Suggestions of any free virus scanners?

[Andrzejek]

I have a small Acer netbook with Widows 7 that seems to work slower than expected. I use it mostly to visit a few web sites, check e-mail, etc. Nothing too involved. I did go to Control Panels and eliminated some of the programs installed, some that I knew I did not have any use for. The biggest improvement was after removing Google Search Toolbar (or something like that). My IE speed increased big time. But still on same websites I cannot view video clips, I just get black rectangle with ‘Play’ button in the middle, but no play capabilities. I can click on the link to see the same clip on YouTube and that works just fine.

I have one virus scan software (Avast?) but I am not sure if that’s enough.

Any suggestions / recommendations of any free virus scanners / protection I can install?


Have fun.

---- Andy

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

 

[disturbedone]

There could be numerous reasons for the issues you're seeing. If you've got a virus you'll likely be seeing much worse problems that slow Internet.

Avast! is good. I'd also suggest Microsoft's own Windows Security Essentials - they make Windows so should know how to protect it.

 

[Andrzejek]

There is something going on in the background on my computer. You know, if you leave Skype (or any other app) running and shut down your computer, there is a (dark) screen that says: Waiting to close open application (or something like that) and shows Skype as still on. So Windows will close it before shutting down.

When I don’t have anything left running, I still get this screen, but there is no app mentioned. So Windows is shutting down something, it just doesn’t show or tell me what that ‘something’ is.


Have fun.

---- Andy

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

 

[2ffat]

Some videos need something like Flash or Silverlight to be installed to run. Did you disable those?


James P. Cottingham
I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!

 

[kjv1611]

Do you use Skype all the time? Is Skype maxing out your Ram? Worth a check.

If you've not used Malwarebytes Anti-malware, I'd throw that on there, and get it scanning ASAP. It's not a true antivirus product, as it checks for other things as well. It checks for any sort of "ad-ware" or "malware", and it's the best scanner out there in general. If it finds anything, remove what it finds, reboot, and scan again.

Also, you could try cleaning up things - look at CCleaner and Glary Utilities (both my personal recommendations anyway) - scan and clean with them, see what you end up with.

And make sure you don't have any app that is loading up huge log files - check your C drive to be sure not too full. I realize it isn't all that often this happens anymore, but it can make a difference.

RAM - how much physical memory do you have? Is it less than 4GB? If so, that could be a problem.

Latest Flash player? Latest version of Java? Check both out at their respective sites. Another option is to just go to

http://ninite.com

and use their installer to install up to date versions of any run-time items you use (java, .net, flash).

What website has the video? Is it ANY video on ANY site, or is it just on a certain site? Some sites use other players, like the Real Player or Quicktime. So that could be an issue as well. If so, you'd have to install their players or else find a 3rd party app/plugin that will handle that type of audio/video file for you without the normal application.

Processing speed - if you're running say a Celeron processor or an older processor (pretty much anything older than Core 2 Duo will run pretty slow now... and anything less than Core i... may run slow on some items.

Speed of your hard drive can make a difference as well if you are noticing slowness overall. It's not always the case, but if you have a particularly slow drive, that can make a difference. If you don't need any real storage space, and have money to spare and want to spend it, an SSD would be a worth while upgrade... especially if you're comfortable installing everything from scratch. Just make sure you have a Windows install disk, or else possibly that you can mirror your current restore partition (assuming there is one) to the new SSD before attemping to install that way.

Anyway, that's probably too many different options. Start with Malwarebytes, and go from there. By the way, I've seen and heard back from others who have used any one of the above fixes at different times, different scenarios where that one item made a mammoth difference. So just spends upon your details as to whether you need 1,some, or all changes. Obviously the CPU is not likely going to be something you want to even consider changing on a small laptop (well, most people wouldn't), but that's always something else to consider. I don't think I'd bother with that part, though, personally - just doesn't seem worth the hassle.


"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[flyboytim]

Rather than an additional antivirus, an antimalware scanner such as Malwarebytes Free

https://www.malwarebytes.org/

can be used on occasions to clean up Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) and Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), which can be picked up by visiting web pages and sometimes just by mousing over active images on the webpage. These parasites slow up your system in a big way.
For full time blocking of many of these nuisances, try following advice here:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=blocking+unwanted+parasites&l=1

will help you harden your internet activity against placing nuisance adverts on the webpages you visit, and on html emails, and stop your PC from communicating with malware-generating sites without your knowledge.

I have recently become aware of the English language versions of the Baidu utilities from a major Chinese IT company - Antivirus, Spark Browser, PC Faster suite, all of which install without adding toolbars, or other unwanted junk. OK, they are not perfect - the Antivirus has an occasional false positive, and a few of the dialogs are in "Chinglish", but for Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8/8.1, these are great at cleaning up your system's everyday junk that causes slowdowns. It cleaned up an XP system I had to boot up in as little as 30 seconds, and Windows 7 in around 55 seconds (The XP was so fast because, being unsupported by Microsoft now, Windows Update, Defender and other services could be turned off, allowing for lightning fast startup).

Baidu Spark Browser can be found here, with links to their other utilities at the bottom of the page:

http://en.browser.baidu.com/

 

[johnherman]

As someone who has used McAfee, AVG, and other 3rd party antivirus over the years, I need to say that the internal Microsoft anti-virus and anti-malware has come a long way and is now my preferred solution for Windows desktops and laptops. I have no experience regarding anti-malware/anti-virus for Windows tablets or phones.

