Community Newsletter: Q&A: Is it true....?
Is it true....?
by I.Q. - 3/2/08 1:19 PMI'm thinking of buying a new computer, but I want to keep things as they are (i.e."FREE" if I can). I've heard that the AVG 'Free' Anti-virus program will run with Windows Vista.....is this true - or to good to be true? I also use the other 'Free stuff' - Threatfire, Windows Defender, Ad-Aware and Zone Alarm and if anyone knows about the compatibility of these with Vista, I'd greatly appreciate the info.
Thanks, I.Q.
Yes...
by John.Wilkinson
- 3/2/08 1:37 PM
In reply to: Is it true....? by I.Q.
AVG Free: Compatible
ThreatFire: Compatible
Windows Defender: Preinstalled
AdAware 2007: Compatible
Zone Alarm: Compatible but causes crashes on some systems. If it happens to you, uninstall and try Comodo Professional (free).
Hope this helps,
John
Good things do happen.......!
by I.Q. - 3/2/08 1:55 PM In reply to: Yes... by John.Wilkinson
Thank you for the quick reply and all the info. Windows Defender preinstalled, what will they think of next? 
..... music to my ears (read that as 'fingers')- one less thing I have to do!
You mentioned Comodo Prof.(free)......... I've never heard of this, where can I find it (just in case)?
Thanks again, I.Q.
Comodo.com...
by John.Wilkinson - 3/2/08 3:35 PM
In reply to: Good things do happen.......! by I.Q.
I actually prefer it to ZoneAlarm now that a lot of the previous bugs have been worked out, particularly since it gives you greater control over how applications communicate and includes the Defense+ system, which resembles ThreatFire's functionality in some respects. Depending which mode you select during installation it can be annoying for the first few days during the 'learning' phase, but after that it does quite well making decisions itself.
The third freebie that's Vista-compatible is PCTools Firewall Plus, which offers a middle-of-the-road approach between ZoneAlarm and Comodo, though like ZoneAlarm it has been known to malfunction for some.
Hope this helps,
John
I've been reading.....
by I.Q. - 3/2/08 5:25 PM In reply to: Comodo.com... by John.Wilkinson
I'm not very 'computerized' (read that as 'geeky') but I'm learning. I Googled Comodo and have been reading about all of their 'Free' stuff and liking what I'm finding. It seems that most of their stuff is Vista compatible and the stuff that isn't probably will be soon.
You mentioned Threatfire....... do you find that to be a better freebie?
As for enduring the first few days of a programs "learning" curve, if I could wither Norton's (twice!), anything less equals.... Happy, Happy, Happy!!!! :-D
You've helped...... THANKS
I.Q.
ThreatFire...
by John.Wilkinson - 3/2/08 6:24 PM
In reply to: I've been reading..... by I.Q.
ThreatFire is highly-rated and user-friendly, offering a nice complement to PCTools' Firewall Plus. However, it's not a firewall in its own right (it only does behavioral analysis) and, in my opinion, is unnecessary if you enable Defense+ in Comodo Firewall Professional. Thus, I'd say its usefulness depends on what security software you're pairing it with.
John
Threatfire and more........
by I.Q. - 3/3/08 1:53 PM In reply to: ThreatFire... by John.Wilkinson
Thanks for the Threatfire info. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing yet about buying a new machine.... I'd like to keep this one if possible because I really don't want to switch to Vista yet, but it's becoming very hard to find machines with XP Pro. I've just had the OS reinstalled (again) through a computer store and as always, I just can't get it stable...... I get page, after page, after page of warnings and errors in the event viewer, lots of hang-ups and now I can't get Windows Defender to uninstall. Both the Windows Defender and my Ad-Aware 2007 won't scan beyond the 'System Volume Files' - they just hang-up (they worked okay for about a week). These and many other issues after many OS installs has me wanting that new computer so I can actually do something other than try to figure out why I keep getting.... Program Not Responding, Error, Error, Error, Access Denied (I'm the Admin!). Sorry, I got carried away there and I know this isn't the place for that! Anyway, I'm just doing my research before I go out and buy a Vista machine and then find that all the 'free' stuff I want to use doesn't work.
