gHacks technology news » antivirus

Antivirus Software AVG 9 Released – AVG 9 Free Downloads Soon

Martin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:35:07 +0000

Security software companies like Symantec, Kaspersky or AVG are releasing new versions of their software programs every year. This year will be a special year though with the release of Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7 on October 22. Many users will now not only ask about the new features and improvements of the antivirus programs but also if and how they will run under Windows 7. AVG hat a bad year with AVG 8. Many users felt that it was a resource hog, slowing down system start and operations in Windows. It is still one of the most popular (and free) antivirus software programs out there and many of its users are waiting for the AVG 9 free release.

AVG has already release the commercial version of AVG 9 which can be downloaded and purchased from the AVG homepage. AVG 9 Free will be released on October 15 to the public and downloads will be available from the usual sources including the AVG website but also every major download portal.

So what has changed between AVG 9 and AVG 8.5?

The homepage lists three new and improved features without going into detail:

NEW Enhanced Firewall (only available in AVG Internet Security) Prevents hackers from seeing inside your computer
NEW Superior Phishing Protection Checks to make sure web pages really are what they appear to be
NEW Enhanced Anti-Spam (only available in AVG Internet Security) Blocks spammers and scammers from clogging your system

AVG goes into greater detail when it comes to the performance improvements in AVG 9. They say that their newest antivirus software AVG 9 runs up to 50% faster than previous versions, boots up to 10-15% faster, uses 10-15% less computer memory while running and that it now takes less time and clicks to complete installations of the AVG software.

AVG 9 Free downloads are not live yet but will be from October 15 on. The downloads for the free version of AVG will be available at this site. Upgrades from AVG 8 will be handled by the installer of AVG 9 automatically. AVG 9 and AVG 9 free will be compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Tags: antivirus, avg, avg 9, avg 9 free, avg 9 free download

How To Download Microsoft Security Essentials

Martin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:37:43 +0000

Some of you might wonder why I’m writing about this topic again after publishing the two articles Microsoft Security Essentials Final Announced and Microsoft Security Essentials Final Available. The main reason for this third article originates from an article about SEO poisoning that was posted a few days ago at Websense. SEO poisoning describes a method of using SEO to rank rogue websites highly in the search engines for specific search terms. The release of Microsoft’s Security Essentials software seems to have sparked rogue websites that rank highly for related search terms, do not offer the Microsoft product but a rogue antivirus software that is infecting the computer systems instead.

The best way to download Microsoft Security Essentials is therefor directly from Microsoft. You can point your web browser directly to the Security Essentials website which is hosted at Microsoft.com.

The only valid alternatives are trusted download portals like Softpedia or Betanews but definitely not third party websites that are offering the download. Most experienced users might not have a problem distinguishing legit and rogue websites but many Internet users seem to have them.

Tags: antivirus, microsoft security essentials, security essentials, security essentials download, windows software

Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility

Martin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:10:48 +0000

Many antivirus developers offer bootable rescue ISO images of their antivirus software programs so that users can use them to scan the computer system without having to boot into the installed operating systems. Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility combines antivirus rescue disks and system tools (like partitioning programs or boot managers) in one ISO image. This gives the user the means to run multiple antivirus rescue disks and other system tools from one disk or USB drive.

The core program can be downloaded directly from the developer’s website. It does not ship with any of the antivirus rescue disks or system tools though. It is up to the user to download them individually with the possibility to skip programs by simply not downloading them.

The program itself is divided into four tabs that list the various tools that are supported by the antivirus rescue disk. The Italian interface can be switched to several other languages. A click on any entry will open a website with download possibilities. Some websites are also shown in the Italian language but it is usually not a big problem to change those to another language like English or German to download the tool in the right language.

