Mcafee Warning...CAUTION!!!

[sabersaw]

Yea, those pesky users! Sales reps with their laptops that they take home and let their kids play on. Then, when they come inside the Firewalls and jack-in, Wham!

I'll be the first to admit that NAV isn't perfect. Every so often, we would have clients that would stop responding to the SSC, but usually a reboot would fix it. After a while, we got pretty good at scrubbing a PC's regestry clean of Symantec/Norton. We also used the No-NAV tools when the uninstalls failed.

"nonav" does a good job scrubbing the snot out of machines. We have yet to get their latest 10.01 engine working correctly on some of our special purpose workstations.

One of the biggest problems with NAV is blowing up its def files while updating. Then the whole ap seems to quit working correctly with little waring to the end user.

 

[WildeComputers]

Not to beat a dying horse, but ...

Norton update kicks AOL users offline
http://news.com.com/Norton+update+kicks+AOL+users+offline/2100-1002_3-6050786.html

I will admit, when Symantec works, it works great. As does McAfee. But all AV products have a target audience, and I don't think the average PC user or Dell PC owner knows which end is up when they use (and renew) these products.

--just spent WAY too many hours repairing these two products for people--

 

[gizzer777]

As long as they pay

Norton update kicks AOL users offline
http://news.com.com/Norton+update+kicks+AOL+users+offline/2100-1002_3-6050786.html

I will admit, when Symantec works, it works great. As does McAfee. But all AV products have a target audience, and I don't think the average PC user or Dell PC owner knows which end is up when they use (and renew) these products.

--just spent WAY too many hours repairing these two products for people--

I have no problem as long as they expect to pay...No-Nav works very well even with the hidden keys...I am writing a script to take care of Mcafee and AOL , and NOW INCREDIMAIL (this puppy is really incideous!)


I always try programs that users request, on a spare machine at home...this incredimail is outrageous. Even after editing the registry, it still trys to reinstall itself! (hides some stuff in the sub dirs of the user/document/ local settings folder!...

drove me nuts but I had to figure it out. This is a test hard drive so I could have just reformated it but...It is valuable info for how to write scripts to REALLY install these pups.

I have made a ton of $$ just removing NAV, AOHELL, and Mcafee from customer machines!...I hope they never stop

As far as DELL, HP, Gateway go, it is always the lowest bidder(yawn!)

I tried upgrading a customers new Gateway dual core Athlon 64 the other day...500w power supply, DDR 433 CAS 2.5, a PCI-x card which disables the shared memory GPU onboard, and an SATA Drive instead of the ATA 100 they supply. The bios is crippled so you cannot play with memory timings etc, BUT...putting DDR 433 ram dropped the latency immediately and now this thing flys....They cripple the bios with conservative settings to slow down service calls...ever hear of Foxconn Motherboards...they are the cheapest of the cheap and have been supplying the oems with crappola for years...the avg user has no idea...he bought a DELL (more crapolla) and sleeps well at night!

Of course by the time I was done, the machine's cost went from $850 to well over $1300! Good stuff costs $$ ...newegg is my source for components!

Jeff

 

[sabersaw]

OT but.... those Foxconn boards are slick for the money. We bought 5 to try em out laughing, "hey find a decent MB without a Foxconn connector, maybe they know something about building the whole MB". We will be buying some more. Very flexable for the $. Swapping 2.5 year old intel boards as they die off. We can't keep integrated sound from dying in those things. They are in a very abusive environment however.

 

[HCI]

I use

AntiVir
http://www.free-av.com/

Spyware Doctor
http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/?ref=sdhome

 

[gizzer777]

Interesting

OT but.... those Foxconn boards are slick for the money. We bought 5 to try em out laughing, "hey find a decent MB without a Foxconn connector, maybe they know something about building the whole MB". We will be buying some more. Very flexable for the $. Swapping 2.5 year old intel boards as they die off. We can't keep integrated sound from dying in those things. They are in a very abusive environment however.

What is interesting that when I interrogate the bios using sisoft Sandra and other tools..the Manufacturer's name is blank! For a "budget machine, it really is not bad..if they would only use decent CAS 2.5 ram and a decent Power supply so you can put in a REAL PCI-X video card, and an SATA drive...I would give them a big thumbs up. My preference on MB's is Abit, Asus (sometimes) DFI (really coming on) and was at one time MSI and Gigabyte). Abit went downhill but rose from the ashes. DFI is the one to watch IMHO! Most of my clients are CAD users and need rendering and processing speed! Liking the dual core AMD 64 and bought a Gateway for myself...doing the enhancements above. Used to only install Radeon cards, but with an Nvidia MB chipset, I put an Nvidia 6600GT Video PCI-X card in (not a gamer though!)

Interesting...Just found a bios flash on the Gateway site for the foxconn...WinDOZ was not seing both cores with the old bios...Now there are a few more options in the HD interface area....keep hoping for more software to take advantage of the new processors....soon!!! but all is well and stable!

