AVG 8.0 "The search for truth"

[fidmas]

Just that SpyBot Immunize seems quite nice on my wife's box, and SpyBot scans catch almost as much as AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5 does.  I honestly haven't tried the avast! Web Shield yet.  Any arguments for or against either are welcome. :-)

I guess I am for Web Shield since I can only think of resource problem or possible conflicts to turn off Web Shield.  What the reason for being against it, exactly?

Maybe none.  I haven't tried it yet since "I myself" use neither.  I know if my my wife doesn't want to be yelled at for visiting Amazon with Tracking Cookies, she can Undo Immunize, and I can "Scan" for problems later.  Avast! Have a scan for spyware feature?

/fIdmas

[fidmas]

From now on, I'm recomending avast! without the "Web Shield".

Why?

Just that SpyBot Immunize seems quite nice on my wife's box, and SpyBot scans catch almost as much as AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5 does.  I honestly haven't tried the avast! Web Shield yet.  Any arguments for or against either are welcome. :-)

/fidmas

I can't see why you recommend avast but advocate not using the web shield yet you haven't tried it

The web shield scan http traffic using a localhost proxy so can intercept malware at source before it gets on to your system, prevention is much better than cure.

Ok. Ok. :-)  Most already have SpyBot Immunize and I figured making them un-learn Norton in favor of avast! was enough.  I promice, I'll play with Web Shield.  I'm not bad mouthing it to anyone.  Just applying the K.I.S.S. principle. :-)

/fidmas

[DavidR]

For me K.I.S.S. would be to leave avast at the default installation settings. The providers/shields are set to Normal and provide a good balance between protection and performance.

Only Terminate providers that the user doesn't use any software that that provider/shield is designed to protect, e.g. the P2P and Instant Messaging providers if they don't use any of that software then it could be Terminated, answer Yes to the question Persist the changes or it will restart on the next boot.

[Sesame]

I know if my my wife doesn't want to be yelled at for visiting Amazon with Tracking Cookies, she can Undo Immunize, and I can "Scan" for problems later.

I'm terribly sorry to hear that.   

Avast! Have a scan for spyware feature?

Yes, it has from 4.8, even on Home edition different form some other *cough* free anti-virus application, and Web Shield prevent malicious files coming through browsers.  We already have resident scanner but these files better off from our computers in the first place.  However, don't rely on too much on the anti-spyware feature since multi-layered protections would be nicer.

PS  Er...I see you have been already convinced and that DavidR has covered tips for resource management, too.

[fidmas]

I know if my my wife doesn't want to be yelled at for visiting Amazon with Tracking Cookies, she can Undo Immunize, and I can "Scan" for problems later.

I'm terribly sorry to hear that.   

Avast! Have a scan for spyware feature?

Yes, it has from 4.8, even on Home edition different form some other *cough* free anti-virus application, and Web Shield prevent malicious files coming through browsers.  We already have resident scanner but these files better off from our computers in the first place.  However, don't rely on too much on the anti-spyware feature since multi-layered protections would be nicer.

PS  Er...I see you have been already convinced and that DavidR has covered tips for resource management, too.

:-)  I"ll try it soon.  I've got a hospital procedure in an hour, so I'll probably not be in the mood for a while.  Thanks for the info and advice.

P.S. "I'd" probably never use Web Shield "for myself", since I still have a copy of Netscape 4.7, with EVERYTHING turned off, for potentially sleazy sites.  I doubt that Web Shield would like that.  Am I wrong?

/fidmas

[DavidR]

Web shield doesn't care much what browser you use, it is monitoring the port 80 (HTTP traffic) the only browsers it would effectively 'ignore' would be those it doesn't support, exotic/non-main stream browsers, but it wouldn't 'object' or "I doubt that Web Shield would  like that."

The biggest issue is not the sleazy sites but the sites that have been hacked and have been injected with an iFrame tag that opens malicious content from a site your aren't even visiting. The web shield protects very well against these iFrame exploits.

[Sesame]

"I'd" probably never use Web Shield "for myself", since I still have a copy of Netscape 4.7, with EVERYTHING turned off, for potentially sleazy sites.

You still have a copy of...what? 
Generally speaking, it is not recommendable to use such old app but according to secunia advisories, the browser appears to be quite safe.

The biggest issue is not the sleazy sites but the sites that have been hacked and have been injected with an iFrame tag that opens malicious content from a site your aren't even visiting. The web shield protects very well against these iFrame exploits.

I think Netscape 4.7 doesn't support Iframe...

I doubt that Web Shield would like that.  Am I wrong?

As DavidR says, I think Web Shield wouldn't care and I even think Netscape is supported by Web Shield.  You could check it with eicar test files.

That said, you can choose whether to use Web Shield for further protection or just to be happy with your good old browser.  I'm inclined to agree with you that the browser is quite safe if inconvenient at times but Web Shield wouldn't harm.

Just in case someone is interested, he/she can download the setup files of Netscapes from here.

[DavidR]

I think the iframe HTML tag has be around for a long time, and I believe the iframe tag isn't proprietary (e.g. an MS IE option) or it wouldn't be supported by Opera and Firefox, standards compliant browsers.

Old browsers would probably still be vulnerable to the iframe exploit it is the newer browsers like the latest firefox that are less vulnerable, especially if it is also running noscript.

[Lisandro]

Avast! Have a scan for spyware feature?

Yes. Just scan, antivirus and antispyware are joined together in the same scanning.

[nathan44]

i have just installed avg free 8.0 and my pc takes a lot longer to boot up im going back to 7.5

[fidmas]

I think the iframe HTML tag has be around for a long time, and I believe the iframe tag isn't proprietary (e.g. an MS IE option) or it wouldn't be supported by Opera and Firefox, standards compliant browsers.

Old browsers would probably still be vulnerable to the iframe exploit it is the newer browsers like the latest firefox that are less vulnerable, especially if it is also running noscript.

I'm still kinda punchy, but I want to thank you all for the advice.  I will give Web Shield a fair shot before recommending that anyone just keep their SpyBot.  OK? :-)  FYI: Netscape 4.7 is soooooooo old it doesn't support frames at all.  With everything turned off, things just end up in cache, can't be used by the browser, and get deleted quickly.

BTW: We mostly use it while trying to find simple 8-bit ANSI word lists for foreign languages for one of our freeware products.  The only good place to look is on hacker's sites.  Of course, going there means taking your life in your hands. :-)  AVG and Avast have caught several scripts being loaded into cache, but of course, Scripts are off anyway.  If anyone knows where to find ANSI word lists for other languages, we're all ears. :-)

I'd plug the site here, but I suspect hackers monitor anti-virus forums regularly, and I don't need to give them any help. :-)

Thanks,
fidmas
---

[fidmas]

Avast! Have a scan for spyware feature?

Yes. Just scan, antivirus and antispyware are joined together in the same scanning.

Good. :-)

[DavidR]

i have just installed avg free 8.0 and my pc takes a lot longer to boot up im going back to 7.5

I guess I must have missed the bit where this became the avg support forum

What AV are you using ?

well i had the new version of avast and windows xp sp3 and had no problems

So of all your 7 posts in a little over an hour, none seem related to your using avast.

[nathan44]

i am in the prosess of switching back to avast i used it awile ago

[fidmas]

The biggest issue is not the sleazy sites but the sites that have been hacked and have been injected with an iFrame tag that opens malicious content from a site your aren't even visiting. The web shield protects very well against these iFrame exploits.

Yup!  Found one with IE7 several days ago while trying to remember how I disabled WSH.