General Categories > Non Gun Stuff
AdvancedSystemCare8: Worth Using??
Mali:
--- Quote from: SemperFiGuy on February 09, 2015, 07:48:10 AM ---Well, I may want to adopt you so that we would have a readily available qualified IT Tekkie in the sfg family. (Or.... I do have one remaining unmarried daughter.)
--- End quote ---
My wife might have something to say about that, but if she's purty enough...
:)
I agree with everything you said and my general rule is research, research, research before install. I have used both the products Phantom recommended and they are very helpful, but like he said, Spybot is only "OK" these days. You also have to be careful to get Spybot S&D not Spybot as S&D is the real thing and the other is malware. ;)
schadenfreude indeed.
zofoman:
SemperFiGuy-
IOBit is the company behind ASC. The pop-up probably came along with something else you may have clicked on previous...just like so many other products out there that are laying in wait looking for a happy clicker to come along and see what this does. IOBit has search bars/tools as well that can attach to your browser for an "enhanced" browsing experience. Unlike other products out there that claim to do the same thing...you can, at the very least, remove any of the IOBit stuff with little effort unlike some of the non-reputable junk from unscrupulous sources. I'm not pushing or advocating the use of ASC, just saying that they deserve a little credit for not being "one of those" companies whose products do more harm than good. As I mentioned earlier, I have used the free version(s) of ASC for years with no issues.
Best thing to do, as others have mentioned, is to do your due diligence before downloading anything and do the same for where you download from. C/NET is a reputable site that has free software/paid software that you can review first and download directly from without worry of your pc becoming infected. http://www.cnet.com/ To date there have been 118,460,299 downloads of the free version of ASC from the cnet site...so, pretty fair to say it must be ok for "a few" folks. Hope this helps.
http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare-Free/3000-2086_4-10407614.html
abbafandr:
sfg, why don't you just block pop ups? ???
SemperFiGuy:
--- Quote ---sfg, why don't you just block pop ups?
--- End quote ---
I do.
As it happened, I used the term "pop-up" generically instead of strictly. It appears that IObit is the keeper of the Start Menu for my version of Windows. They apparently developed a new, latest version of the Windows Start Menu, available for download. So they sent a message ("pop-up") that the new/latest version was now ready to go.
And then they said--in effect--Oh.....By the Way, you can also get AdvancedSystemCare8, which does Wonderful Things for Your Computer. That sorta stuff.
However, for the present, I'm gonna pass on ASC8 until something wrong happens with my computer. I'll continue to run Norton and McAfee. And will download and pay for MalwareBytes-on-steroids version if, as, and whenever needed. And keep ASC8 as a last resort.
Still can't figger why anyone in their right mind would spend the time and effort to create and test software, then give it away for free. Unless they have a roundabout way of (a) profiting from this endeavor and/or (b) creating computer chaos for the sheer glee of it all.
Yeah, I know some of them sell advertising on the backside. Vendors must be desperate for advertising space. That point come up everywhere, even at the gas pump. Some gas pumps now have advertising videos on them.
Maybe automakers should put video screens on the back of the new models. Sell mobile advertising. Oh, yes....there's always the back side of the toilet stall door. Captive audience there.
Meantime, my computer is working OK.
Goin' trapshooting w/some guys later this morning. Life is good.
sfg
GreyGeek:
The paid version of MalwareBytes is about as good as protection gets. ASC8 is not needed for your system. Also, running more than one AV product is counter productive and a waste of system resources. A good AV product will detect the existence of another running AV product and advise you to stop and remove the other product before continuing with its install. AV products that don't warn you and install anyway are nothing more than a Trojan trackers. So, delete Norton and McAfee, they are inferior to MalwareBytes anyway, and besides being redundant, they amount to nothing less than Trojans that do not give easy means to remove themselves, especially from your browser. I can't count the number of infected Windows boxes I've cleaned up that were running paid up AND active Norton or McAfee AV "protection".
When ever I help someone complete their initial Windows setup the first thing I do BEFORE I connect their box to the web is to download MalwareBytes or Microsoft's Security Essentials (as good as most for reasons described below) and store it on a USB stick. Then, without a connection to the Internet, I complete their setup and then install the AV from the USB stick. Remember this: the average time from startup to infection of a new Windows computer without AV protection, just setting idle with an Internet connection, is under FOUR MINUTES. NEVER, EVER connect an unprotected Windows machine to the Internet!