Unfortunately VIA is second to Nvidea MB chipsets now, I find them to be more stable than the Nvidea MB chipsets.
MY cost to build a custom machine with the above approaches $1100. Hey at least the days of propriety Power supplies and ram are gone and you can just go off the shelf now. Remember when HP soldered the ram to the board!!! NICE (not) and of course there the Rambus debacle de-jour!!!

The new boards are dual channel with a Max ram of 4 GIG!!!! Here comes another hog names VISTA since the sweetspot for XP is 1 gig!

Good old Intel is like IBM...They think they are bigger than the standard that was created! WRONG again.

That's why I like the AMD chips...great and modern processing...It's nothing to do with the BS clock speed rating at all...It how many instructions per cycle the processor can process! If only the public knew...like the "fabulous" Centrino is really a power saving PIII!

Have not installed an Intel product since the K7 came out...If Intel gets going and gives the bang for the buck as does AMD...I will always reconsider....no brand loyality anymore...and I will NOT move to China or India!

 

[grydlok]

What is interesting that when I interrogate the bios using sisoft Sandra and other tools..the Manufacturer's name is blank! For a "budget machine, it really is not bad..if they would only use decent CAS 2.5 ram and a decent Power supply so you can put in a REAL PCI-X video card, and an SATA drive...I would give them a big thumbs up. My preference on MB's is Abit, Asus (sometimes) DFI (really coming on) and was at one time MSI and Gigabyte). Abit went downhill but rose from the ashes. DFI is the one to watch IMHO! Most of my clients are CAD users and need rendering and processing speed! Liking the dual core AMD 64 and bought a Gateway for myself...doing the enhancements above. Used to only install Radeon cards, but with an Nvidea MB chipset, I put an Nvidea 6600GT Video PCI-X card in (not a gamer though!)

Interestying...Just found a bios flash on the Gatewaqy site for the foxconn...WinDOZ was not seing both cores with the old bios...Now there are a few more options in the HD interface area....keep hoping for more software to take qadvantage of the new processors....soon!!! but all is well and stable!

Unfortunately VIA is second to Nvidea MB chipsets now, I find them to be more stable than the Nvidea MB chipsets.
MY cost to build a custom machine with the above approaches $1100. Hey at least the days of propriety Power supplies and ram are gone and you can just go off the bshelf now. Remember when HP soldered the ram to the board!!! NICE (not) and of course there the Rambus debacle de-jour!!!

The new boards are dual channel with a Max ram of 4 GIG!!!! Here comes another hog names VISTA since the sweetspot for XP is 1 gig!

Good old Intel is like IBM...They think they are bigger than the standard that was created! WRONG again.

That's why I like the AMD chips...great and modern processing...It's nothing to do with the BS clock speed rating at all...It how many instructions per cycle the processor can process! If only the public knew...like the "fabulous" Centrino is really a power saving PIII!

Have not installed an Intel product since the K7 came out...If Intel gets going and gives the bang for the buck as does AMD...I will always reconsider....no brand loyality anymore...and I will NOT move to China or India!

I think you meant PCI-Express slot, PCI-X is different.
Abit has a long way to go before the d.i.y. crowd buys them again. DFI great mobo's for overclocking. Nvidia north bridges are fast, but sometimes being fast isn't being the best. Never buy a ECS motherboard it's going to have problems.

I'm building a Pentium M(P3) powered notebook now. It's damn hard finding a Turion notebook kit.

You where dead on the head about Symantec and MaCrapafee. When Norton goes bad it goes bad.

 

[gizzer777]

Whoops...

I think you meant PCI-Express slot, PCI-X is different.
Abit has a long way to go before the d.i.y. crowd buys them again. DFI great mobo's for overclocking. Nvidia north bridges are fast, but sometimes being fast isn't being the best. Never buy a ECS motherboard it's going to have problems.

I'm building a Pentium M(P3) powered notebook now. It's damn hard finding a Turion notebook kit.

You where dead on the head about Symantec and MaCrapafee. When Norton goes bad it goes bad.

Correct...I was trying to abbreviate PCI-xpress,still cannot type! Thanks! Still haven't figured out what the PCI-X slot is for!

Funny, I just bought a gateway Turion 3200+notebook for myself w/512g mem (and then added another 512 stick of sodimm) Thing is a screamer! Interesting but they do not use DDR2...plane ole DDR 333...lowest bidder again. For $800 it was still a great deal! Of course an additional battery is$149 and there are no generics out yet (that I have found) for the 6000 series! Prices drop weekly!

Bad news is that now I have to get a serial pci card for my new desktop....I bought a Gateway pre made to test for my clients and ...notebook and Desktop have no serial ports...cannot reflash my viewsat Extreme with out one unless I get a funky USB to serial adaptor cable....
Jeff

jeff

 

[GaryPen]

Both of these productts only have about an 80% detection rate...don't ever try to get them off your PC, unless you are good at editing the registry...plus ever see Norton go thru a bad and incomplete install? Jst try to install it again! no, system restore will not help you!

I am happy for you who have not been hit...saves you $$ and time. I would also imagine your good "surfing" and maintanience practices have as much to do with your success as the AV software.

I have never been hit because NAV has caught everything before they could do any damage. If it only has an 80% detection rate, then, apparently, that's all I need.

