and it seemed a likely candidate to remain at the top, so I've made it sticky.

bill
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You can't leave footprints in the Sands of Time while sitting on your butt and who wants to leave Buttprints in the Sands of Time?

[Just1vet]

How ironic. I was headed here to post that. It was my list from the Possums forum. Very glad to see it on other boards.

If someone could update it with these:

Firewall
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
Comodo Firewall, rated by PC Magazine Online as an Editor's Choice

Boclean Anti Malware
http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html
Used to be a buy item, now it is a freebe

Comodo AntiVirus 2.0 beta
http://www.antivirus.comodo.com/
Antivirus is still a beta. But it still managed to beat MS One Care

AOL Antivirus
http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
This does require a sign up, and AOL reserves the right to send E-Mail to you in return. This is actually a Kapersky scanner, so your getting the best. Updates are about every 4 hours if not sooner.,

[alpha_fruit]

Thanks Just1Vet, I updated the virus and spyware stuff you gave us and let everyone know you were the original write of all these wonderful programs.

Good to see you here and wishing you the very best and hope you enjoy your stay with the lou-knees.
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Don't fuss about growing older, many are denied the chance.

[Sir Papa Smurph]

Well I wish I had seen this post earlier, I have been looking for a new firewall as I was still using Sygate. I found Comodo this past weekend and I love it.

Btw: personally I don't recomend Zone Alarm as it is not uninstall friendly. I have had at least half a dozen friends who could not get their internet connection to function after removal. It is very fussy about uninstalls and you had better do it right or else.

Sypware guard is great but if you run XP make sure you download and install the correct one or you will regret it.

I also use Spyware Blaster, it is just a host file.

EZ Cleaner is a great registry and unnessary file cleaner. ( remember all chat pages get saved ) I have removed 100 Gb of usless files with that on the first run on more than one occasion.

Don't forget AdAware. Free and finds things the others don't.


Does anyone know of a good and Free Defrag program. I use diskeeper but it is only free for a short time and then the functionality is limited.
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a.k.a. Licentious of Borg.........Resistance Really is Futile.......
and a Really Hoopy Frood who always knows where his Towel is...

[Sir Hamster of Elderberry]

Sir Jbyram2 just mentioned a program called UnHackMe he recently used and got good results from. I don't have any experience with it myself.
http://www.greatis.com/unhackme/

ni! i!u

[jbyram2]

Yup.. Unhack meUninstalled a nasty rootkit trojan quite handily. hijack this was able to identify it, but could not remove it.

30 day evaluation, then $20 to keep it.

Do NOT ever install Security Toolbar 7.1.
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0.0 Giggly hertzes Folding!
Go Diskless..Pure computing elegance, no frills

The brain I'm wearing makes me eat chocolate and cry!!
Something Completely different

[APoch]

I use comodo firewall and spybot, both are really nice .

Btw just in case you have not been to the comodo site as of late, you may not be aware that there are patches for 3.0. the patches make the updater functional and if you are using 3.013 you will need the patch.

The only issue i have with spybot is that it eats 100% of cpu while loading and it takes a bit longer to load than the old ver.(1.4).
As far as comodo , I did have a bit of a learning curve at first, but even for a novice like me it was not to bad.
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[Sir Hamster of Elderberry]

I spent part of my Saturday evening and the first four hours of my Sunday morning, trying to remove a resurrected version of Trojan.Zlob.L (ET* something) from my wife's laptop. I didn't remember this list, but I wish I had. I ended up using this: http://www.superantispyware.com/, which did the job.

Also tried Spyware Doctor (I think). Bad plan - it only scans and then wants you to buy the program.

I also needed HiJackThis to clear up the desktop background from the trash the trojan put there. Since I last used it, there is improved facility to automatically look up some of the things it finds without talking to a human expert. Caution is still needed though.

Finally, as if any reminder is needed, be HIGHLY suspicious of any alarming messages that pop up telling you you need more anti-spyware software. It may be malware feeding you false reports, trying to get you to spend money on their program.

[Old woman(mann, sorry)]

Our IT guys at work recommend AVG Free and Spybot.
I use them and am free of problems.

I've been told that the first thing that malware does is to disable your defences. How true is this and what can we do about it?
If we download Spybot etc but don't install them can they be disabled or, if we get a problem can that then be installed and run?
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[img]http://boincstats.boincstats.com/search/all_projects.php?cpid=8fbcb4ce48ba412ccbb4337d9d2bf18a.gif[/img]

[Yankton]

Usually what they can disable is your firewall/anti-virus. Sometimes hose your browser over.

If it's not installed they can't do anything to it. Spybot and Adaware are good choices to keep installed. I've not seen anything that disables them but I also don't use the always on portions, they are only active when I ran them to scan. Of course your best defence would be to install linux or unix.


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Some days are worse than others.

[PhastPhred]

For AntiSpyware, I usually give ppl AdAware and Spybot

For AntiVirus/Trojans, I usualy give ppl AVG Free and Avast

Best bet is the Abacus, but you must wipe the beads with a AntiBacterial
sheet to ensure it's not going to be a source of it's OWN Virii!!

FWIW

[Sir Hamster's Goat]

BAAAA!
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BAAAA!

[Sir Hamster of Elderberry]

Look out! It's a Trojan goat!! Well, at least I think he has worms ...
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-- Have you seen my goat?