KD in CA Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Its probably of zero interest to anyone on this board, but miss-typing "ant virus" got me thinking about whether there were in fact, ant viruses. Turns out there is a red fire ant specific virus, SINV-1, a picorna-like virus. Looks like the USDA is looking at it as a possible way of controlling the fire ant infestation in the South (via WaPo). Pretty cool. One caveat I'm sure they are thinking about would be a possible jump to a new host, such as the honey bee, which would be devastating. Think of it like the bird flu scare coming from Southeast Asia. A virus mutates and gains the ability to infect a different host species. In any event, yes, there are ant viruses. My wife stepped on a fire ant colony while we were checking out her uncle's date farm near La Quinta last spring. She had to strip down to her skivvies to get all those little fu--ers.... Fire ants are no joke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 I downloaded and ran Malwarebyte and it found two threats and removed them. I then ran Noadware and it found two more threats. I think I'll keep both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 When I told a buddy of mine to remove Norton from his computer, and install Avira, his response was similar to yours, "But I paid for it, and there are eight months left in the subscription." My response? "Just because you paid for a s#it sandwich, it doesn't mean you have to eat the entire thing." As for noadware, I assume you only use it to scan (that it is not an active anti-malware program). If that is the case, simply remove it, and use this instead: http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-...4-10804572.html You download it, and use it, free for 30 days (or something). After that, you don't need to pay for it, and it still updates and scans (both manually) just fine...it just no longer serves as an "active scanner". That's OK, because with this wonderful tool, you will be alerted when malware tries to change any important settings, or install anything malicious: http://www.winpatrol.com/ Again, the free version is fine. Next year, when you don't have any security software bills to pay, you might want to upgrade to WinPatrol Plus (one time fee) or get the professional version of Malwarebytes. But, the free versions kick some serious ass. It appears that Winpatrol only works with windows and not Firefox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Any thoughts on AVG Free version? I use it on my network and I'm happy with the results. I also recommend the new Windows Advanced System care from iobit.com . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 It appears that Winpatrol only works with windows and not Firefox. Windows is an operating system. Firefox is a web browser. :worthy: :beer: I'm done. I tried to help, but you obviously know more about this than I do, SD. :lol: :wallbash: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Any thoughts on AVG Free version? I use it on my network and I'm happy with the results. I also recommend the new Windows Advanced System care from iobit.com . AVG Free was a very good product for a long time. Sadly, it has gone downhill over the past year, or two. Not only can it slow down a machine, the detection rates have been slipping. Furthermore, they have had several high-profile false positives, the last one rendered windows machines un-bootable, if you deleted user32.dll (a core Windows component) AVG identified as a trojan. Adding their pre-checked Yahoo toolbar (and Linkscanner) to the mix, and I say no to AVG. It's not the worst on the market, but it no longer belongs in the conversation of top AV products (free or paid). I have head about, but have yet to use the iobit product. It looks interesting. I am very happy with CCleaner, but I will check this out. Thanks for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 Windows is an operating system. Firefox is a web browser. :worthy: :beer: I'm done. I tried to help, but you obviously know more about this than I do, SD. :lol: :wallbash: Sorry I meant to say IE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Any thoughts on AVG Free version? I use it on my network and I'm happy with the results. I also recommend the new Windows Advanced System care from iobit.com . OK, so I spent most of the morning tweaking and updating the laptop (and testing a couple of things), so I decided to give the Windows Advanced SystemCare a look-see. There are three small things that bother me, but they aren't deal breakers by any means, nor are they unusual for free software: 1. The pre-checked inclusion of installing a Yahoo Toolbar, and making Yahoo my default search engine should be unchecked before installation. I despise the inclusion of unrelated pre-checked software in any download. I understand it helps pay the bills, but it is slimy and no security-related company should to it. Unfortunately, it has become almost SOP for these companies. My advice is to unchek all options except "create a desktop icon" for most software, and that's only if you want a shortcut to the program. 2. The default installation of the program as an auto start program. This program has no active component, that I can see, and there is no need for it to start up when my computer boots. I understand why some programs try to sleaze their way into your startup list, but I don't see why this one would, other than it does take a while to open. Fortunately, I have WinPatrol to let me know when a program wants to startup on boot, and I have denied this program that access. 