I use the following 1. Ad-Aware 2. AVG 2011 3. CCleaner 4. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Anyone use any other free antivirus software that may cover items these may miss?
what version of windows are you using? I have 4 pcs three of them are running different versions of windows and one is running ubuntu. On windows I am running 1. Windows XP Home 2. Windows XP Pro 3. Windows 7 Ultimate
Win 7 Pro Kaspersky AV 6 for business Ubuntu Clam AV Windows XP MS Security Essentials 2 Windows 7 Home Premium MS Security Essentials All except ubuntu also have Malwarebytes installed.
SpywareBlaster SpywareGuard MalwareBytes Microsoft Security Essentials All four on all of the personal computers (three towers, one laptop) on my home network. One tower is running XP Pro. All others are running Vista Home Premium. Also have a Web server (XPP) and file server (2K3 Ent). Web server is running MSE and nothing else. File server has nothing.
home desktop - MSE and Comodo firewall personal laptop - Comodo Internet Security work laptop - Comodo internet Security work desktop - Juniper hardware firewall and Comodo internet security. Rest of work - McAfee Enterprise. A while back due to a faulty definitions update we had a punch of pc's on our network get the Windows Defender "virus", didn't have that problem with either my laptop or desktop using Comodo instead of the McAfee.
Win 2K "Pro Dan" ver 2.0 - The last O/S software that the user tells the PC what to do, and not vice verse. I run xp, vista, & 7 on other computers we have. The women in the house can't do without the bells and whistle software for idiots.:? PrivateFirewall 7.0 Spybot RegClean Using expensive anti-virus software is like putting a condom on 'after' having sex. Someone has to get the virus before the code can be written to combat it. If you're in that group, what did you pay for? And do you get a refund for being a guinea pig?
What do professional cleaner/repair people use? It is my understanding that these free programs are for non-commercial use. So are there paid (professional) programs that do it better and faster? Or do the repair guys get paid to sit and watch the program run for 30 minutes?
Places like Best Buy make have a custom bootable CD that has various tools loaded. They are almost all - if not all - free tools. There are tools like combofix, DDS, GMER, and Junction that are either special removal tools or tools that help gather information about the system. There really isn't a shortcut to scanning an infected PC. There are programs that are better and faster, but they are not necessarily paid. Malwarebytes is awesome and detects many things that commercial AV products miss.
So is it usually legal to charge someone for cleaning their computer with free software? I know that Malwarebytes Antimalware says in their agreement that it cannot be used by any computer repair service unless the customer pays for a full licensed copy of the program. It also say that it cannot be used for commercial purposes, only personal. I'm just wondering if most repair services ignore this?
The legality depends on the license of the individual software. Malwarebytes does have a technician's license that allows the tech to use it freely as long as it is uninstalled when the tech is finished.