==================================
adept adaptive uber solutions for data galaxies (agile big data clouds and then some)

 

[kjv1611]

One thing on flyboytim's suggestion of using the hosts file. That has been proven to not be as powerful as it once was. I always assumed it was still good, but when I did some research on that method myself, multiple sources, I had to come to the opposite conclusion - there is just too much out there to rely upon messing with the hosts file. Not to mention that the more you add to your hosts file, the more browsing slows down, it becomes another performance hit.

You could even look at PeerGuardian program, if it is still available. It does things sort of like a hosts file setup, I guess, but is stronger in that regard. However, it can be a serious resource hog as well.

But that did make me think of one more thing. Blocking ads and scripts on sites with extensions or add-ons depending upon the browser you use. I do that with firefox and chrome, and since I've gotten used to browsing that way, I won't look back. In general, our web browsing is much faster and more secure. It is sometimes annoying, b/c you have to allow so many scripts for some sites to load correctly, or some things to work, but you can make those allowances permanant for those you generally trust.

There are other malware cleanup tools as well, other than MWB, but MalWareBytes is still the best thing going. I personally wouldn't own a Windows based system without installing MWB.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[goombawaho]

My OPINION is that Microsoft Security Essentials stops very little in the way of malware. But if you're a careful person, you can probably get by with it and never get infected. If you're all over the internet and downloading stuff here, there and everywhere + installing random free software all the time + clicking on any link you get in any email, you might want to up your protection.

I see people talking about MalwareBytes and that's great for cleanup AFTER the fact of an infection unless you're going to purchase the full product (would recommend that). But in general, prevention is better than cleanup.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[kjv1611]

goombawaho,

Given the fact that the OP is having some issues which seem to point to a malware infection of some sort, that is the reason, as far as I have seen, the product was mentioned. I did mention I wouldn't install a system without installing MWB, of course. I do think it's good to have that installed up front, and even if you are careful, it's still wise to scan occasionally just to be sure.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[flyboytim]

I'd be interested to see the evidence eluded to in kjv1611's post above that hosts file inclusions or exclusions slow down your system - if an ad in a webpage looks for a site to download an image from and is met with an error generated on your machine by your browser, and only a local address is found, then time, and bandwidth is not lost downloading a malicious image and script from some distant and elusive host.

The main problem with Hosts file Modification is that there are many vested interests (advertisers and sites like Tek-Tips that monetize via adverts (no bad thing in that as long as the ads are honest)) on the web that actually corroborate with "Trusted" antivirus programs that are allowed to modify system files (such as the hosts file) in order to remove malicious code that may be inserted by viruses etc.

I enclosed the reference to the link to the MVPS site in a LMGTFY link because many forums block access to the hosts/parasites site directly, because the actions it recommends might impact on their advertising revenue.

Sadly, you are now expected to add third party cookies to your browser to opt out of annoying ads - which are a drain on resources - both in the storage and access time for each cookie for each browser you may use.

If the browser does not even display the flashing yellow and red ad or green "DOWNLOAD NOW!!" button, then there is no chance that that malicious site can be called from your browser.

I also agree with goombawaho that MSE is about as useful as a chocolate teapot for malware prevention. All that Windows Defender and its varieties are there for is to prevent Piracy Of Microsoft Products, with the added bonus of some, and certainly not the best, antivirus protection.

 

[kjv1611]

True, I did not post any numbers, specifics. When I read about the mention, I didn't see any numbers, nor did I personally care to dig into it further. Sorry to not provide references on that one. I just don't see it as being worth my time.

In general though, if you choose the route of editing your hosts files to keep off malware, adware, etc, then that's going to have to be an ongoing task, since everything in that area is constantly changing. Much easier, in my opinion, to rely on programs/apps/add-ins to handle all of that. Yes, you're having to trust someone else, but in many cases, those other folks have a monetary reason to keep up their products, and probably have more time than you, unless that's your full-time job.

And I wouldn't go so far as to say that MSE is strictly to prevent piracy. MSE is a pretty decent antivirus. I have actually seen systems actively protected by it on more than one occasion. Also MSE is light on resources, it's one of the less nagging free AV applications on the market, if not THE most nagg-less app, and for those people who don't want to constantly look at settings and such on a daily/weekly basis, it's another win, b/c it's practically fool-proof in running and in understanding:
[ol 1]
[li]Red = you have a serious problem, so the AV program thinks - could be definitions way out of date, could be you haven't scanned in oh, a year, and could be you have an infection.[/li]
[li]2. Yellow/Orange = Needs attention, but it's not yet a real emergency.[/li]
[li]Green = All's good[/li]
[/ol]

From the history I've seen personally, I'd trust Microsoft Security Essentials over any McAfee product I've seen, including paid subscriptions. I'd also trust it at least as much as Norton Home products... well, at least from a few years ago... they seem to have improved of late, so I may have to some time try out the latest, and renew my opinions. But free vs paid, it'd have to be a pretty big difference without crashing or slowing my system.

The script/ad blocking add-ins/plug-ins/extensions for me have gone a long way. I've had to deal with far fewer issues since using that sort of thing. And I've tried several different ones with Firefox and Chrome. It seems, so long as I'm using some type of ad/script blockers, we almost have no worries. I've also heard of far fewer issues from other folks whose malware-laden machines I've fixed by simply doing so - and that's with using MSE as the main antivirus.

But yeah - if someone can find numbers on the hosts file deal, then that'd be great. Don't get me wrong - if you know of a handful of super bad addresses, then that's a good method, but if your list grows warily wrong it's bad for the sake of having to possibly manage it (what if something quits working, b/c of a change to the actually addresses you're blocking), and then the system will have to loop through all your addresses with every page/address you try to access via external networking connections.

Of course, it's up to the user in the end. What do you feel comfortable with? How far are you willing to go? How much time do you want to spend? What is it all worth to you end in the end... that's what really matters.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57