I don't know if I should start another thread with what I'm about to ask, so forgive me if I'm in error here (I don't use chat rooms and I've only used a forum like this one other time)
Do you have any suggestions/tips for getting a good OS install? I use a battery backup (which was suggested before one of my installs) for clean power, but that's another thing I get a warning about..... it says "UPS not config. correctly," yet I've done all the steps in the manual and it worked fine priviously, so I'm not sure if I now have clean power.
Thanks for all of your help with the "free stuff" questions.
I.Q.
Free stuff, free advice...
by John.Wilkinson - 3/3/08 8:20 PM
In reply to: Threatfire and more........ by I.Q.
It's all good. 
The UPS configuration error depends on which UPS you have and whether this is a software readout on your computer or a hardware readout on the UPS. (Some of the more expensive models have such abilities now.) Most likely, though, it's just a software issue that doesn't affect the UPS's performance beyond the automatic backup/shutdown functionality.
-> Hundreds of alerts and warnings in Event Viewer is normal.
-> Does purging all System Restore points resolve the System Volume Files problem? (You can also add to the exclusion list to avoid scanning.)
-> Some access will be denied, even to the admin, if the file is in use or protected by Windows. Vista is 'worse' in that regard. (ie UAC)
-> Is this a retail copy of XP or a manufacturer's set of system recovery discs with all of the third-party software bundled in?
-> Mind listing a few of those errors? Might be one or two malfunctioning programs that can be easily cleaned up.
John
Errors, etc...........
by I.Q. - 3/4/08 4:34 PM In reply to: Free stuff, free advice... by John.Wilkinson
I haven't purged the System Restore files. I guess that's done through opening system restore?
What files would I be adding to the exclude list, the system restore, or the System Vol. Files?
I'm not sure what you mean about......"with all the third party software bundled in". What would that include? This machine had XP Home installed when I bought it, but I was given the XP Pro SP/2 OS disk by a family member so I don't know if it's retail, or came with his system.
Is there some way I can send you a few screenshots of my event viewer and of the opened event boxes with the descriptions of some of these events? I get such things as, TCP/IP, ....30000 milliseconds timeouts for 5 or 6 different things, all one after the other, (some of the millisecond time outs are, and they happen a lot - ShellHW Detection, dmserver service, TrkWks service), UPS errors, Dhcp, errors, ftdisk warnings, disk warnings, ntfs delayed write failed,......
Last night I downloaded and installed the Comodo Anti-Spam and BOClean and then immediately started getting a system tray popup stating that I have a network cable unplugged(NOT). This popup happens when I use my email and I haven't seen it when I open my Internet Explorer. I wrote a support email to Comodo and they responded that they didn't have an answer, but would try to work it out and include it in the next version. I now get an event viewer full of the following messages, which keep repeating over and over and..... E100B - Network connection... adapter link down , TCP/IP messages relating to this, a NEW MESSAGE "Browser" - "the browser has forced an election on network \device\NetBT\_tcpip....... (long number) because a Master browser was stopped", and a Dhcp message also related to the adapter link being down. I had none of these (except the Dhcp) before I installed the Anti-Spam. The following I "copied and pasted" from the link to Microsoft in the event viewer. I have a Linksys firewall/router I hide behind and the 1% and 3% numbers refer to my router address. The User Action says none required, but this is annoying and causes me to resend, or wait to send email messages between the lost connection/reconnect cycles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The IP address lease %1 for the Network Card with network address %2 has been denied by the DHCP server %3 (The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).
Explanation
The DHCP Server service did not extend the lease on your computer's IP address, so your computer temporarily lost its connection with the network.
This could be caused by a scope change. For example, when a roaming laptop moves from one network to another, its IP address lease might need renewal. When the DHCP Client service tries to renew the address, that request might go to a different server that will not extend the lease either because it does not know about this address lease or because it has already issued the address lease to another client.