The downloaded images and tools have to be placed in the right directory so that the program will recognize them during the creation of the bootable disk image. Here is the list of supported antivirus rescue CDs and other tools:

antivirus: Avira Antivir Rescue System, Bitdefender, Dr. Web Live CD, F-Secure, GData, Kaspersky Kav Rescue CD, Panda Safe CD and VBA Rescue

utility: Floppy win98SE, Clonezilla, Gparted, NT password, Parted Magic, System Rescue CD, Ultimate Boot CD

Linux: Austrumi, Damn Small Linux, NimbleX, Puppy Linux, Slax

PE: LiveXP, MegalabCD, WindowsPE, UBCD4Win, VistaPE

The program offers then to create either an ISO image which can be burned to CD and DVD or to make to copy the files to an USB device and make that device bootable.

Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility is slightly more complex to setup initially. The tools that are combined on the disk or USB device on the other hand might make it an interesting option for users who usually run multiple antivirus programs and utilities in situations where they are needed.

The program can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus rescue disk, antivirus software, iso, rescue disk

How To Run Commercial Antivirus Software Without Paying For It

Martin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:54:20 +0000

This article is not about illegal methods of obtaining software products. But read on if you are interested in how you can protect your computer with the latest antivirus software without having to pay for it. The principle is simply. Most antivirus companies are offering test versions of their products. These versions can usually be tested for 30 or 90 days. All you need to do to protect your computer with antivirus software is to install a new product every 90 days. This means that you need four antivirus products, preferably the most reliable ones that are offering 90 days of testing. You start again with next year’s edition of the first antivirus software that you started with. If there are not enough 90 day trials you switch to 30 day trials instead or use a free antivirus software to fill gaps in the 12 month cycle.

The following links point to antivirus software programs that can be downloaded as trial versions. These trial versions can be used for either 30 days or 90 days without payment.

Which antivirus software developers are offering 90 day trials?

McAfee VirusScan Plus [link]
McAfee Internet Security [link]
McAfee Total Protection [link]
Norton Antivirus [link]
Norton 360 [link]

Which antivirus software developers are offering 30 day trials?

Kaspersky Antivirus [link]
Kaspersky Internet Security [link]
Bitdefender Antivirus [link]
Bitdefender Total Security [link]
Bitdefender Internet Security [link]
ESET Smart Security [link]
ESET Nod32 Antivirus [link]
Trend Micro Internet Security Pro [link]
Trend Micro Internet Security [link]
Panda Security Antivirus [link]
Panda Antivirus Pro [link]
F-Secure Internet Security [link]
F-Secure Antivirus [link]

Please let us know in the comments if we have missed a product.

Some notes: This article does not rate the antivirus software programs. There might be free programs out there that are comparable to the listed antivirus products. The only problem with this method is that users need to install different antivirus software regularly. This not only means more work for the user but also the requirement to get used to new software products.

Many antivirus companies are running promotions every now and then that offer longer trial versions for download. This will obviously help tremendously.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Tags: antivirus, bitdefender, f-secure, kaspersky, norton, panda, security-software, symantec, trend micro, virus

Microsoft Security Essentials Final Announced

Martin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:55:55 +0000

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free security software that is being developed by Microsoft. The security software was released as a limited beta to users in the United States, Brazil and China. It was (actually still is) possible to download the beta from download portals like Betanews without experiencing limitations. That’s what many users did and most seemed to have been pleased with the performance of the security software.

Several updates of Microsoft Security Essentials were released since then and it was rumored that Microsoft aimed for a October 22 release to give Windows 7 users a chance to use the final version of the software program.

The announcement that Microsoft Security Essentials would be released in the coming weeks was spread to all beta participants who received an email that informed them of an upgrade and the projected release in the coming weeks.

The final version of Microsoft Security Essentials will be released to the public in the coming weeks. If you are running the older version of the beta (1.0.1407.0), we encourage you to upgrade to a newer version of the beta (1.0.1500.0).

The announcement does not explicitly mention the Windows 7 release date but it seems pretty obvious that Microsoft Security Essentials final will be released around the time of the Windows 7 release. Users who want to test Microsoft Security Essentials right now can do so by following the links posted above. The final version will be published at Microsoft’s Security Essentials website.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus software, microsoft, microsoft security essentials, windows security, windows software

Download Microsoft Security Essentials

Martin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:20:56 +0000

You might have been one of the lucky ones who was able to download the beta of Microsoft antivirus software program Security Essentials. Chance is you missed the opportunity as Microsoft has limited the beta downloads to 75000. Users who want to download Microsoft Security Essentials today are notified that downloads are not available at this time.

