AOL active virus shield - any good?

heatherjames wrote:
> http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
>
> I know it uses the Kaspersky engine, but does anyone know if it loads the
> usual array of AOL dll's and exe's which tell other files to phone home
> with loads of your personal surfing habits?
>
> Can it be used in conjunction with another virus program?
>
> How about Dr. Web's Cureit?

Heather,

AVS is a 100% KL product, with an AOL skin. Just don't install the AOL
Security Toolbar (uncheck this option during the installation.) You
cannot change the AVS skin, that would be a violation of the EULA.

Eric Howes was complaining about the AVS EULA, but AOL has since
cleaned it up. Even if AOL gives you the creeps, I wouldn't worry
about it. I have a KIS 6 license, but I installed AVS in November for
purposes of evaluation. I could not tell the difference (other than
cosmetics) between the two when setup identically.

Although some have reported using AVS/KAV 6 with another AV installed,
I wouldn't myself. And if you have any problems, no one will help you
with such a setup. I know that many have used other on-line AV
scanners with AVS/KAV 6 installed (might have to temporarily disable
protection), but I don't about Dr.Web CureIt.

There have been reports of conflicts between AVS and some PFWs. I
found that I could get the S-K PFW 4.3 to work, if I uninstalled the
PFW, installed AVS, and then re-installed the PFW. And AVS, of course,
worked fine with the WinXP FW. Here is some KL Forum info about KAV 6
playing nice with other PFWs. Most should apply to AVS, as well.

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=16036

If you want to try AVS (or KIS 6 - 30-day free trial), go for it. Just
stay away from the AOL Security Toolbar. Eric still doesn't like that.

Ron
 >> Stay informed about: AOL active virus shield - any good? 

Ron Lopshire <notron.RemoveThis@ovbl.org> wrote in
news:6lakh.3819$yx6.1570@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

> heatherjames wrote:
>> http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
>>
>> I know it uses the Kaspersky engine, but does anyone know if it loads
>> the usual array of AOL dll's and exe's which tell other files to
>> phone home with loads of your personal surfing habits?
>>
>> Can it be used in conjunction with another virus program?
>>
>> How about Dr. Web's Cureit?
>
> Heather,
>
> AVS is a 100% KL product, with an AOL skin. Just don't install the AOL
> Security Toolbar (uncheck this option during the installation.) You
> cannot change the AVS skin, that would be a violation of the EULA.
>
> Eric Howes was complaining about the AVS EULA, but AOL has since
> cleaned it up. Even if AOL gives you the creeps, I wouldn't worry
> about it. I have a KIS 6 license, but I installed AVS in November for
> purposes of evaluation. I could not tell the difference (other than
> cosmetics) between the two when setup identically.
>
> Although some have reported using AVS/KAV 6 with another AV installed,
> I wouldn't myself. And if you have any problems, no one will help you
> with such a setup. I know that many have used other on-line AV
> scanners with AVS/KAV 6 installed (might have to temporarily disable
> protection), but I don't about Dr.Web CureIt.
>
> There have been reports of conflicts between AVS and some PFWs. I
> found that I could get the S-K PFW 4.3 to work, if I uninstalled the
> PFW, installed AVS, and then re-installed the PFW. And AVS, of course,
> worked fine with the WinXP FW. Here is some KL Forum info about KAV 6
> playing nice with other PFWs. Most should apply to AVS, as well.
>
> http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=16036
>
> If you want to try AVS (or KIS 6 - 30-day free trial), go for it. Just
> stay away from the AOL Security Toolbar. Eric still doesn't like that.
>
> Ron


Wow. Great info.

So what you're saying is that the AOL AVS is almost as good as the
Kaspersky product. Does it clean the system, after finding a virus, or
just block it when it first tries to attack - or do you have to buy the
full Kaspersky product for that?

Why go for the Kaspersky free trial for 30 days if AVS is free?
 >> Stay informed about: AOL active virus shield - any good? 

On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:51:03 -0600, heatherjames
<<heatherjames4412.DeleteThis@nohotmailspam.com> wrote:

> Does it clean the system, after finding a virus,

Yes.