This also happens when two DHCP servers are configured to give out addresses in the same IP address range.
User Action
No user action is required. The DHCP Client service will continue trying to obtain a working IP address until it succeeds, and DHCP establishes the network connection on its own.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Another weird thing I get after this last OS install (and this worked before without any problems) is with my Fast User Switching. If I click log off and then switch to another user account using the Fast User Switching feature, that account opens and the icons are all over the screen, and there is no task bar or start button in view. I can use the cursor and point in any direction and the desktop will move and I can eventually bring the start button into view in order to log off. When I return to the original user account (using the Fast User Switching feature), that account now acts the same way. If I restart the computer, the problem is corrected until I try to switch accounts again.
Hope this info. is what you asked me for. I don't have specific error numbers, just screenshots of the event viewer and the event boxes opened.
I.Q.
(Thanks for putting up with all of this! Maybe someday I can become good enough to warrant the use of the "I.Q." name!)
Here is what I'm running: (Nothing spectacular just a lot of storage that I would love to be able to fill up - if I can ever get this thing running without all of the problems!)
Dell Demension 4550
Pent.(R)4 CPU 2.40GHz
2.39GHz 1Gb RAM (just had this upgraded with the OS install and had them remove the orig. 512 stick and replace with 2 identical mfgs. 512 sticks - 'Buffalo', I know nothing about the brand)
ATI Radeon 9550 Graphics card
ATI TV Wonder Pro (just for capturing my analog video camera)
A 360 GB Maxtor HD "C" Drive
A 200 GB Maxtor internal storage drive
A 200 GB Maxtor external (USB) storage drive
A 120 GB West. Digital external (USB) storage drive.
A just purchased Memorex "Lightscribe" DVD recorder (I was getting a lot of "cd/rom" (device has a bad sector) messages in the event viewer and this solved the problem)
ERRORS ERRORS ERROS.
by GEO2003 - 3/8/08 11:42 AM In reply to: Threatfire and more........ by I.Q.I know you mentioned re-installing the OS from scrach, but did you format the hard drives before you did re-install.
Some times, malware, viruses could be hiding on the Master File Table, or the boot sector of the HD.
And if you don't reformat, they don't go away.
Because of all the error msgs. you are encountering, your virus applications may not install properly due to the viruses that are hiding, therefore avoiding detection after installation of the antivirus software.
I believe GRISOFT.COM for AVG have an utility to create a boot cd with the necessary tools to check the hard drive before you boot to the OS, these might help. MacAffe, may also have tools available for these type of process.
If all fails before you give up, reformat the drives before you reinstall the OS.
Good Luck
George
Missed this one.....
by I.Q. - 3/9/08 11:29 AM In reply to: ERRORS ERRORS ERROS. by GEO2003Hey GEO2003,
I missed this reply to my post, sorry about that.
The OS reinstall was done by a computer retail store, so I'm assuming (?) they knew what they were doing....RIGHT! As an example, I paid extra money for them to do all of the Windows updates..... After having a few problems while trying to get the machine loaded with programs, etc, I decided to do some checking and found (through Windows update history)that 75 updates FAILED to install. There were a few that did reinstall, but the rest I had to do, restart, check for, download, install, restart...... Then I found that the IIS wasn't installed. Since I had no idea of what that was, I 'Googled' it and found how to install it.... it was on the OS disk that I gave them and it never installed, given that, was anything checked to make sure that everything was installed correctly..... long story short (there were other things too!) I got my money back. So, who's to say that they formatted the hard drives or not?
I just bought a new machine w/Vista (64 bit) and not being 'Geeky', I didn't know about a difference between 32 bit and 64 bit. I'm quickly finding out that all of the 'Freebie' security programs I currently use aren't Vista compatible and if they are, only for 32 bit. Now I'm hearing that some of my current sofware programs may not run, or, will with issues, and anything I purchase in the future I'll have to be careful of what I buy. That said, I'm returning the machine tomorrow and I'll continue looking for a 32 bit machine w/XP Pro. I'm also hearing rumors that there will be another XP Service Pack and that Vista may go by the wayside.... just another reason to stick with XP, YES!
