Happy Sweetest Day!!!!!

[Osiris]

And here are the final results

 

[Trotter]

Ugh! Glad you are willing to be a guinea pig as I'm not. I hate having to format if the bug eats too much of my setup.

 

[kimsland]

Avast Uninstaller: avast! uninstall utility
And AVG Remover: http://www.avg.com/filedir/util/support/avgremover_en.exe
CCleaner: CCleaner - Downloading...
Restart
Try Avast install again

Edit: I missed Page#2 and Page #3 of this thread due to large pics (off screen)
I'm presently reading it through all this again

 

[leftcoasttech]

I have an old laptop that I use for such purposes. The other option is VMware, though you have to be carefull with some infections such as Virut as it's very good at spreading across a LAN

 

[kimsland]

Edit: I missed Page#2 and Page #3 of this thread due to large pics (off screen)
I'm presently reading it through all this again

Further thoughts on this episode of testing known Malware...

The only thing i see confirmed for sure, is that there is an infection. I do not see any evidence that shows these infections were active or executed on the system. There is a major difference between downloading and having a infection active.

Yes he was certainly infected (as he also later confirmed)
And the Pic confirms that it was active

First of all, as soon as you click that link, that message appeared from AVG. The first time I closed it, but then said what the heck, I'll go thru some of the screenshots for everyone here. So went back got the same message and a few more. I did infect myself somewhat but not all the way. It required you to download the program shown in the screenshots which I didnt.

Both AVG and MSE did protect me. MSE popped up about the infection as you can see in the last screenshot.

And yes I have both on my system at the same time and you can have them installed on the same pc at the same time. There are some AV's out there that wont play nice together and some that will. Both AVG and MSE are more than just a standalone AV, they are spyware, trogran, etc removers as well.

You cannot have two Antivirus software protecting at the same time
If you have only installed the MSE "spyware, trogran, etc removers as well" and not the Antivirus component (as AVG was resident protecting already)
Then there would be little use having MSE installed as Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware would be preferred as dedicated Malware removal tools

I went back to the same link, Avira didnt notice nothing was going on. I went thru the whole process, even downloading the program and it still didnt notify me.

Avira is an Antivirus program with a small amount of other malware protection
No the link would not have been picked up, but any infected file downloaded should have been
These results/files need to be uploaded to Avira so as they can update their definitions
Avira was recently rewarded as the Antivirus that picked up all known Virus infections, it even picked up some false positives
But dedicated Malware removal (Trojan; Spyware etc etc) again should not be trusted to Avira; AVG or MSE alone.

I'm wondering why AVG would catch it but Avira and Avast, which scored very well did not. Any thoughts? Did AVG just manage to get this one in their database first (maybe a newer strain of Total Security) on a fluke? Are they better at updating the more popular recent infections?

Edit: could you PM me the link?

Although you stated that you allowed AVG to have the resident protection dropped (to see what will happen??) Your original post to the thread, again did not state this until further replies later on
I do not feel that you should drop resident protection for testing known infections
And I am glad I originally replied else others reading your post would obviously confirm AVG and MSE were useless in protecting you
Please always keep live protection on and updated
And do regular scans with an updated dedicated Malware removal program

yeah, pretty standard. I can't tell you the number of times I've removed infections that looked just like that

Thanks for the link.

Even had a couple customers pay for it.

removed infections like what?
Using dedicated Malware Removal Tools?
Yes there are a number of guides in helping to do that, all tools are free

This is another reason why I say to run at least 2 of these types of programs together on one pc. There is no one-catch-all program out there.

As stated: Never have more than 1 Antivirus program installed
yes having Anti-Malware programs installed (some say 2) is a good idea

And here are the final results

As known already, Malwarebytes would have been the best tool to begin this scanning/removal process. Not the dedicated Antivirus (with some Malware removal) programs

Ugh! Glad you are willing to be a guinea pig

Yes but next time let us know, that resident protection was removed first
The original post read as though AVG and MSE had actually got it.


---------

I have found this thread to be difficult to read due to the extra large pics
hopefully this thread can be cleaned up a bit so as others can read it clearly. Ideally reducing the pic size

What we have found is:
Never remove resident protection of your Antivirus software
Do not run 2 Antivirus softwares together
Report any suspect file to the appropriate area
Use dedicated malware removal tools plus Antivirus software

And above all, do not test known Malware files and downloads
this thread shows why

 

[Osiris]

Further thoughts on this episode of testing known Malware...




Yes he was certainly infected (as he also later confirmed)
And the Pic confirms that it was active






You cannot have two Antivirus software protecting at the same time
If you have only installed the MSE "spyware, trogran, etc removers as well" and not the Antivirus component (as AVG was resident protecting already)
Then there would be little use having MSE installed as Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware would be preferred as dedicated Malware removal tools





Avira is an Antivirus program with a small amount of other malware protection
No the link would not have been picked up, but any infected file downloaded should have been
These results/files need to be uploaded to Avira so as they can update their definitions
Avira was recently rewarded as the Antivirus that picked up all known Virus infections, it even picked up some false positives
But dedicated Malware removal (Trojan; Spyware etc etc) again should not be trusted to Avira; AVG or MSE alone.