>or
>just block it when it first tries to attack -

That also.

>Why go for the Kaspersky free trial for 30 days if AVS is free?

Because, as I pointed out, AVS lacks the PDM and Web protection
modules.

Art
http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg
 >> Stay informed about: AOL active virus shield - any good? 

heatherjames wrote:

> http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
>
>
> I know it uses the Kaspersky engine, but does anyone know if it loads the
> usual array of AOL dll's and exe's which tell other files to phone home
> with loads of your personal surfing habits?
>
It just works fine, no homephoning so far unless you forget to uncheck
the "install aol security toolbar" option. Never even got a single spam
with the (disposable) e-mail addies I gave them for receiving a bunch of
keys, and have used that scanner for "decontaminating" and securing some
other pcs as well.
Another great thing is, it comes without the "internet security" bloatware
and just does its job.

> Can it be used in conjunction with another virus program?
>
Yes, but only one resident scanner, where KAV has a nice feature: it only
scans a file once, with ntfs, and saves the checksum in a ntfs stream. At
the next time the file is touched and has to be scanned, first a checksum
comparison is made and the file is scanned again only when it differs from
the former one.

> How about Dr. Web's Cureit?

Never heard.
--
vista policy violation: Microsoft optical mouse found penguin patterns
on mousepad. Partition scan in progress to remove offending
incompatible products. Reactivate MS software.
Linux 2.6.17-mm1,Xorg7.1/nvidia [LinuxCounter#295241,ICQ#4918962]
 >> Stay informed about: AOL active virus shield - any good? 

heatherjames < wrote:

> Ron Lopshire <notron.DeleteThis@ovbl.org> wrote in
> news:6lakh.3819$yx6.1570@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:
>
>>heatherjames wrote:
>>
>>>http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
>>>
>>>I know it uses the Kaspersky engine, but does anyone know if it loads
>>>the usual array of AOL dll's and exe's which tell other files to
>>>phone home with loads of your personal surfing habits?
>>
>>AVS is a 100% KL product, with an AOL skin. Just don't install the AOL
>>Security Toolbar (uncheck this option during the installation.) You
>>cannot change the AVS skin, that would be a violation of the EULA.
>>
>>If you want to try AVS (or KIS 6 - 30-day free trial), go for it. Just
>>stay away from the AOL Security Toolbar. Eric still doesn't like that.
>
> Wow. Great info.
>
> So what you're saying is that the AOL AVS is almost as good as the
> Kaspersky product. Does it clean the system, after finding a virus, or
> just block it when it first tries to attack - or do you have to buy the
> full Kaspersky product for that?
>
> Why go for the Kaspersky free trial for 30 days if AVS is free?

YW. AVS uses the KAV engine and current KL (released hourly or more
often) signatures. As Art points out, it does not include the PDM or
Web AV. Yes, you can set up AVS to quarantine/remove malware. And you
can add files to the Trusted Zone, but manipulating the TZ is somewhat
crippled in AVS. I am currently using KAV 6 with the same settings as
AVS, and I don't recall any KL Forum posters complaining about having
to upgrade from AVS to KAV in order to do something. AVS is _not_
nagware or ransomware.

If you are in the market for a different AV app, I would suggest that
you download, install and evaluate AVS. Take your time, and then if
you want to evaluate KIS/KAV 6, you will know what you are looking
for, and won't have to waste a lot of time learning how to use the
GUI. You can devote your time to investigating the PDM and Web AV
modules. And since it is a free evaluation, you might as well install
KIS which also includes AH, AS, and Anti-Spam.

I never recommend that anyone evaluate _any_ AV app, unless s/he is
seriously considering purchasing/using it. Some AV apps are just too
damned hard to get rid of (i.e., NIS/NAV). And it is pointless to
install an app with a 30-day free trial, and then wait 3 weeks to take
it out for a test drive.

BTW, a major upgrade to KIS/KAV will be released at the end of January
to coincide with the release of Vista. At this time, or shortly
thereafter, a new heuristics engine will be added to the KAV engine.
How this affects AVS, only the marketing bozos know. [g]

Ron
 >> Stay informed about: AOL active virus shield - any good?