Best Free Anti-virus/spyware Detection And Removal

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by White B O I, Aug 28, 2008.

  1. White B O I

    White B O I Well-Known Member

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    So my friend came to me and asked me if I could take a look at his laptop, he though it had a virus,

    I'm very much computer savvy so I said sure,

    I got his laptop and wanted to cry,

    its an 800mhz Processor with 256mb of ram and a 13gb hdd
    Running XP

    But I still told him i would fix it for him,

    So I install AVG and Spybot S & D.

    because they're free

    I know there are many threads about best anti virus and such, but I'd like an updated opinion

    Oh, by the way,

    It found 455 trokjans and 49 pieces of spyware just with AVG [it took 5 hours and 30 minutes to scan the 13gb hdd with only 7gb's of it used]

    So I'm just trying to get rid of everything

    All opinions appreciated
     
  2. tyetree

    tyetree Well-Known Member

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    those are the 2 i use on every pc that leaves my shop
    nothing more to add really unlees you get really stuck you can try Super anti spyware bu s&d will get most stuff.

    I did a pc 2 years ago that had been used for years with no anti virus avg ran for 14 hous and had found over 1900 trojans at that point we formated lol
     
  3. Red Alert

    Red Alert Senior Member

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    should also use CCleaner, Ad-aware, and Spywareblaster
     
  4. White B O I

    White B O I Well-Known Member

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    i used Tune-up Utilities, it does what CCleaner does + some

    and thanks tyetree,
    and 1900 is a bit ridiculous,
    but it was a 6 year old computer :D
     
  5. tyetree

    tyetree Well-Known Member

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    yeah i only let it run that long to see how many more it would find but i got bored and formated lol
     
  6. twiisted_kaos

    twiisted_kaos JDM PEARL

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    Norton System Works and for spyware I start with Windows Defender then move on to Spybot S & D
     
  7. boomheadshot45

    boomheadshot45 Well-Known Member

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    AVG is good but it didn't remove all of the viruses I had on my PC. Firefox and others still won't open so I am thinking of reformatting.
     
  8. White B O I

    White B O I Well-Known Member

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    try running a scan in safe mode with command prompt [only]

    Might want to print this page before doing what it says, unless you have very amazing memory :D

    restart your machine,

    tap f8 till you get the option to choose things like safe mode, safe mode with networking, safe mode with command prompt, .... Start windows normally etc.

    Choose 'Safe mode with Command Prompt'

    Log into the account that you'd like to run the scan in (usually in safe mode it will give you the option to choose Administrator and a named account aka, you're name is [is most common])

    Once it hits the command windows run avg from the line

    and use these parameters

    Code:
    %systtemroot%\program files\avg\avg8\avgscanx.exe /comp /heur /arc /clean /macrow /pwdw /nobreak /boot /proc /pup /reg /coo /ads
    where systemroot is your windows install directory (typically c:\)

    /Comp: Scan entire computer
    /Heur: Use heuristic analysis
    /Arc: Scans archives
    /Clean: Automatically heals the files (/Trash can be used to move the virus to the virus vault instead)
    /Marcow (yes spelled with a w and is
    optional): Reports Marcos
    /PWDW: Reports password protected files
    /NoBreak (optional): Makes it so the scan cannot be stopped by pressing ctrl+break (if /nobreak is not included the scan can be stopped at anytime with ctrl+break)
    /Boot: Scans the Master Boot Record and Boot files
    /Proc: Scans all active process
    /Pup: Scans for potentially unwanted programs (pup)
    /Reg: Scans the registry
    /Coo: Scans for Tracking Cookies
    /Ads: Scans Alternate Data Strings [for NTFS file systems only]


    good luck,
    report back soon with the results (it should create a log file on your desktop, so when you log in next copy the contents and paste them here, it should be something like avg.txt or something, I can't remember.
    Hope I helped a bit

    edit:
    ahhh i just realized your name!
    Are you the boomheadshot from sythe from forever ago :D?
     
  9. Bleak

    Bleak Well-Known Member

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  10. Lefthanded

    Lefthanded Gentlemen of Leisure

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    Bit Defender hands down
     
  11. WWIII

    WWIII Well-Known Member

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    Bit Defender is far too bloated and isn't as good as everyone makes it seem.


    I would say shell out the money, get Kaspersky Internet Security. With the # of viruses I deal with and content it has yet to let me down in any way, shape or form. Also, with the purchase you will get 3 licenses. So you can resell 2 and get some of your money back. The new 2009 version is amazing and very efficient as well.
     

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