Antivirus and Dfrag

[Guest grapesh]

This is a AVG/Yahoo IE toolbar, not the antivirus per se. Just do not install it. I don't even use IE, so I don't really care. And what about free Firefox browser then? Free T-bird email client? Did you find any hidden agenda in their EULA too? :)There might be good payware AV solutions out there that nicely protect you and still let you use your PC. But it is by no means McAfee! I didn't buy my PC so McAfee AV will run on it and take it out of my control! I think McAfee behaves like a virus itself, by completely taking over your PC and modifying lots and lots of settings. And still, despite bloating my system, it couldn't prevent me from getting nasty stuff that I had to troubleshoot for a couple of days! McAffee? - no way!There's always some catch-22 in most EULAs. I don't have time to read ALL the fine print. But it doesn't mean I do not protect my PC from viruses and my personal info from intruders! It takes a bit of learning to figure out how to properly back up your drives, how to configure your router, browser and firewall, where to look for signs of intrusion and how to clean up spyware. No payware will do it for you without completely bloating your precious resources and taking the wheel out of your hands. For a FSX-dedicated, not a web-server, system, AVG is just fine, as it does its job relatively well and does it nice and quiet. I saw some folks reported problems with FSX and AVG running together, but I never had any, not on my old PC, not on my Dual Core, not on my Quad Core systems.Cheers, =S.V.=Q6600 (4x2.40 GHz)nVidia Quadro FX 3400WinXP Home-SP2, FSX-SP2

[hychewright 46]

What do you think about NOD32 anti virus from Eset........?RegardsLamar

[Guest grapesh]

I heard a lot of good stuff about Nod but I personally never used it. I run AVG + "free" spyware tool from my ISP (Comcast), and I'm quite happy. I don't run my web server on this machine, and generally, I don't use it for active web surfing. Also, I try to keep this system for "FSX use only" so I do all home logistics, online shopping, photo editing and other stuff on my Mac laptop. My Apache web server lives on Mac Mini. For PC, I tried several other free AV solutions, and also Norton and McAfee, and AVG is my choice for now. =S.V.=Q6600 (4x2.40 GHz)nVidia Quadro FX 3400WinXP Home-SP2, FSX-SP2

[FalconAF 213]

Relax, S.V.And let's clear up a few things you implied in your post above.1. I read EULA's and Privacy Policies to see if there is anything included in them that may be detrimental to my personal information or overall computer security. No, I didn't find anything in the Firefox or T-Bird EULA's...because I don't use them, so I've never read them. If you'd like me to look at them and make a recommendation, I'd be happy to.2. There is nothing wrong with McAfee. It doesn't "take over" your computer. A Network or System Administrator who knows what the heck he is doing (and any single end-user who wants to learn the same stuff) can control everything the product does...including the amount of resources it uses...which directly affects the level of security it will provide. A SMART Network Administrator overseeing a network of "uninformed users" WILL leave many of the advanced options enabled. This is to prevent the uninformed end-user from disabling/deleting security options that would compromise the individual's computer or the entire network. This is why a good Network Administrator FORCES an anti-virus scan of an end-user's computer when they turn it on. It ensures the anti-virus scan will be run on a regular basis. If you left it up to the end-users to run "periodic virus scans" of their own computers, you would hardly EVER get any of them done. Most end-users would care less about taking the time to run one.3. If you honestly believe "no payware (program) will do 'it' for you without completely bloating your precious resources and taking the wheel out of your hands", then there is nothing I can do for you. Other than recommend you get, in your own words, "...a little more learning..." when it comes to computer security. You are sadly mistaken.The AVG website boasts it has over 70 million trusted users blazened across the top of it's homepage. That's fine by me. Go for it. But that's a whole lot of "data mining" that is taking place for "collecting, tracking, transferring, and storing" of information for "marketing"...one of many things the Privacy Policy says you will allow it to do. If you are comfortable with that, by all means continue on with AVG. But if you think somebody isn't getting REIMBURSED for all of this, you are sadly mistaken. And they are getting reimbursed for the use of YOUR personal and private information. And they are depending on those 70 million people NOT to care one way or another about it...like taking the time to read the EULA and Privacy Policy, and understand what it means.Secure? Your stuff on your computer couldn't be any LESS secure with you agreeing to the Privacy Policy and EULA.FalconAF