It's actually easy to uninstall. There are special apps for removing it completely. This comes in handy if you want to re-install after a year to avoid having to pay for a new subscription.

I'm not religious about my choice. I'd switch in a second to a different one if I felt it was better. The recent Excel debacle with McAfee has validated my decision. I have no emotional attachment to any brand of anything. I personally find that sort of loyalty weird.

 

[gizzer777]

Good luck...as long as you are happy...that is all that matters...try a lookup at google on AV reviews and do not go to PCWORLDS, PCmag, or CNET...(these companies "contribute" to them)

AS far as viruses in the wild...again, Kaspersky, Panda, and Trend Micro do much better with better hurestics and less invasive with the registry!

Is is good not to blindly develop loyalities...think you are well protected...

Go here and see what they have to say after you give permission to test your security! They have been around for years!

If you see Stealth...all is good! (you are invisible) Closed ports are simply not good enough.

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Again it has been years since I have permitted any symantec or Mcafee product on my machine (except to try for a customer with my own dummy hard disk!


They explain security quite well and Symantec and Mcaffee do not want you to know about them!

The hard part of AV is detection potential NEW unknown threats...definations are easy, as over 1300 new Viri crop up per month! It is detecting suspicious activity that makes AV good! n<or bad> Also the bigger the registry...the slower the computer runs...not good for my CAD users!

Again, I wish you well and I have no illusions...one day I will be had ...Backups are the answer! My critical stuff sits off line on it's own HD's (one in a bank vault and one in my closet!)

regards
Jeff

 

[dragon002]

I use

AntiVir
http://www.free-av.com/

Spyware Doctor
http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/?ref=sdhome

tate, thanks!

 

[HCI]

tate, thanks!

The antivir program is great. Spyware doctor you have to watch. It will give you warnings on some programs you would like to be left alone.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I have made a ton of $$ just removing NAV, AOHELL, and Mcafee from customer machines!...I hope they never stop

Me too!

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned AVG from Grisoft. That's what we use and recommend, and no customers return infected. Unobstrusive, reasonable footprint, good updating. Free for home use. Can't beat it.

Aside: John McAfee lives near our shop (and is an occassional customer!) - McAfee software hasn't been worth anything since he sold the company. I'll bet he uses AVG now.

P.S. AMD rules!

 

[grydlok]

Me too!

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned AVG from Grisoft. That's what we use and recommend, and no customers return infected. Unobstrusive, reasonable footprint, good updating. Free for home use. Can't beat it.

Aside: John McAfee lives near our shop (and is an occassional customer!) - McAfee software hasn't been worth anything since he sold the company. I'll bet he uses AVG now.

P.S. AMD rules!

I used to use AVG till I switched to avast. The email scanner was easier to configure.

 

[GaryPen]

Of course I'm familiar with the GRC website and shields up. Who isn't? I've been invisible for years. All of my home network PC's are.
Your Internet port 139 does not appear to exist!
-One or more ports on this system are operating in FULL STEALTH MODE!
-Unable to connect with NetBIOS to your computer.
Plus:
All common ports in Stealth mode.
ALL ports in Stealth mode
No messenger spam.

I stopped reading PCMag and the like years ago when they basically started writing the same crap over and over each month.

Good luck...as long as you are happy...that is all that matters...try a lookup at google on AV reviews and do not go to PCWORLDS, PCmag, or CNET...(these companies "contribute" to them)

AS far as viruses in the wild...again, Kaspersky, Panda, and Trend Micro do much better with better hurestics and less invasive with the registry!

Is is good not to blindly develop loyalities...think you are well protected...

Go here and see what they have to say after you give permission to test your security! They have been around for years!

If you see Stealth...all is good! (you are invisible) Closed ports are simply not good enough.

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Again it has been years since I have permitted any symantec or Mcafee product on my machine (except to try for a customer with my own dummy hard disk!


They explain security quite well and Symantec and Mcaffee do not want you to know about them!

The hard part of AV is detection potential NEW unknown threats...definations are easy, as over 1300 new Viri crop up per month! It is detecting suspicious activity that makes AV good! n<or bad> Also the bigger the registry...the slower the computer runs...not good for my CAD users!

Again, I wish you well and I have no illusions...one day I will be had ...Backups are the answer! My critical stuff sits off line on it's own HD's (one in a bank vault and one in my closet!)

regards
Jeff

 

[gizzer777]

Good report Gary...
Lots of recent PC folk have never heard of Steve Gibson!...Did not mean to insult you!
jeff

 

[GaryPen]

How can I be mad at a guy with such nice HT equipment! Post some pics in the Members Equipment Photos section.

 

[gizzer777]

Will post some later Today

How can I be mad at a guy with such nice HT equipment! Post some pics in the Members Equipment Photos section.

It's just that almost everyone I speak with these days have no idea about a PC, other than you buy it, turn it on and send email! (Yawn)

mention, usenet, telnet etc and they just get that blank stare deer in the lights look!!!

AS I MENTIONED...VISTA IS THE WORST....MS Just announced a delay until 2007!