This does not mean however that there is no way of downloading Microsoft’s antivirus software. You just have to look elsewhere for the download. The software is available on various P2P networks which is however probably not the safest way to download the Security Essentials. A better option is to look at the various download portals who check and verify all downloads that they offer which makes the process more secure.

Microsoft Security Essentials can be downloaded from Softpedia for example. The version of the software that can be downloaded is the exact same version that was available for download at the Microsoft Security Essentials website. It is basically the beta client of the software that was available for download. Users even save some time and hassle as they do not have to log in with their Windows Live account to download the Security Essentials software.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus software, microsoft security essentials, morro, security essentials, windows software

Antivirus Software Microsoft Security Essentials Tested

Martin — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:00:10 +0000

Microsoft has released a public beta of their new antivirus software Security Essentials a few days ago. The beta was limited to 75000 participants; A number that was reached rather quickly. Security Essentials are at the moment not available on the Microsoft website anymore but it is expected that the final version of the antivirus software will make its debut before the release of Microsoft’s next operating system Windows 7.

A question that lingered in the minds of many security conscious users was how Security Essentials would compare to other respected antivirus software programs such as Kaspersky antivirus, Norton antivirus or the free AVG or Avira Anti-Vir. First tests are in courtesy of the German AV-Test GMBH company.

Computerworld spoke with the company’s manager Andreas Marx who mentioned that they ran preliminary tests with a set of nearly 3,200 common viruses, bot Trojans and worms on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Results were impressive as Security Essentials was able to detect all malicious software in the tests and managed to avoid false positive reports as well. Tests with a larger set of viruses, trojans and worms have been scheduled which is why the current results should not be considered final.

Security Essentials did well in this first test though as it was able to detect all the malicious software (which included rootkits as well). This stands in contrast to comments made by other antivirus companies that were trying to be suggestive that Security Essentials was an inferior product.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus software, microsoft security essentials, morro, security essentials, windows antivirus, windows software

Microsoft Security Essentials Beta Now Available

Martin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:00:24 +0000

Microsoft has made available the public beta version of their new free antivirus software program Microsoft Security Essentials which was formerly known as Morro. The antivirus software is available for 32-bit editions of Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

It was formerly speculated that the beta would be limited to users from the United States, Israel, China and Brasil. This is apparently not so as it was possible to download the Microsoft Security Essentials Beta from Europe. Having said that it is clear that there is no IP check at this point in time. A Windows Live account is required to initiate the beta download of the antivirus software and it could be that there are checks in the background that check the system language or country of the Windows Live account.

The start page contains a quick survey that has to be completed before the download options become available after logging in. You can read a first review in the Microsoft Security Essentials leaks article here at Ghacks.

It would be interesting if users from other countries (that Microsoft excluded from the beta) can also download the Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software. The Security Essentials website contains information about the product and the link to Microsoft Connect from where the security program can be downloaded.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus software, microsoft security essentials, morro, security essentials, security-software, windows software

Microsoft Security Essentials Leaks

Martin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:12:23 +0000

Microsoft’s own product testing guidelines seem at the same time the major problem why so many Microsoft products leak to the Internet. We have seen numerous Windows 7 builds hit the web only days after they have been build by Microsoft. The latest product to leak was codenamed Morro and renamed Microsoft Security Essentials in the last days. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free antivirus program and not a security suite. Microsoft is offering other products like the Windows Firewall, Windows Defender or Windows backup for that.

The security software requires a genuine Windows operating system which is checked during installation. The leak is available for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 and can be downloaded from various P2P networks already.

Microsoft Security Essentials comes with a basic interface that can be used to scan the computer system for malicious software. Options are available to run a scheduled scan and exclude files, filetypes and processes from the scan. It is yet unclear as to how effective the security software is. It will probably take some time until the first comparisons are published.

