We have previously reviewed G-Data antivirus.  The strengths of the companies software include excellent detection rates by using dual scanning engines.  The G-Data Remover tool builds on the companies innovations.  The whole antivirus is  contained in only 334 kilobytes but has detection and removal capability for over 792 viruses and 1000’s of traces.  Some of the viruses and worms that G-Data can remove are as follows.

• Download G-Data Remover from Free Antivirus Help
  

   Bagle, My Doom, CodBot, Agent, Afcore, Padofor, PoeBot, Mabutu, Sobig, Bobic, Vesser, dialers, Beastdoor, Netsky, Sober, Plexus, Zafi, Sasser, Blaster, Mytob, Zlob, Banker and many more. 

    Remover scans the registry, temporary files, memory, and all hard drive locations for virus traces.  G-Data Remover can also scan network drives, which is frequently a limitation in other free versions.  Finally, G-Data Remover managed to fit 7 languages into the program including  English, Polish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian.

    I ran into some problems with Remover.  First, the software incorrectly labeled my operating system as Windows Vista even though I am running Windows 7.  However, this didn’t lead to any problems with removal or scanning.  G-Data remover also has an auto update feature built-in.  However, when I attempted to update the program I got an error message that the server cannot be contacted.  This error is probably because G-Data no longer officially supports Remover.

    In conclusion, save yourself time by simply using Remover rather than having to download individual virus removers for each virus or worm listed above.  Even the Remover is a little dated, it still is an effective antivirus tool for users who need to remove specific viruses.

    Many users know all too well, what happened to Google during January.  Hackers were able to install a program called a keylogger onto internal systems and then record passwords etc.  to further infiltrate the corporate systems and steal information.  This type of attack is now becoming one of the most common hacker methods.  I now see Trojans with keyloggers installed almost 50% of the time on various users’ virus detection results.  This is because viruses and Trojans are becoming increasingly financially motivated to steal credit card numbers, social security numbers, and passwords.  The problem however, is that keyloggers can be very difficult to detect by standard free antivirus.  In addition, keyloggers are very simple pieces of software that can be recoded in hours thwarting new antivirus definitions.  Therefore, a personal computer cannot be considered completely safe with just free antivirus and antispyware. Read More...

     I have heard this line many times before. Is Norton better than McAfee? Is Kaspersky better than Avast? What is the best antivirus? Thankfully there are many ways to validate how an antivirus stacks up against their competitors.

      The first way is to find one of the many antivirus comparison companies and view their reports. One of my favorite is av-comparatives.org . You can view their latest report here. The company basically takes all of the well known antivirus software and runs a battery of tests on them. They use approximately 2,309,850 viruses on their test machines. They then rank each antivirus performance according to a battery of malware including backdoors, viruses, bots, and Trojans etc. The company then takes scanning times (Winners: ranked left to right, Avast, Symantec, Avira, and Sophos.), Detection Rates (Avira McAfee, Symantec, Avast then F-Secure 99.5% through 97.5%) and Missed Samples (Avira, McAfee, Symantec , and then Avast lower is better). Finally they assign an overall score with Avast, Symantec Norton, and Bitdefender ranked the highest.  McAfee is ranked in a tier below the following antivirus. There are also four levels of certification with the av comparatives rankings depending on effectiveness.

    There are also other ranking services including WestCoast labs. This laboratory again tests an assortment of antivirus variables. Unfortunately, the company only provides two certifications platinum or a regular certification. So, Antivirus software either has a certification or it doesn’t as the company doesn’t rank antivirus software. However, it’s still good to check for WestCoast labs certified antivirus.

     Next, is ICSA labs. I like ICSA labs because they not only test antivirus but antispyware and anti spam as well. I believe that ICSA labs is one of the original malware testing services so I presume them to also have the most experience. However, the company like Westcoast labs only provides a certification rather than a ranking.

     Finally is Virus Bulletin. VB is the same as the last 2 certification companies in that they only provides a single Vb100 certification. This Vb100 certification means that the antivirus product detected 100 percent of viruses in the wild. Only 15 of the 26 security products that they tested passed. However, according to Av-comparatives no antivirus scored 100 percent detection.

