Re: Another Newbie asking "Which Anti-Virus Sofware is the Best?"

Thanks art. That does sound a little overwhelming for me at this
point, but I'd rather know the options. I'll look into the roolkit
stuff and safe hex too.

Jim

Art wrote:
On 29 May 2006 19:51:43 -0700, jimrainfordson@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

If I download, update and run the top 3 or 4
anti-spyware/anti-trojain/anti-malware type apps and I come up clean,
is it pretty safe to assume that (at least for the time being) I'm free
of malware? Or is there just too much of it outthere that isn't
tracked?

As an afterthought, perhaps I should mention that there are quite a
number of utilities available for checking a machine, some of which
are easy enough for average users, and some which aren't. Without
being very specific or supplying urls at this point, the rootkit
detction utils from F-Secure and SysInternals come to mind as easy-to-
use. But the best method for rootkit checks is to do formal av
scanning, which means the use of a alternate operating system while
doing the scan. It seems to me though, that expecting average users
to build something like a Bart CD is a bit much :) The NT based OS
such as Win 2K and XP have made life very difficult in this regard.

Also, many of the other utilities available for general or generic
malware checking aren't suitable for average users. They require
knowledge of what a normal or clean machine "looks like" in certain
details, including portions of the registry.

I don't mean to make too much of this, though, or in any way induce
paranoia. In practice, "safe hex" and some basic prevention knowledge
goes a very long way.

Art
http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg

.

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