Microsoft Security Essentials is loading two processes into computer memory after execution. The first is called msseces.exe and uses roughly 8 Megabytes of computer memory, the second on the other hand – called MsMpEng.exe – uses 40 Megabytes by default which can rise to 60 when it becomes active.

Tags: antivirus, microsoft security essentials, morro, windows antivirus, windows security, windows software

Cloud Antivirus

Martin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:04:17 +0000

Security software developer Panda announced a new antivirus software solution that is based on the so called cloud computing concept. Cloud computing refers to dynamically scalable services that are provided over the Internet. Panda promises lighter resource usage and better performance by moving the data analysis from the local computer system to the cloud servers on the Internet. Users can currently download the latest beta version of Panda Cloud Antivirus freely at the official website. Other benefits include the always up to date virus signature and scanning engines as all updates are handled on the server side.

While a resource reduction and automatic updates might appeal to many users it should be noted that an Internet connection is required to make use of the cloud antivirus service. Users without an Internet connection will not be able to test programs and files on their local computer system for malicious code. This can be problematic even for broadband users who are usually online 24/7 if the Internet connection dies because of technical problems.

The real question therefor is if users want to (or can) rely solely on the cloud antivirus concept. The answer should be in most cases “no”. What good is an antivirus software that might stop working during usage because of a dead network card or Internet provider network difficulties.

Would you rely on a cloud antivirus solution?

Update:

Panda Cloud Antivirus stores the signatures and detection information in a local cache as well which means that the computer system is protected even if no Internet connection is available. (thanks Rain for clarifying this)

Tags: antivirus, cloud antivirus, cloud computing, panda, panda antivirus, security-software, windows software

AVG Antivirus Linkscanner

Martin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:36:26 +0000

Users of the antivirus software AVG already know the AVG Linkscanner as it is included as a module in the antivirus software. AVG has now made it available as a standalone application for the Windows operating system compatible with the Internet Explorer and Firefox web browser. The difference lies in the detail. AVG Linkscanner will install a software program but also an add-on on the computer system if the Firefox web browser is installed next to Internet Explorer.

Firefox users do not need the AVG Linkscanner program to be running in the background as they rely solely on the add-on for their web browser. Internet Explorer users on the other hand need the background application.

The background application does provide access to a few configuration settings and updates which the add-on does not offer (except for the updates probably). AVG Linkscanner wants to install a toolbar upon installation. This toolbar is not needed for the program to work properly but gives quick access to some of the functions of the security program.

Once installed AVG Linkscanner will automatically scan search result lists in popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo. It will query a database maintained by AVG that returns a safety rating for each website in the results. A green icon indicates a safe website whereas a red icon indicates danger. AVG will display a general warning about the page if a link that has been rated as dangerous is clicked on. The user can select to go back or continue to the website in question.

AVG Linkscanner is a viable alternative for users who feel insecure on the Internet. Experienced users on the other hand usually have the tools, knowledge and experience to analyse a website by themselves.

Tags: antivirus, avg, avg linkscanner, firefox, internet-explorer, security-software, web browser, windows software

Anti Virus Software Removal Tools Overview

Martin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:00:36 +0000

Uninstalling anti virus software on a computer system is sometimes not a trivial task as they tend to add their components deep into the system to provide protection from various threats PC users face these days. The need for anti virus software removal tools arises if the default uninstallation fails. This usually leads to a messed up computer system that could throw all kinds of errors at the user. It could also break other anti virus software either during installation or usage.

So called anti virus removal tools have been created to effectively remove traces of anti virus software from the computer system. They usually run a series of processes that delete files, Registry settings and other parameters or options that have been installed by the antivirus software during installation.

Below is a collection of anti virus software removal tools that have been created by the developers of the programs to aid their users if they encounter difficulties uninstalling it.