      Some things that virus testing services don’t tell you. The first thing is the virus testing or comparative labs do not usually test free antivirus products. Free antivirus usually have modified code or scaled down functionality from the full versions. Therefore, you can’t say that full antivirus software and a free antivirus software detection rates are even close to similar. This is unfortunate because most antivirus these days are free antivirus. Just do a quick Google search for “antivirus” and the first program is free avg. However, don’t be discouraged. Check out av-comparatives and then make sure the software also has certifications on the other three sites listed above. This should answer most users’ questions about what is the best antivirus or what antivirus is better?

 

 

Windows 7 has just been released and the big question breaks down to whether previous antivirus software designed for Windows Vista and Windows XP will work.  Unfortunately, most of the legacy antivirus software, especially those with Windows services, will have some problems with Windows 7.  I know this because I ran Windows 7 beta for a few months.  While the antivirus software might not have been completely non functional, I ran into a lot of graphical interface problems and auto protect problems.  Therefore, for those of you who have just upgraded to Windows 7,  I offer a list of free antivirus that are compatible so you do have to go out to the store and buy a new copy.

1) Windows Security Essentials - I reviewed this software a few weeks ago.  Security Essentials was released especially for Windows 7 users.  It's free and provides great protection.  A very important feature of this antivirus is the fact that it natively supports 64bit operating systems.  Very few antivirus have this functionality*

2) AVG free Edition 9.0 -  This antivirus software was also just released just prior to the Windows 7 launch. It offers full compatibility with Windows 7. You can get the software here.

3) Avast Free Edition 4.8 - The features page of the software here, states that the software is compatible with Windows 7.  However, 4.8 is relatively old so you might want to check out the full version.  The full version comes with the "Windows 7 Certified" logo stating that software has been tested by Microsoft. 

4) McAfee Beta Total Protection for Windows 7 -  this is a new antivirus program offered by McAfee.  The software is free but it is in beta so it still may have some bugs.  Get it here.

5) McAfee Internet Security - I saw this the other day when I was logging in.  McAfee is offering 12 free months of security for Bank of America online users.  Get it here

Finally, most antivirus vendors have made sure their products are compatible with the latest version of Windows. The thing that consumers need to look for are the "Certified for Windows 7" logos.  This will ensure that the software is completely compatible with Windows 7. Good Luck with making your version of Windows 7 more secure from viruses!

 

Spyware Doctor 10.0 has just been released and has received a significant amount of fanfare.   The software was awarded PC magazine's highest rating ever of 95% for an antivirus / antispyware product.  I definitely tend to agree with this award as it's been a featured product on this website for over 2 years.  Unfortunately, the latest version of spyware doctor must be purchased.  While this may seem like a downside, if you want the latest in PC protection definitely think about picking up the full product. However, most of the readers of this website want a free version.  Therefore,  there are many free offerings that people are unaware of made by PC tools.  In addition to Free Spyware Doctor starter edition, PC tools offers a free antivirus software, free firewall, and threat fire to protect against undiscovered malware threats.

PC tools Antivirus 6.1:

PC tools antivirus is an excellent free antivirus software. The program uses very little resources and is certified by Westcoast and ICSA labs (the main antivirus reviewing companies.) The updates are very fast and the software includes a real-time scanning agent. I'm not quite sure why PC tools doesn't charge money for this antivirus software. 

PC tools Firewall Plus:

The company has an excellent free firewall that works with all versions of Windows including, Windows 7.  The default Windows firewall only includes an inbound firewall.  PC tools firewall will also give a PC inbound protection in addition to out bound protection.  I really like the included support for IPV6 which will soon become the standard on the internet.  Most current firewalls omit IPV6 protection and only protect IPV4 creating a lot of vulnerabilities.

ThreatFire 4.5:

ThreatFire is an antivirus add-on that uses behavioral technology to detect viruses even before they are released. ThreatFire has already scanned more than 100 billion programs and counting. 

In conclusion, if you install all of these free programs you are practically ensuring that your PC will be secure even in some of the most mission critical situations.  So head over to the PC tools website and happy downloading :).