Text 1144, 115 rader
Skriven 2004-12-15 19:20:15 av Gerald Miller (1:342/512)
   Kommentar till text 1135 av Charles Scaglione (1:106/2000.0)
Ärende: Cleansweep
==================
Hello Charles,

    Responding to a post in the WIN95 area:
    On Wednesday December 15 2004 at 12:29,
    Charles Scaglione [1:106/2000] wrote to Gerald Miller,
    about: Cleansweep

 GM> CS>> Cleansweep is a "virus".  I have seen this program cause more
 GM> CS>> false problems in Windows than anything else from the well
 GM> CS>> meaning programmers at Symantec.  Probably better to remove it
 GM> CS>> and not worry about the configuration file.

 GM>> I'm a little unclear of your meaning...

 GM>> Remove:
 GM>> a.) CLNSWEEP.CFG
 GM>> b.) Norton CleanSweep
 GM>> or
 GM>> c.) Norton SystemWorks

 CS> There's nothing wrong with Norton Systemworks itself.  However, if you
 CS> allow NSW to install everything you'll wind up with lots of fluff and
 CS> some utilities that actually are detrimental to the health of your
 CS> machine.

No truer words were spoken ["fluff" and "detrimental"].  :->)

 CS> The only two programs from NSW that I installed were Ghost and NAV.
 CS> Remove the entire cleansweep utility.  In XP, you can do that from
 CS> Control Panel, Add/Remove.  Clicking on the NSW entry will bring up a
 CS> selective uninstall of the NSW items.

Done!  I just can't believe how incredibly easy that was.  I was even able
to use WipeInfo to trash the remnants of the CleanSweep folder. <grin>

 GM> CS>> Also, from your post, I couldn't tell if you're running the
 GM> CS>> DOS version of F-Prot?  If you are, any reason for not running
 GM> CS>> one of the free Windows XP AV programs?  Also, I find it hard
 GM> CS>> to believe that F-Prot found 1205 suspicious items in the
 GM> CS>> Cleansweep configuration file.
 GM>> Sorry for not providing niggling little details.  ;-)

 GM>> As far as I can determine the FPcmd is a Win32 program...  The
 GM>> instructions on the F-Prot
 GM>> <http://www.f-prot.com/support/windows/I_have_virus_xp.html> site
 GM>> said to boot XP into Safe Mode Command prompt and run the fpcmd from
 GM>> the command line.  Six hours later (redundant reruns for
 GM>> verification), I was virus free, except for the CLNSWEEP.CFG file.
 CS> OK, understand.  That's a good method of running an AV program in an
 CS> NT class operating system.  Safe mode is recommended although it may
 CS> take a lengthy bit of time to run as you found out.

I consider it to be time well spent -- it was, in the least, a learning
experience.

 GM>> Since F-Prot was saying this was an encrypted archive, I decided to
 GM>> use WinZIP to try and take a peek inside the archive.  Sure enough,
 GM>> it is a password protected ZIP file (has a 'PK' header) and there
 GM>> are 1,205 executable files within.

 GM>> I have no idea if this file was installed as part of the Norton
 GM>> SystemWorks or if it was some how uploaded onto my machine,
 GM>> inserted into the CleanSweep folder and why is an archive named as
 GM>> a configuration file? (my son installed the Norton stuff on this
 GM>> box and he claims to know nothing about it.)  The other thing that
 GM>> puzzles me is why is it password protected?

 CS> I'm puzzled over it too.  But my recommendation stands...remove the
 CS> cleansweep utility from NSW and press on.

Done and done.

Now, I guess I had better repeat the procedure on the W98SE box --
CleanSweep and that nasty config file are there as well (too late in life
to disown a son, maybe I can give him away... <grin>)

 GM> CS>> Checking the latest on line tests of various AV programs,
 GM> CS>> F-Prot (Windows version) comes in 10th.  Not too bad - it's
 GM> CS>> actually rated at  around 91% effective.  No ratings given on
 GM> CS>> the DOS version.

 GM>> I'm happy with F-Prot.  So much so, that I've renewed my Win
 GM>> license twice -- I gave up on NAV because I felt they were rather
 GM>> slow at releasing the virus file updates.

I reread my F-Prot user's license.  Apparently I can install the program on
up to five (personal) home network computers; and I did the install on the
W98 box this afternoon.

 CS> Not my experience with NAV at all.  I was receiving daily updates
 CS> until my subscription ran out.  I switched to AVAST because Symantec
 CS> has since added activation to its products.  And, their tech support
 CS> is dismal at best.

I keep hoping that Peter (Norton) will buy back the company after Symantec
has run it into the ground...

 GM>> Free Windows XP AV programs?  Is that an oxymoron?  Microsoft is
 GM>> offering something free?

 CS> Not Microsoft. <g>  I'm referring to AVG (www.grisoft.com) or to AVAST
 CS>  (www.avast.com) both of which do better than F-Prot in tests.  And,
 CS> BTW are free for home use.

Oh, I understand, now.

I thought there was something wrong with Microsoft offering something free.

Thank you for the info about AVG and AVAST.  That is something to keep in
mind for next June, when ny F-Prot subscription expires.

           Cheers ... Gerald

--- GoldED+/DPMI32 v1.1.5-040330 [msg of Wednesday December 15 2004]
 * Origin: Most of the excitement of life is hunting for some. (1:342/512)