Did we miss antivirus software uninstallation tools in the list? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: anti virus, anti virus software, antivir, antivirus, avast, avg, kaspersky, mcafee, microsoft, norton, panda, removal, symantec, virus software, Windows

Analyse Software In A Remote Secure Environment

Martin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:01:30 +0000

Several remote services are available to analyze submitted software programs or files for malicious contents like computer viruses or trojans. Among them are Virus Total which uses more than a dozen different antivirus engines to scan submitted files. All of them have one thing in common: They scan and analyze the files using signature databases and maybe heuristic methods which means that they might miss malicious code. The benefit of a security scan in a remote secure environment is that the uploaded files or computer software programs get executed and analyzed.

CW Sandbox is a web service with a similar looking frontend like all the other online virus scanners. What sets it apart is the remote secure environment that it uses to execute and analyze the files that get uploaded. It uses a sandbox to execute the file and will log all system activity that is connected to the file launch. The file analysis contains a summary but also detailed changes to the file system, the Windows Registry and network activity plus a technical summary with additional information.

Each report is divided into different categories. The File Changes for example contains categories that list newly created, opened and deleted files and a summary that lists all file operations in chronological order. The network activity analysis will detail connections that have been established including host names, IP addresses and if data has been posted to one of those addresses.

The submit form on the website of the project accepts files with a maximum size of 16 Megabytes. Zip files with up to 50 files can be uploaded to the service as well if the password is set to “infected”. A link to the file analysis will be send to the email address that the user enters when submitting the files.

CW Sandbox is an excellent online service that provides an in depth analysis of submitted files. The only drawbacks are the 16 Megabyte file size limit and that the reports are send to an email address with an undefined wait time. A ticket system on the website directly detailing the place in queue and the estimated wait time would be really helpful for users who are submitting files to the service.

Tags: antivirus, computer security, cw sandbox, malware protection, online virus scan, remote secure, sandbox, software analysis

Norton Security Scan

Martin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:56:27 +0000

It is usually not a good idea to operate more than one security software of the same kind on a computer system. This is especially true for antivirus software solutions but also firewalls. Users who currently use an antivirus software might nevertheless be inclined to scan their system from time to time with different scan engines to make sure that nothing slipped through the scanners of that security software. They could use Online Virus Scan services to test their systems or rely on a software that does not interfere with the installed antivirus software.

Norton’s Security Scan (via JK Web Talks) is such a software. While it has been primarily designed to sell a Norton antivirus product like Norton 360 it can be used to scan the system without interfering with the current antivirus solution. What makes it interesting is that it uses the latest virus definition files that are also used in Norton retail antivirus software products. It does however perform only a partial scan of the computer system by default but this option can be changed in the settings on the main page.

The antivirus software program will check the virus definition file and initiate a download of the latest if it is outdated. The antivirus software will then either perform a quick or full scan of the computer system. A quick scan will only check the most common locations where viruses and other malicious programs are found while the full system scan will check all files located on connected hard drives.

The interface will display banner advertisement during the scan; Most users will probably minimize the program interface or move other applications into the foreground to prevent those distracting advertisements from appearing on the computer screen. Norton Security Scan will list all discovered threads in a table on the main page providing information about the type of threat (e.g. tracking cookie) including a description, the threat name and target name.

The antivirus program is only a scanner which means it is not possible to clean the files directly. Possibilities include research on the Internet to find a free antivirus software that can clean it or to contact the developer of the installed antivirus solution about the problem. It should be obvious by now that the program is great for users who want to perform additional security scans of their computer system but not for those who are looking for a complete security solution.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus scan, antivirus software, norton 360, norton security scan, online virus scan, security-software, virus scan, windows software

Antivirus Firewall Software Leak Test

Martin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:53:37 +0000

How good is your antivirus firewall software program? It is hard to tell as a end user. Sure, you can rely on information provided by test magazines, Internet websites, antivirus and firewall software developers or opinions from friends and colleagues. All of those recommendations are to a degree based on opinion and test criteria.

A good way to perform security tests on antivirus firewall software programs are so called leak tests. These tests simulate different kind of attacks and manipulations on a computer system without actually doing any harm to it. They usually present statistics at the end telling the user which tests the antivirus firewall software program passed and which it failed.

