What works better than CCleaner?
- Thread starter StorkNest
- Start date
CCleaner works fine for me. I ditched AVG some time ago because of it reporting false positives. I went to Microsoft Security Essentials and found that it uses less system resource than Trainz which is helpful for game performance, and has found and dealt with viruses on my computer where my kids have been surfing/downloading
Andy
Andy
johnwhelan
Well-known member
The suggestion would be dump AVG free and switch to the Microsoft free product.
Other than that our normal method of dealing with a compromised machine was to reinstall the operating system and even that doesn't work all the time, there is a very special type of Malware that can survive even this but generally speaking a clean reinstall works very well.
Cheerio John
Well, there is the rub.
I checked the Regedit program to see if some of these errors reported are false.
They exist. For example a bunch are related to Real software but I dumped that a long time ago.
So CCleaner is not doing a thorough job as I see it.
I did note CCleaner said my version was out of date today and I could get the new one but it is not free, costs I think $30.
Out of date and not doing a thorough job means time for something new as I see it.
Thanks though.
I checked the Regedit program to see if some of these errors reported are false.
They exist. For example a bunch are related to Real software but I dumped that a long time ago.
So CCleaner is not doing a thorough job as I see it.
I did note CCleaner said my version was out of date today and I could get the new one but it is not free, costs I think $30.
Out of date and not doing a thorough job means time for something new as I see it.
Thanks though.
StorkNest,
It is up to you whether or not you move away from CCleaner but if you do decide to give it a go then you can download the latest version here for free.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
The 'paid for' version gives you customer support but I have never had problems with the free version. The current version was releasded 23rd December 2010
Andy
It is up to you whether or not you move away from CCleaner but if you do decide to give it a go then you can download the latest version here for free.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
The 'paid for' version gives you customer support but I have never had problems with the free version. The current version was releasded 23rd December 2010
Andy
Interestingly one of our PC magazines has just tested anti-virus software against real viruses and found AVG the best performing free one, beating a lot of the paid-for ones, and Microsoft was only so-so.
shaneturner12
Tutorial Creator
I'm not here to start any arguments etc, but from what I've found, AVG does do a good job on my system (it is the paid-for edition, so that may make a difference) - when I last used one of Microsoft's security products (Windows Defender, I think it was), I had issues with it's updating and a few other issues (it kept saying it was not up to date when it was).
Shane
EDIT: Storknest, the free download option for CCleaner is mentioned further down the page when you click Download from the Check for Updates page - look under the 'Version xx.xx.xx (x,xxxKB) - the xs are markers for the actual version and filesize, which change when a new version is released.
Shane
EDIT: Storknest, the free download option for CCleaner is mentioned further down the page when you click Download from the Check for Updates page - look under the 'Version xx.xx.xx (x,xxxKB) - the xs are markers for the actual version and filesize, which change when a new version is released.
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All depends on who does the review and what they tested, some sites / magazines have a bias towards certain products and if they test like for like, and what tests they actually run, paid for or free with a paid for upgrade will usually come out better than free. The actual differences in real terms for any of the top runners are probably negligible and likely to change week by week.
Incidentally Microsofts Security Essentials is not the same product as Windows Defender or Windows Live Care, which it appears some recent reviews are still using as the comparison. MSE is far more efficient, maybe not as good as some of the paid for ones granted but ok and far better than some of the free junk out there.
Incidentally Microsofts Security Essentials is not the same product as Windows Defender or Windows Live Care, which it appears some recent reviews are still using as the comparison. MSE is far more efficient, maybe not as good as some of the paid for ones granted but ok and far better than some of the free junk out there.
johnwhelan
Well-known member
Depends what you test for. One big problem is false positives, a year or two back AVG managed to false positive part of the Windows operating system and quarantined it, they caught it within 12 hours but most machines had to have the operating system reinstalled to recover. There was a very large number of machines affected but fortunately they were in the far east.