This thread started out because I was going to buy a new machine and wanted to know if all of my 'Freebies" were compatible with Windows Vista. That has turned into Forum writing in two other forums, buying the machine, encountering more issues (64 bit), blah, blah, bl..... I've just decided that no more responses to this thread are needed.....PROBLEM SOLVED - I'M GETTING A NEW MACHINE W/XP PRO.
I will file your "formatting" info. in my 'gray matter' because after I get the new machine, I'll continue to use this one (off line only) and before I do that, I'll personally reinstall the OS. Something I've done in the past but just didn't want to be bothered with this last time, now I'm paying the price and lesson learned.... want something done right - do it yourself!
Thanks to all that have taken their time to respond, it's been very much appreciated and it's nice to know there are people out there that still want to help strangers!
Grayghost
Good Luck
by GEO2003 - 3/9/08 1:14 PM In reply to: Missed this one..... by I.Q.I am glad that you got your money back.
Stores like Bestbuy and others always take the easier route although they are better then little computer stores, the reason being that they have so many computers to fix. Case in point, about a year ago bestbuy lost a customers computer and now they being sued for millions of dollars.
As far as Vista 64 you are correct in terms of the software built, and it is also true that xp still alive and kecking with the sp3 update comming soon.
I have Vista Home Premium on a 3 year old machine and have been able to find all the different applications I personally need. Not only that but the OS is stable 99.9 percent of the time. I liked it.
The needs of course are different for different users.
Some advise, make sure that when you get your new computer, it comes with the installation disk of the OS, if not, it may have a hidden partion on the drive with the OS and applications that came with the machine so that you can restore from scrach if something goes wrong.
I help my syster buy a new pc from HP, it came with a partion not the OS disk as all vendors are doing. HP provides a little software to create this OS image onto DVD's so that a person can install from the DVD's if the hard drive goes completely bad. The crusual part is that HP and Dell do not Hide this partion any more, so viruses cant replicate to those partions as well. That's why you should immediately make the DVD image backup just in case.
Have fun with your new machine.
NOD
by cschilling7 - 3/7/08 9:23 PM In reply to: Yes... by John.Wilkinson
AVG Free: Crap
ThreatFire: Crap
Windows Defender: Preinstalled (crap)
AdAware 2007: Crap
Zone Alarm: Crap
Esset NOD32: AWESOME
GET NOD32 its not expensive does it all without using precious resource memory. I'd rather put nothing on my machine then use anything else. ESSET NOD32 #1! Symantec Reps Hate Me!
tis is my opinion lah...
by sakaiboyy - 3/22/08 7:01 AM In reply to: Yes... by John.Wilkinson
hmm...no offence...bt..lets c..
for me...my COMP is windows XP home EDition...
nt usin Vista Coz CANNOT play Most of d online games
like..etc(GG client,granado espada,knight online,trinity online...u name it...)
here's my suggestion:
1)Mcafee(tis should come wid ur CONP wen u buy it...)
2)spybot search n destroy(tis also cme wid ur COMP wen u buy it)
3)ThreatFire(strongly Recomended....for me lar...)
4)PCSafe Adware Filter....(download d free version)
hope tis wil help u...!!!@@@ XD=
FYI on PCSafe...
by John.Wilkinson - 3/22/08 9:25 AM
In reply to: tis is my opinion lah... by sakaiboyy
Their products were previously classified as being rogue due to the presence of false positives, product name exploitations, and questionable advertising practices. While they were removed from that list two years ago, I believe the company continues some of these practices, including the usage of shills, which is when they have individuals pose as customers making positive reviews to bump up their ratings. As a result I cannot recommend Adware Filter or any other product they offer.
Also, Spybot and McAfee are installed at the discretion of the computer manufacturer. Most will include a free trial of McAfee, Norton, or TrendMicro, but rarely will they include a full 1-year subscription to any security suite or the freeware SpyBot Search & Destroy.
John
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