Protection at system startup

[dnae09]

thats exactly where I am.  My window looks a little different then the one in your post but, thats because I am using win98se, not ntfs.  But, like I have said, my choices are unavailable until some option beforehand is chosen.  Its something simple, I've corrected this in the past once or twice before, trouble is I dont remember what the f--- it was that I had done. thanks again

[DavidR]

If your image is basically the same have you clicked the Details button ?
It may be better to take this out to a new topic (if it isn't now resolved) as it is totally unrelated to the original topic and it will just confuse the topic.

[dnae09]

sure enough, i think the issue was described clearly enough and i think this is not an unusual situation.  what is surprising is that none who have responded is familiar with this issue.  its something simple, now, i really wish i had documented my activity, sayonara

[alanrf]

Since nobody has an interest in my findings on "the red ball at startup" I will not bother posting ... but it does happen and nothing posted here comes close to my observations.

[oldman]

I've never experienced this on my win98se machine, but I have seen it on the 2 xp machines that I sometimes babysit. Less than 5 seconds if I recall. I've follow the threads in the past to see if there was a reason/solution.

[Lisandro]

but it does happen and nothing posted here comes close to my observations.

We care about it.
Really, after installing Spyware Terminator version 2 (and even having all residents disabled and virus scanning of it not running) I've noticed that avast loads with a red cross that disappears after some seconds...

So, Vlk, this assumption is wrong... even with the driver loaded we're not protected, is that true?

Alarf, Vlk does not answer my question either...
You're not alone...

[alanrf]

Vlk did answer my question to my satisfaction.  avast just not do what you thought (and I hoped) it did.  I think that the window of opportunity for malware is small but it does seem that it exists.  I do not know how this compares with other products.

As to the red ball ... it used to appear even on my fairly new system for a few seconds before the avast team made changes earlier this year.  Since then I had got used to it not being there and it only shows up for one of the folks I support now (and on my old XP system).  I believe I understand why it does for those systems.  Isn't Windows startup a fun place to investigate? 

[oldman]

Well, I for one am interested in what you have discovered. Maybe I can "cure" the two xp machines that I sometimes get to play with.

[Vlk]

avast just not do what you thought (and I hoped) it did.  I think that the window of opportunity for malware is small but it does seem that it exists.

Absolutely. Take e.g. rootkits (i.e. usualy kernel-mode malware): they usually starts as "boot" drivers, i.e. very very early in the boot process (generally before all peripheral device drivers get loaded). These will definitely start before avast (and also, before most other AV's).

There's no silver bullet here - it will always be a cat'n'mouse game. There are even rootkits that get loaded from the MBR (before the Windows bootstrapper).

We're thinking of ways to handle all these cases. It will never be perfect but it is definitely possible to raise the bar here.

Cheers
Vlk

[news]

Since nobody has an interest in my findings on "the red ball at startup" I will not bother posting ... but it does happen and nothing posted here comes close to my observations.

alanrf....I'm interested in your findings.

Since you brought up the information..I'd certainly be interested in reading what you found out about it. I'm sure others would be interested as well.

Please post your findings here in your thread. I'll be waiting and watching.
Thanks