All AV products suffer from a serious problem ... delay. When a hacker releases a virus or Trojan, usually by merely mailing a single email, or posting an infected link or java applet on a web page, the malware begins to spread and infect computers (client or server). Some spread very fast, others spread very slow, or are targeted for specific types of computer installations and and use uninteresting computers as vectors only, not harming them. Eventually, and how long can vary considerably, a security analyst catches wind of a "problem" some folks are experiencing and investigates. Capturing a copy of the virus he/she isolates it in a "jail" (virtual environment which simulates a running computer) and studies its behavior. Depending on the complexity of the virus the time for this process can also vary considerably, from a few hours to a few months or sometimes a few years, as in the case of Stutnex. When a finger print of the virus is determined and code capable of removing it is written, the AV "vaccine" data file is updated with the new information. Good AV products automatically download updated vaccine files. During the next scan the new malware is detected and removed. Between the time your computer gets infected and the time a vaccine file is downloaded to your computer several days, months or years can pass by. During that time your personal data is at risk! Microsoft is notorious for keeping serious infections secret until fixing it suits their bottom line.
Besires firewalls and AV software, IF you want to keep personal data safe on your computer you have a some choices.
1) Isolate the files into a single directory and then put them into a password protected zip file using a password at least 10 characters long containing upper and lower case alphabet, numbers and graphical characters, i.e., a 512 bit or higher security key. The PGP compressing program is excellent. When you need access to a particular file extract only IT with PGP, leaving the other files safely in the zipped file. After finishing with that file delete it, or, re-zip it into the zip file if you modified it. If someone breaks into your computer they'd need a quantum computer to break into the zip file. (Personally, I don't like locking the directory structure.) Make two or more copies of the zip file two or more CDROMs and store them in two different locations that cannot be destroyed by a single fire. Hackers can not steal what is not on your computer. The worse they can do is make your computer a zombie in their bot farm. You'll be able to tell that because your online performance will drop into the toilet on occasions for no practical reason. MalwareBytes prevents that.
2) Burn you important data onto a write only CDROM disc and store it in your personal safe. Make a second or even third copy. Store one in your home safe and another at your bank. Delete that single directory your personal info was in. When ever your personal info changes (new income tax return, etc...) you'll have to recopy the directory from the CDROM, make changes, reburn and redistribute the CDs. A PITA? Of course, but how much of a pita would trying to recapture your personal identity be? You'll still need MalwareBytes to avoid becoming a zombie.
3) Avoid the most common single element in a computer infection, your Windows OS, by switching to a Mac or Linux, both of which are "nix" (Unix based) computer operating systems built with multi-user and security in mind from the ground up. While not impossible, it is an order of magnitude harder for a hacker to break into a Mac and several orders harder to break into a Linux system. If either system gets cracked it is usually because of simple passwords. The main reason Linux users run AV products is to strip malware payloads from emails they forward to Windows users as a service to their friends who use Windows. The "If Linux were as popular as Windows it would have just as many malware" is bogus. About 2 million viruses per year are created for the Windows environment. Five years ago 10% of the population used Linux. Today, with the failure of VISTA and Win8, that number has risen to close to 20%. Mac use has increased as well. I suspect that Windows market share is at 50% or less and prognostications are that within 5 years it will be below 20%. With a 20% market share world wide one would expect, based on popularity, that Linux would have 400,000 viruses per year. The number of active "in the wild" Linux malware since 1992 can be counted on your fingers and toes. The hundreds listed in McAfee's malware database, for example, are just Windows malware with "Linux" added to the name. The purpose: to scare up business from ignorant users.
Be aware that Java is a cross platform application and if you enable the jvm (Java Virtual Machine) on your browser you enable malicious java applets to run in your home account environment. This is true of Windows, too. Generally, the worse that can happen on Linux is that you have to delete and re-create your home account. The rest of the system remain unaffected because root escalation is extremely difficult to achieve in Linux. Because of jvm threats some Linux users run AV on their box. I don't, and never have. I've been using Linux since 1998 and have yet to see a single Linux malware on any of my computers, or on the two dozen or so Linux boxes of folks my age whom I support. I'm usually online 12/7/365. I used to play around with WINE and explode Windows malware in WINE to see what it does on Windows machines, but that got boring because there are only eight attack vectors and malware uses one of the eight. Most malware is just modified source recompiled to create new signatures that existing vaccine files can't recognize.
I ran SuSE from Sept of 1998 till 2003, and two or three other Linux distros from then to 2009. I've been running Kubuntu since January of 2009. It is running the latest KDE desktop. If you want to know what its "look and feel" is like look at a Win7 box, or, even Win10. it seems that Microsoft's "innovation" is to copy the KDE desktop and install L&F.
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