Just sitting here on a glorious Saturday morning wondering what to write about, with the release of the iPad today it is tough to think about anything else going on in the tech world, but I’m not one to stand in line for a new product so let’s move on and discuss some items that I have been called on to look at this past week, and the number one call was Anti-virus 2010.
I had several customers this week encounter this problem, and it just seems like the Anti-virus companies and Microsoft cannot keep up with the criminals who created this software.
Removal is a real pain and very time consuming for me and the customer. Malwarebytes used to be my tool of choice in removing this scourge from systems, but this time Malwarebytes just did not get the job done and left me looking for new tools. Well it was AVG to the rescue with there AVG Rescue CD. AVG advertises the CD as “The AVG Rescue CD is a powerful must-have toolkit for the rescue and repair of infected machines”.
This CD was a life saver and offers or contains the following:
- Comprehensive administration toolkit
- System recovery from virus and spyware infections
- Suitable for recovering MS Windows and Linux operating systems (FAT32 and NTFS file systems)
- Ability to perform a clean boot from CD or USB stick
- Free support and service for paid license holders of any AVG product
- FAQ and Free Forum self-help support for AVG Free users
- Anti-virus: protection against viruses, worms and Trojans
- Anti-spyware: protection against spyware, adware and identity theft
- Midnight Commander – a two-panel file manager
- Windows Registry Editor– simple registry editor for more experienced users
- TestDisk – powerful hard drive recovery tool
- Ping – to test the availability of network resources (servers, domains, IP addresses)
This CD offers way to many tools for the average home user, and using GNU/Linux plus AVG’s custom user interface it can be a little intimidating, but it loaded up just fine on an old Compaq laptop, a Dell Inspiron, and an old Emachines desktop, finding all hardware, loading all the drivers, and updating the virus definitions. All scans were successful and removed Antivirus 2010 along with other problems, and now all systems appear to be OK.
I found it interesting that all the systems in question were running Windows XP, and that the users had different browsers; such as Firefox, set as their default web browser. Scary thing was two of the three systems were up to date on patches and virus definitions! Would upgrading to Windows 7 have made a difference? I’m not sure, but I have yet to see this problem on 7. What about moving to GNU/Linux or Apple OSX? Both are options, but neither are immune, and taking a naive approach to security will eventually cause those who promote this as a solution a lot of trouble. Just look at what happened to users of GNU/Linux with Gnome as their desktop, and according to SophosLabs Apple is not immune either.
Enough has been written concerning safe browsing habits, and that is really what went wrong with my customers, but if you need a refresher on the subject of safe browsing habits, then head on over to readwriteweb.com and read the article “How to Avoid Malware on Facebook and Twitter: 8 Best Practices“. Even though the title refers to Facebook and Twitter; it takes a common sense approach that can be applied to email, and any web surfing. Thanks to Bridget Ayers for tweeting the link!
And for those of you who might be reading this, and contemplating going out this morning to get an iPad, please take a look at this site for what will be in store for you when you arrive at a store. I think I will just order mine on-line. 
Matthew L Davidson
MLD Services
Lexington, KY