[Steve Halpern 176]

My personal philosophy is that I will NEVER use a virus product that:1. Does not allow you complete control of its affect on your system.2. That does not place your files at risk by doing things you may not expect.3. That resides too much in memory.4. That would not allow me to fully trust its ability to be uninstalled completely, leaving my system unaltered.5. That does not have simple, right-click on demand scanning of a file.6. Has a firewall feature that can't be turned off completely.So many times virus scanners and firewalls have been the root of many support issues. There have been threads where 2 or 3 people have tried to help a customer... "shut down your firewall..." "I did shut it down and the problem still happens..." "Go into your services menu and shut it down..." "It is completely shut down there, and the problem still occurs..." and then they come back again and said "I did a full uninstall of firewall product, then a system rollback, and now your product works fine. Thanks for all the help!"So, that being said, it is not possible to be 100% safe at all times, but you want to be more than safe enough, and this is done by having a security product that mixes well with your understanding in how to operate your computer relatively securely on your own.With all the above, I do recommend NOD32. It is not terribly expensive, and it does what I think most people need. It is what many flight sim people use.

[FalconAF 213]

Steve,Couldn't agree more. I hesitated to "fully" recommend any particular product, but seeing as someone of your statue in the community has done so, I'll concur with your recommendation.And you made a very good point about many "free" applications people use from the Internet. You install them, then decide to uninstall them later. Problem is, they don't uninstall EVERYTHING they installed when you agreed to the original installation Privacy Policy or EULA. You may not be using the original product anymore, but the "extras" are still there. Does anybody here using the free AVG know exactly WHAT modifications to your browser DNS and 404 settings are being made? The EULA doesn't tell you. So, heck...just TRUST them. And if you uninstall AVG...are you sure the "modified" settings were reset back to "normal"? You aren't sure?Better do some research.....FalconAF

[Guest grapesh]