3. The program remains active and in the system tray after you close it. So, you have to go to the system tray and "exit" to actually remove it from active processes. OK...but how does it work? From what I can tell, based on my experience this morning, pretty damn good, actually. At the moment I admit to being quite impressed with the range of functions it offers, the level at which it executes those functions, and the overall speed of the product scans and fixes. Even a disk defrag was fairly quick, and I continued to work while the product defraged. The built-in driver update function was a nice surprise, but it is still in beta and has a couple of issues. Still I updated two drivers that I did not know were old. Now, my computer seems a little bit (very little) more sluggish than before I started, but that could be one of a number of things (I did several things to the machine this morning), and it is still very fast (considering its processor, RAM, what is running, etc). But, I will try it for a while longer before using it on any customer machine. Overall, I am impressed and happy you mentioned it, here. I keep hearing about it, but always put it off. I have a new toy to play with for a few weeks. Hooray! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Sorry I meant to say IE. The browser you use is a non factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Overall, I am impressed and happy you mentioned it, here. I keep hearing about it, but always put it off. I have a new toy to play with for a few weeks. Hooray! Thanks. Dean, I agree with your points and the driver update is my favorite feature too. It is more robust than CCleaner (another program I enjoyed). Thanks for the tip on the anti-virus software. I'll try it on a users machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Dean, I agree with your points and the driver update is my favorite feature too. It is more robust than CCleaner (another program I enjoyed). Thanks for the tip on the anti-virus software. I'll try it on a users machine. No problem, IMO, Avira and Avast are two sensational AV products and are better than virtually all of their paid counterparts. Of course, they have paid options, as well, but you get the same engine and virus protection with the free product. I like Avira as it has a good scheduler for updates and scans. Some people prefer Avast, which has a boot scan option. It's a good product, too. And, if you are in the market for a firewall, it's hard to beat Comodo's firewall, free or paid. But, they have gone to the dark side with the inclusion of a pre-checked ASK Toolbar that they try to pass off as a security feature. Under normal conditions, that might be enough for me to stop recommending it, but it is so good, I still use and recommend it. Fortunately, you don't have to install the crap to get the good stuff. Unfortunately, it is a little too complex for many of my clients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodBye Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Its probably of zero interest to anyone on this board, but miss-typing "ant virus" got me thinking about whether there were in fact, ant viruses. Turns out there is a red fire ant specific virus, SINV-1, a picorna-like virus. Looks like the USDA is looking at it as a possible way of controlling the fire ant infestation in the South (via WaPo). Pretty cool. One caveat I'm sure they are thinking about would be a possible jump to a new host, such as the honey bee, which would be devastating. Think of it like the bird flu scare coming from Southeast Asia. A virus mutates and gains the ability to infect a different host species. In any event, yes, there are ant viruses. Should have checked my typing a 3rd time before posting. I'm scared less of ants!! Thanks for making my skin crawl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Should have checked my typing a 3rd time before posting. I'm scared less of ants!! Thanks for making my skin crawl. Ascared of ants? Like this guy? Or this guy? Or this guy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodBye Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Ascared of ants? Like this guy? Or this guy? Or this guy? I'm not clicking on those links! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 I'm not clicking on those links! I'm curious, did an ant kill your parents or sumpin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodBye Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 I'm curious, did an ant kill your parents or sumpin? No, as a small child I had some attack me and bite me. It probably sounds silly but it was traumatized by that for some reason. I am more scare of them than spiders. They are just creepy looking too with the creepy fangs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 No, as a small child I had some attack me and bite me. It probably sounds silly but it was traumatized by that for some reason. I am more scare of them than spiders. They are just creepy looking too with the creepy fangs! I understand that, fire ants are painful. A friend of mine is afraid of snakes. I can understand that. I'm not a big fan either. Anyhoo, I swear the story I'm going to tell you is almost word for word exactly what she told me as to why. "When I was a kid I was playing with a dead rat and a snake flew out and grabbed it from me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 I took your advice Deano and removed McAfee virus scan and replaced it with it Avira. I kept the site advisor and firewall. So far so good, and I'm building the Adrea Doria out of balsa wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 No, as a small child I had some attack me and bite me. It probably sounds silly but it was traumatized by that for some reason. I am more scare of them than spiders. They are just creepy looking too with the creepy fangs! You must be a blast on picnics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 You must be a blast on picnics. She won't even attend family functions if her aunts are gonna be there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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