Procedure is as important as antivirus software these days, so doing things like browsing the Internet from a user account rather than an admin account. Making sure that Microsoft update is running so you get up to date patches. Using the latest version of Firefox, Chrome or IE, and Adobe Flash. I prefer Noscript with Firefox but that's just a personal preference thing as is using Gmail, they still have the best spam and malware filters I've seen. If it doesn't arrive it can't attack you.
Still use IE 6 and don't have Microsoft Update running or the Microsoft Malicious tool remover running you're almost certainly infected. My favourite story comes from a Microsoft security guy I was chatting to. His father-in-law complained that one of the service packs wouldn't install properly so he got dragged in to have a look. He identified two dozen different bits of Malware on the machine.
Cheerio John
Hi StorkNest
Have a look here:-
http://www.cleanersoft.com/cleaner/privacy_registry_cleaner.htm
I have used AVG(free) for years, no complaints.
DaveW
Have a look here:-
http://www.cleanersoft.com/cleaner/privacy_registry_cleaner.htm
I have used AVG(free) for years, no complaints.
DaveW
...my choice...
Norton 360, at a 50% price reduction...it handles it all, runs in the background, uses very little resources, updates every 15-min. average & can be run in silent mode whilst gaming.
Norton 360, at a 50% price reduction...it handles it all, runs in the background, uses very little resources, updates every 15-min. average & can be run in silent mode whilst gaming.Well haven't gotten to look further yet.
Last night I got hit with the Security Shield malware going around when I went to a website with LIRR maps.
I wound up having to go through two of the three programs mentioned on the site link below to fix it, I am not sure I wish to run the third, the first fix I tried was a program that found the malware but required full purchase to fix. The option in the link is free.
And be careful around some sites with LIRR maps.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-security-shield
Last night I got hit with the Security Shield malware going around when I went to a website with LIRR maps.
I wound up having to go through two of the three programs mentioned on the site link below to fix it, I am not sure I wish to run the third, the first fix I tried was a program that found the malware but required full purchase to fix. The option in the link is free.
And be careful around some sites with LIRR maps.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-security-shield
I use Vipre from Sunbelt Software. In general it works well, but also got stumped with one of these download fake AV products.
The problem is these look like legit programs to the installed AV program because they are in many cases polymorphic, so they can sneak in. It's done in two parts, and they install using the javascripts on websites such as Google, ImageShack, and many others.
Part one is a dropper that gets downloaded. They are picked up somewhere, usually as a Trojan Horse, and get dumped into your system during a normal browsing session when you contact the website. They will then contact the download site, and initiate a planted javascript, on the website you've contacted, and it'll then download the fake AV from its source.
The problem is these fake antivirus companies target the top-level searches on search engines such as Google. These are usually primed by bots to ensure that they are the most exposed and receive the most hits. Then malware bots do the same thing, and place their javascript connectors on the links to these websites.
This has become quite an issue, and has made searching on Google and other search engines risky. In general when searching for something, rarely go to the top-level search results.
These downloaders rely on the effectiveness of AJAX. The way the interactive websites use background activity to update the screens and allow for multi-media and other things to happen while page information is being downloaded. Before the devlopment of AJAX, you had to wait for each web screen to download. With AJAX you can use such programs as Google Maps to browse for a street address while the map information is being updated.
Since these programs look like a utility, and polymorph, the installed A/V can't see it. However, an external scan will find it and kill it. I highly recommend Malwarebytes as one of the tools to remove the fake antivirus.
You need to put the machine in Safe Mode with networking to get the download for the a/v product and to scan the system. So far these fake a/v programs don't run in Safe-Mode yet.
The problem is that with these bugs, they put themselves everywhere including the System Restore. In order to remove them completely from a machine, it is necessary to disable System Restore before scanning the system. This will put the malware out in the open so that the scanner can find the files.
References:
http://www.fakealerts.com/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10256449-83.html?tag=mncol;7n
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Malware-Infects-More-than-12-Million-Web-Sites-Dasient-678316/
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