Hey Falcon!I think the OP requested an advice on the AV solution for FSX-oriented rig, not for protecting an office network like DoD, with a super-sensitive documentation. >1. I read EULA's and Privacy Policies to see if there is>anything included in them that may be detrimental to my>personal information or overall computer security. No, I>didn't find anything in the Firefox or T-Bird EULA's...because>I don't use them, so I've never read them. If you'd like me>to look at them and make a recommendation, I'd be happy to.It is interesting to hear, but most of IT departments that I dealt with for the last several years in number-crunching industries and academia, endorse using Firefox/Mozilla as most safe internet means. Nothing is perfect of course, but I never heard of IT director encouraging users to run IE or any payware browser. >2. There is nothing wrong with McAfee. It doesn't "take>over" your computer. A Network or System Administrator who>knows what the heck he is doing (and any single end-user who>wants to learn the same stuff) can control everything the>product does...including the amount of resources it>uses...which directly affects the level of security it will>provide. A SMART Network Administrator overseeing a network>of "uninformed users" WILL leave many of the advanced options>enabled. This is to prevent the uninformed end-user from>disabling/deleting security options that would compromise the>individual's computer or the entire network. This is why a>good Network Administrator FORCES an anti-virus scan of an>end-user's computer when they turn it on. It ensures the>anti-virus scan will be run on a regular basis. If you left>it up to the end-users to run "periodic virus scans" of their>own computers, you would hardly EVER get any of them done. >Most end-users would care less about taking the time to run>one.I understand what you say but I disagree. Again, we are talking about single user here, not the cubicle farm. McAfee's functionality is not worth the invasion it does on your system. With every major update, it took more and more time to troubleshoot it, as it kept behaving like a virus itself - unleashed and uncontrollable, all system preferences messed up, all registry hooks deployed, connections intercepted, unscheduled scan threads started and get hung. I'd rather spend time tweaking FSX.conf or CPU settings then trying to get McAfee to the place it belongs. Yes, I'm an advanced user but McAfee is just ridiculous, it's not worth it, it is wrong to impose harsh restrictions on end-user, and gain such deep integration with a system. I could go on with its problems, but I was trying to completely forget a "McAfee-nightmare" and I'm sorry I succeeded in part :) >3. If you honestly believe "no payware (program) will do 'it'>for you without completely bloating your precious resources>and taking the wheel out of your hands", then there is nothing>I can do for you. Other than recommend you get, in your own>words, "...a little more learning..." when it comes to>computer security. You are sadly mistaken.What I said (or at least tried to) is that there is no complete payware or freeware AV that will provide you "one-click-protection" and still leave you the ability to rigorously use your system's resources. Besides having AV, you need to have to run spyware detection if it is not a part of the product, you need to monitor your network logs, you need to do backups, you need to play with router, you need to distinguish between healthy and potentially-infected links. If one program like McAfee tries to take upon all these issues, it also takes on many other things on your system, thus diminishing your ability to use/modify/configurate to your liking. I would leave a PC to such a solution if I didn't plan to actively use its resources. This works OK for file storage but not for gaming, video-editing, databse servers, computations, etc. ... And I did take a little more learning, that's why I don't believe in one-click payware!>The AVG website boasts it has over 70 million trusted users>blazened across the top of it's homepage. That's fine by me. >Go for it. But that's a whole lot of "data mining" that is>taking place for "collecting, tracking, transferring, and>storing" of information for "marketing"...one of many things>the Privacy Policy says you will allow it to do. If you are>comfortable with that, by all means continue on with AVG. But>if you think somebody isn't getting REIMBURSED for all of>this, you are sadly mistaken. And they are getting reimbursed>for the use of YOUR personal and private information. And>they are depending on those 70 million people NOT to care one>way or another about it...like taking the time to read the>EULA and Privacy Policy, and understand what it means.Falcon, I think you should relax a bit too :) Would you unleash a similar fury at Google for doing exactly just that? You are using Google, right? :)RespectfullyS.V.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi FalconAF,"The AVG website boasts it has over 70 million trusted users blazened across the top of it's homepage."Well, I guess I'm one of these trusting users and pretty happy to be counted amongst their number.While I grant you there are special circumstances when it will be necessary, indeed mandatory, to be insisting on the paranoid approach for protection, I think for the average computer jockey like ourselves, who doesn't deliberately expose him/herself to risk, this has to be largely irrelevant.I've used AVG FREE for 4 years and have never had any significant issues with it until version 8.0 came along. It's user interface is, as ever, perfectly straightforward but, as Koroush Ghazi has stated:"unfortunately as is the trend with security products (especially free security products), the latest version seems to contain more intrusive and annoying things than before.". Fortunately he has done the donkey work for us and has posted advice to force the program to continue to behave in ways more familiar to us:http://forums.tweakguides.com/showthread.php?p=84601I decided to implement all his recommendations and, so far, have not been disappointed.If indeed routine mining of personal data is going on and being shared with AVG's partners then I'm not aware of it and certainly haven't received any unsolicited mail as a consequence. Maybe they are not interested in parsimonious Scotsmen like myself, although I'd hardly describe myself as being the archetypical example..lol!For me, AVG FREE does what it says on the tin and appears to have no effect whatsoever on the performance of FSX or FS9. I used to disable AVG prior to running my sims, but I tend not to bother nowadays and haven't noticed any hit.As far as I am aware, the only significant difference between the FREE and purchased version is the lack of support from Grisoft for the former. However, there is a forum where you can ask questions of other users:http://freeforum.avg.com/Mike

[FalconAF 213]