Although you stated that you allowed AVG to have the resident protection dropped (to see what will happen??) Your original post to the thread, again did not state this until further replies later on
I do not feel that you should drop resident protection for testing known infections
And I am glad I originally replied else others reading your post would obviously confirm AVG and MSE were useless in protecting you
Please always keep live protection on and updated
And do regular scans with an updated dedicated Malware removal program





removed infections like what?
Using dedicated Malware Removal Tools?
Yes there are a number of guides in helping to do that, all tools are free






As stated: Never have more than 1 Antivirus program installed
yes having Anti-Malware programs installed (some say 2) is a good idea





As known already, Malwarebytes would have been the best tool to begin this scanning/removal process. Not the dedicated Antivirus (with some Malware removal) programs






Yes but next time let us know, that resident protection was removed first
The original post read as though AVG and MSE had actually got it.


---------

I have found this thread to be difficult to read due to the extra large pics
hopefully this thread can be cleaned up a bit so as others can read it clearly. Ideally reducing the pic size

What we have found is:
Never remove resident protection of your Antivirus software
Do not run 2 Antivirus softwares together
Report any suspect file to the appropriate area
Use dedicated malware removal tools plus Antivirus software

And above all, do not test known Malware files and downloads
this thread shows why

I'm not even going to reply to this......

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Thanks for posting the whole process Osiris. It's interesting to see a real world comparison of how different free av's react to a threat and their success (or lack thereof) of finding it once it's already on the system.

 

[Osiris]

I change my mind, I will reply

Initially I was NOT infected. All the screen is, is some fancy GUI like fake-site that when you click it, you can then actually download the program.

YES YOU CAN HAVE 2 ANTIVIRUSES AT THE SAME TIME, I DID IT AND IVE SHOWN EVERYONE ON HERE TODAY THAT YOU CAN AND HOW WELL AVG AND MSE PROTECTED ME BEFORE THE PROGRAM IS DOWNLOADED.

If you like Avira, then use it. I like AVG so I'm using it along side of MSE.

MBAM is a "POST" removal program, the free version anyways, Why wait for the spyware to be on your system to remove it rather than catch it where it begins such as the link? Makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[leftcoasttech]

I'll take a crack at responding as well.
1. in some cases you can have 2 AV programs installed. It takes testing for compatability, and I still wouldn't advise it due to system resource issues.
2. as far as avira finding all known viruses, that's not hard. Not many new infections these days are viruses at all. An infection must meet 2 criteria to be a virus
-It must execute itself. It often places its own code in the path of execution of another program.
-It must replicate itself. For example, it may replace other executable files with a copy of the virus infected file. Viruses can infect desktop computers and network servers alike.

Most infections fail on the second requirement.

Edit for further comment: if the award was for all known infections, known by who? someone has to report an infection before it's known, and by that line of thought, somebody knows about it first. I know some AV companies are very good about sharing this information, but others may not be.

One more edit: You may want to check that link I posted on the last page. They are the only independant, unbiased comparison that I'm aware of. Avira only detected 100% of macro viruses in their most recent test.

 

[kimsland]

Thanks leftcoasttech I agree

Except the "testing" of two Antivirus softwares that are running Antivirus resident protection (even for testing purposes only)

YES YOU CAN HAVE 2 ANTIVIRUSES AT THE SAME TIME, I DID IT AND IVE SHOWN EVERYONE ON HERE TODAY THAT YOU CAN AND HOW WELL AVG AND MSE PROTECTED ME BEFORE THE PROGRAM IS DOWNLOADED.

I can provide about 10 good links from the best malware removal sites of the world to the contrary of this word for word
I can even state why.

If 2 Antivirus live protecting softwares were installed at the same time!
Then one Antivirus may find a Virus and then begin to automatically halt that Virus and then begin to move it to its quarantine folder
The other installed live protecting Antivirus will then see a Virus being moved to some strange folder, and then halt the operation and begin to move it to its quarantine folder
This viscious circle will never stop, until one of the Antivirus softwares is disabled

note: Anti-Malware programs (usually installing 2 of) Do Not work in the same way
The Anti-malware live protecting program will inform the User of a found Malware and wait for the User action
Thus allowing 2 Anti-Malware programs installed at the same time

Is anything I stated incorrect? Or would you like exact quotes from any respectful Malware removal forum?

Thanks for posting the whole process Osiris. It's interesting to see a real world comparison of how different free av's react to a threat and their success (or lack thereof) of finding it once it's already on the system.

Never test like this again
Keep Antivirus (single of course) live protecting and run regular Anti-malware scans
This thread is generally in aid of what not to do

I'm also concerned that if I had not originally replied, exactly when were you going to state that this was all a big test of how removing live protection would be a bad idea?
there is absolutely no reason at all to "test", as stated by member leftcoasttech above, the tests are best left to the professionals who do this specifically. And yes, I have visited that site and checked the reports for years, I agree its the best.

Free Avira for Antivirus (IMO) proven time and time again
Free Malwarebytes (IMO) proven time and time again
As members become more familiar with Malware removal, they should be able/allowed to suggest their favorite Malware removal tools, even in a guide