Comodo Leaktest is but one of the many available leak tests on the Internet. The security software is testing a total 34 different attacks and manipulations of a computer system running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Depending on the antivirus and firewall software in use some, all or none might spawn alerts.

The software program will display a score in the end. The maximum amount of points is 340, 10 for each test passed. Each test is explained on a local html page that gets downloaded with the software program. Those information can be used to find out why a test has not been passed. It does require some research though as the information provided are only answers to the questions what the test is doing and what the harm is if the test fails.

The leak test can be divided into different categories. It will begin with some rootkits tests followed by invasion, injection, info send, impersonation and hijacking tests.

Comodo Leak Test is a portable security software that will test an antivirus firewall software that is installed on a Windows operating system. It provides the means to find out if your computer system is still – partially or fully – vulnerable to common attacks encountered locally and remotely.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus firewall software, antivirus software, comodo leak test, firewall, firewall leak test, firewall software, leak test, portable software, windows software

AVG Remover

Martin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:20:00 +0000

Software companies that release specialized tools to remove their software programs from a computer system are usually regarded with suspicion by many users. Many feel that there should not be specialized uninstallers as the regular uninstaller should be able to handle the uninstallation as good. The question that comes up is why they do not make the specialized uninstaller the default one.

AVG Remover has been specifically designed to remove the antivirus software program AVG Antivirus from a computer system. It will remove all parts of the AVG installation from a computer system including all Registry settings and files on disk. The program has been designed by AVG software developers as a last resort. They let us know that the AVG Remover tool “is the least option to be used in case the AVG uninstallation / repair installation process has failed repeatedly”.

The software program could therefor prove to be useful to remove AVG after a system crash or some other catastrophe that rendered the default uninstaller useless.

Similar tools exist for Kaspersky software in the form of KAV Remover and the Norton Removal Tool.

Tags: antivirus, avg, avg remover, kaspersky, kav remover, norton, norton removal tool, norton uninstaller, symantec

Ghacks Christmas Giveaway: ESET NOD32 Antivirus

Martin — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:00:22 +0000

Today is the last day of the Ghacks Christmas Giveaway. We were able to hand out lots of licenses to popular commercial software programs to our readers. The application for today is ESET NOD32 Antivirus, a antivirus software by the Slovakian company ESET. NOD32 is offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit edition for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Installation is pretty straightforward and comes more or less with the usual choices. It is a little bit surprising (positive that is) that no reboot is required after installation. NOD32 will place its icon in the Windows System Tray and the first thing the user should do is to right-click it and select Update from the options provided. This ensures that NOD32 will download the latest virus definitions from a company server.

The interface of NOD32 comes with two display modes. Standard mode is the default mode of the security software which will hide options in the interface from the user. Advanced mode can be enabled to display all options in the interface. One example would be access to logs which is only visible when advanced mode is activated.

One interesting aspect of the interface of NOD32 is the possibility to switch menus while scanning. Most antivirus software applications do not permit this and block any attempts to switch menus during scans.

Antivirus software has to do well both performance- and detection-wise. It is beyond of the scope of this article to evaluate the capabilities of NOD32 but there are a few independent organizations that regularly test security software. NOD32 is usually ranking very well on tests performed by sites like AV-Comparatives or CheckVir. Those tests suggest that NOD32 has a low false positive rate, a good detection rate (both signature and heuristic) and a fast scanning engine.

ESET is proving an online scanner based on the NOD32 antivirus engine on the Internet which is unfortunately only compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

We have five licenses for ESET NOD32 Antivirus. If you want one leave a comment and let us know what you use to protect your computer system.

Tags: antivirus, antivirus software, eset, eset nod32, ghacks Christmas giveaway, nod32, nod32 antivirus, security-software

Kaspersky Anti-Virus KAVRemover

Martin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:07:37 +0000

Is it a good or a bad sign if a company starts to create specific uninstallers for their software programs to remove them complete from computer systems they had been installed on? A joke comes to mind that is saying that the Norton Removal Tool is the best product of all Norton applications. Kaspersky apparently has their own removal tool called KAVRemover (via Megaleecher) which can remove specific Kaspersky products from a computer system.