Everybody relax. I'm a nice guy...REALLY! ;-)The original poster asked about antivirus programs, which implies he is also interested in security when it comes to his computing. He SPECIFICALLY asked about AVG, and I responded accordingly.I also never recommended Norton or McAfee for FSX users or gamers in general, for the reasons I stated in my above posts. They ARE resource intensive...but they do what they are designed to do for users who need the level of security they provide. And most users who need that level of security WON'T suffer a degradation of computer performance using them, in the sense that they don't drastically reduce the performance of a Word Processor, Spreadsheet, or Database application.I'm not trying to "dismantle" the AVG community. If you like it...use it. But to say it is "free" is totally false, unless the ONLY thing you equate to "free" is money coming out of your pocket.Do the math. With over "70 million trusted users", why aren't they SELLING the product ALL the time? If they only sold it for TEN DOLLARS (which would be a steal for a good antivirus program), they would have over SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION dollars in revenue. Not bad for only ONE product, ya think? But here's the problem. MOST of those "70 million trusted users" wouldn't BUY it in the first place. Why? They want something FREE instead. So unable to sell that many copies, and generate that kind of revenue, you have to resort to alternative methods of generating revenue. And make no mistake...they wouldn't be "giving away" ANYTHING...let alone possibly 70 million free copies...unless they were making money from doing so. They ARE a business, and have to "make a profit" to stay afloat.So where is all this revenue coming from for all these companies that "give away" their "free" products?Read the EULA's and Privacy Policies. "Data Mining" and the reselling of end-user information for "marketing" purposes (and other stuff in EULA's and Privacy Policies) is a COMMON activity on the Internet. Sorry, but they aren't gonna use my personal information or privacy to do that. Do you KNOW for SURE what is being used from your "personal information" when you allow that? Or HOW it is being used? Most people never worry about things like "Identity Theft" or the like UNTIL it happens to them. And when it does, they usually NEVER find out how it DID happen to them in the first place.Your "trust" is yours to give and keep as you see fit. Use it anyway you like. I choose not to give it to any company that uses a "Cascading EULA" or "Cascading Privacy Policy" like the AVG ones...especially when THEY THEMSELVES feel it necessary in their Privacy Policy or EULA to "...disclaim any liability from the use of your personal information by any of our associate companies...", etc, etc. What are they worried about? What have THEIR lawyers told them to worry about? IF it worries THEM so much that they have to put that "disclaimer" in their OWN policies/EULA's, then you better believe that I'M a "tad bit" concerned about it also. There is simply NO WAY to know what YOU, the end-user, have TOTALLY agreed to allow under these circumstances.I'm NOT saying AVG or Grisoft is a "bad" company. But what you are getting and using is certainly not "free" by any stretch of the imagination. And what they want you to allow them to do comes under the definition of installing "spyware" and "malware" on your computer. If you are OK with that, press on. FalconAF

[Cruachan 705]

Hi FalconAF,"Most people never worry about things like "Identity Theft" or the like UNTIL it happens to them. And when it does, they usually NEVER find out how it DID happen to them in the first place."Oh now you're stretching the argument a bit. Of course most of us worry about Identity Theft - those who don't are certainly placing themselves at risk. Where I take issue with you is that you may be implying that Grisoft are in the business of deliberately seeking to obtain and distribute personal data for possibly nefarious purposes. If this were the case and became public knowledge then I'm quite sure that it would quickly be suicidal for them commercially. I trust them to use what limited info they obtain from me in a confidential manner and in such a way so as not to threaten my right to privacy. If I suspected for a moment that Grisoft had some ulterior motive for using such information then I would certainly drop AVG like a hot cake. I just don't believe that to be the case.Mike

[FalconAF 213]

Mike,Honest answer from me? I'm not worried about Grisoft either. But it WOULDN'T be "suicidal" for them to use my personal info like you say. THEY aren't "at risk"...they disclaimed any "wrong-doing" in their Privacy Policy and EULA, and any AVG user "agreed" to that LEGALLY when they installed the software.It's some of the OTHER companies that they "talk about" in their Privacy Policy that I would worry about.Just because a company is "well known" doesn't mean squat. Earthlink, Comcast, and numerous "well known" ISP's have "been caught" in the past conducting questionable activities. They survived the fiasco, and Grisoft would survive also. It's easy to make a public statement like, "We were just trying to make our end-user's experience more enjoyable, easier, productive...", whatever. How many of those 70 million trusted users would be gullible enough to believe that? Wouldn't take all of them for the practice to still be profitable for the company.http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/i...error-page.htmlRedirects to fake web pages that lead a user to believe they have actually arrived at the real page, instead of getting DNS and 404 errors. Marketing strategies that track your Internet use so you can be targeted with specific pop-up advertisements. The list goes on. And this was just 3 months ago. Posts from users at the end of the article are from April 2008. C'mon. Grisoft is touting a free program that is designed to PROTECT your computer, and thus your SECURITY. Why do they need to package spyware and malware with it? Yes, like you said, SOME of it, like the browser plugin, doesn't have to be installed. But how many of those 70 million users NEVER READ the Privacy Policy or EULA, and just installed it anyway? Who is depending on that sort of response from the end user?70 million users? I'm sure ALL of them haven't suffered consequences as dire as "Identity Theft". But I'd bet SOME of them have. And a vastly higher percentage of them ARE getting unwanted pop-up advertisements, SPAM email advertising, and other stuff happening to them. It may not directly be Grisoft's fault if one of those "other" companies in their Privacy Policy is actually doing it. But if Grisoft was REALLY concerned about any users of their product avoiding it from happening, they wouldn't have all those clauses in their Privacy Policy and EULA in the first place. And they certainly wouldn't be packaging spyware and malware with their "free" product.What in the heck do you use an anti-virus program for in the first place? Isn't it supposed to be to PROTECT your personal information and computer?

[terrypin 0]

>I decided to implement all his recommendations and, so far,>have not been disappointed.Mike:May I raise a few detail questions please. Since reading this thread today I too have implemented the suggestions, albeit with some qualms. Have you had any adverse effects of disabling those 3 AVG facilities: resident shield, email scanning and link scanning? Also do you now have the 'Window Security Alerts' icon (white cross on a red shield) permanently in your system tray?-- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Terry,I have disabled the Security Center service so don't see this icon in the tray. The AVG tray icon now has a permanent exclamation mark - no sweat, small price to pay for a more friendly configuration, I guess.To answer your other queries, I've encountered no problems whatsoever. It's not necessary to scan outgoing mail and I always scan any file downloads manually.I find the 'Scan with AVG Free' context menu useful so have left that feature alone.My browsing habits are such that over the years I've found I only really need to scan the system area of my computer perhaps once every couple of weeks. Rarely does anything turn up and then it is easily dealt with. I do perform a full scan of other areas from time to time but nothing ever turns up.I use a hardware firewall provided by my BT Home Hub (Wireless).I do have to remember to download and apply the daily AVG updates.At the end of each Internet session and just prior to system shutdown I routinely run Disk Cleanup and clear out my Temp and Temporary Internet Files folder. I usually preserve cookies such as those that are needed for automatic logging on at Avsim and other sites I visit on a regular basis.Lastly, SpySweeper takes care of other stuff but, again, I run scans manually when it is convenient.Mike

[terrypin 0]

Thanks Mike, appreciate the follow-up.-- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[sbclark 55]

Another approach you may want to consider......For a number of years, like you, I battled the demons of anti-virus applications and software firewalls while simming......it was a real pain in the butt because of performance hits and shutting down apps, and other issues I experienced.......so I took a tip from a friend of mine who suggested a different approach. So here is what I did:1) If you can afford it, build or configure a dedicated PC for just flight simming......which is not to be used for email, web surfing, and also perform a "soft disconnect" from the internet and router by disabling the network connection via network connections in the Control Panel, unless, of course, you need the connection. BTW, I'm running Windows XP Pro.2) Make sure you have a really good router that provides a measure of protection (HW firewall).3) Do not install any anti-virus or firewall software, or other forms of protection at all......but do use the built-in Windows XP Firewall.4) Install a good 3rd party defragging tool, I happen to use the O & O brand for good results.5) If you share your hard drive partition on the flight sim PC (I do), use the most secure method you can, and make sure they are password protected.6) If you run ActiveSky or Radar Contact, put these applications on a separate PC that has anti-virus protection, or a software firewall. I also use this same PC for email and web surfing. However, the way I do this is via using PowerQuest's Drive Image software to create a separate partition image for Radar Contact/Active Sky, and separate partition for email and web surfing. So........when I need to run ActiveSky/Radar contact, I just backup my email image and then restore the RC/Active Sky image. You can use Symantec's Ghost or another backup system you would like since PowerQuest's Drive Image is no longer available. The benefit here is that if you do have a "bug" on your email system, it will not infect your flight sim PC because you have overwritten it with the RC/Active Sky image that is dedicated solely to supporting your flight sim PC.7) I also back up my flight sim PC partitions periodically as well....and save to an external hard drive. The only time I connect my dedicated flight sim PC to the router is when I download Microsoft OS updates, or I download flight sim patches, or I connect to Active Sky weather program via FSUIPC/WideFS. If you want to carry "safe computing" to the next level, you can download patches onto a second PC that has anti-virus or other forms of protection, and then transfer via an external hard drive or memory stick, depending on how large the patch is, once you feel the patch has been thoroughly "vetted" by your protection systems.I have been running under this philosophy since last December, and as far as I can tell, I have not had any infections that I'm aware of. I do have to admit, there is an element of risk following this approach, but I feel it is minimal. The major advantage is that my flight sim PC boots up almost instantly, and I only have to shut down the printer driver and one or two other apps running in the background. The overall performance gain is significant, in my opinion.Bill