The removal tool is compatible with Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0\7.0\2009, Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0\7.0\2009, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 for Windows Workstations and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 for Windows Servers. If the removal tool is run on a 64-bit operating system it can only remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2009.

KAVRemover can be executed right after the download has finished. It opens up a captcha that has to be identified correctly before the removal starts. A reboot of the computer is required after the removal process has ended.

The product check can be skipped at the command line in case there are traces left on the system of a Kaspersky product that the check did not discover automatically.

The syntax would be to run kavremover9.exe and add the product that should be removed as a parameter. Here is the parameter list:

kav6
kav7
kav2009
kav2009×64
kis6
kis7
kis2009
kis2009×64
kav6fs
kav6wks

The command kavremover9.exe kis2009 would remove all traces of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 from the system.

Tags: anti virus, antivirus, kaspersky, kaspersky anti-virus, kaspersky remover, kaspersky tools, kaspersky uninstall, kavremover, windows software

Online Virus Scan

Martin — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:44:07 +0000

No Virus Thanks is another web service that provides options to scan files with multiple anti-virus detection engines. It pretty much works like other web services of its kind like Virus Total by providing an upload form on the website which can be used by the user to upload a file to the service. The file will be analyzed on the web server using multiple anti-virus engines and a report generated in the end that displays information about the scan.

The file upload limit of No Virus Thanks is 20 Megabytes which means that it is not possible to upload files larger than that. The site has a rather low queue of 30 items and displays the current queue number in the upload form. It usually does not take long to process an upload though. The status is shown after uploading the file to the online virus scanner.

The report contains a detailed analysis of the uploaded file including results of each antivirus engine that has been used to scan the file. One interesting option of the online virus scanner is the option to paste a MD5 hash into a form on the website. This can reduce the time before a result will be displayed if the file has already been uploaded and analyzed by another user of the service.

You can also check the article about online virus scanners that lists several websites that will scan the computer with one antivirus engine usually provided by the software developer of antivirus software.

Tags: antivirus, no virus thanks, online antivirus, online virus scan, online virus scanner, Security, virus total, virus-scanner

Run Multiple Anti-Spyware Tools With Hitman Pro

Martin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:54:44 +0000

Virustotal is a great online service that provides access to more than 30 antivirus engines that can scan a file uploaded by the user. This gives the user a much deeper understanding if a file is malicious or not. Hitman Pro is a similar application with the difference that it is a local software program that makes use of various anti-spyware programs which it downloads automatically to scan a computer.

Hitman Pro is making use of eight spyware scanning engines. It’s a mixture of free and trial versions. Among the software programs are popular spyware cleaners like Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-aware and Webroot Spysweeper. Each application can be selected to be included in the system scan or excluded from it. Besides those eight engines can include the commercial antivirus applications TrendMicro Sysclean and McAfee Virusscan if the user has a license for those applications.

The options contain several additional interesting features that require some explanation. The user can select to use the Browser security plugins that is offered by some of the anti-spyware applications, install security updates and configure least user access levels for his web browser.

The first run takes a bit longer than the future ones because all selected applications will be downloaded from the Internet. Hitman Pro is installing the automatically on the user system with minimal to no user input required. Once the applications have been downloaded the system scan begins. Each application is run after the other and the results are visible in the application itself and in Hitman Pro at the end.

This process can slow down the computer quite a bit and it is probably a good idea to let the scans run automatically and do something different in the meantime. One aspect that is not optimal is the fact that most of these anti-spyware tools run a permanent process even if the main application is not running.

This can create quite some noise in the background and experienced users might prefer to install and uninstall the applications manually instead. The idea itself is great however and it would have been really nice if Hitman would be able to use the scanning engines and definitions without having to install the software programs itself. That’s probably wishful thinking though.

Tags: antivirus, hitman pro, scan pc, software program, Spyware, spyware scan, virustotal, windows scan

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