Hi folks,

I would love to know if Clam Win free are anywhere nearer to having a real time AV Web scanner, for either opening a file, or perhaps a bad web page etc.

There was a poll on this and the last post was 3 years ago, thus the reason I ask now.

I use Windows 98 S.E for ease of use, and as Avast will sooner or later drop support for 98 and ME, I am therefore looking for a replacement, but I would really prefer it to have a real time scanner.

Greetings.

Firefox 2.0.0.20
ZoneAlarm version:6.1.744.000
Win 98 S.E

Hello,
Unfortunately as far as I know there is still no precise date for the ral time scanner. The two main developers can devote as much time as they can in Clamwin but I feel there is quite a long way for the real time scanner.
My suggestion is to make periodic scans of your machine. Presently I am using Threatfire beside Clamwin to check malware in real time. Don't know if it's working with Win98. Have a check on TF website.
I remember once open source Winpooch could be coupled with Clamwin to provide real time protection. If I remember well Winpooch has not been developed for a long time but program is still available and working. Have a try with it; this should still word under Win98.
Regards,
Antonio

update: my mistake-I checked on Winpooch website and it works only from Win2000 on.

Hi and thanks for the reply.

Threatfire....
Operating System: Windows® Vista�, XP, 2000 and 2003



Would that be too late though once the web page script had already be allowed to connect, or a virus etc? that's the best about having real time I suppose.

Hello,

I made some searches about real time AV running under Win98. Presently most AV vendors have discontinued support for Win98. I found something that could be useful searching AV's section @ www.softpedia.com. The list shows some Av's that seem to support all win platforms (I suppose win98 is included). Have a look at the site, perhaps you may find something that could be useful. All listed software is guaranteed free from malware by site maintainers therefore you could download and test software with some confidence. I cannot tell about reliability of single listed softwares but a try is worth.

For what concerns lack of real time protection, that is correct as it cannot avoid potential threats to be installed so definitely real time protection is highly recommended when you surf the web. A trick to avoid hazardous sites: you may think about installing a tool that notifies you about risky sites (I know Mc Afee developed something of that kind; I personally used Crawler's Web Security Guard - http://www.websecurityguard.com/-for some time and that was useful to me) thus to minimize the risk of getting malware downloaded.

Hope this helps,
Antonio

Dear Antonio,

Yes indeed and thanks for your reply.

Did you also download the free anti spyware protection program that is on the same page? I use SAS at the moment, but could perhaps do with another, I take it this anti spyware protection program isn't real time?

I think once I no longer can use Avast, I could then download ClamWin, and then install the Free Web Security Guard, I would then be safe browsing, then before I shut down the PC, I would then have to run WinClam as it’s not real time, but that would be no problem, does that all sound ok to you? You see I am trying all possibilities before I am forced to purchase a new computer as I love Windows 98 S.E

I use Firefox/2.0.0.20 and I wonder if there is an add on that does the same as the Free Web Security Guard?

Hello,

-I used Spyware Terminator for about one year and that was not bad (at least, according to my surfing habits). It has real time protection enabled (sorry but not working on win98 if I remember well; check on website for more info). You will also have the possibility to integrate it with Clam. Anyway I would not recommend to use it since it slows scans a lot and virus db uppates are not as frequent as with Clamwin (I personally tested it but there is no match compared with Clamwin). Currently I am using Spybot S&D-http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html-for spyware detection. It has real time protection and can run on win98.
-Since Clamwin has no real time enabled I suggest: 1-Scan every new file before you open it, even if you have got it from a reliable source. 2- scan periodically (at least once/twice per week) the folders which most likely can be attacked by malware, that are the Documents and Settings, Windows/System32 folders (these are the common names used under XP, don't know if names are the same also in win98). You can set these scans automatically modifying Clamwin Preferences. 3-Full HD scans are advisable at regular intervals. I recommend to keep the 'report only' option enabled, so Clamwin will only tell you that malware was found indicating you the path of the suspect file. In my opinion that is safer than the quarantine or (worst case) the remove option; in case of false positive (this may happen to any AV, despite it's open/closed source, paid or free) you risk to have important files (re)moved.
-Alternative to Free Web Security Guard in Firefox: check the add-ons section on Mozilla Firefox site. I found WOT 20081111 but it's running with versions 1.5 and 3.0+further (think about upgrading to version 3; it has antiphising detection enabled).

Regards,
Antonio

I had just downloaded the WOT20081111 so it appears to work ok I think.

Hello starbound,

I forgot to mention it before but you can have both Avast and Clamwin installed at the same time. Since Clamwin has still no real time module available it won't conflict with resident scanner. You may think about making separate scans using the two av's alternatively (thus to make a double check for better protection) so you can start to try Clamwin even before Avast for win98 becomes discontinued. I am currently having Clamwin beside Avira Antivir Free and both of them do their job correctly (of course the two scannning engines don't have to run at the same time).

Regards,
Antonio

I would continue using Avast for its real-time scanner. It has been significantly improved in 2008 and now ranks among the top 10 or so AV programs. Microsoft will make their AV program free after June 2009, but I don't know if it will support anything before Windows XP. When it becomes available for free, that's when you might see some of the free commercial AV programs going away.

Regards,

Hi GuitarBob & Antonio S.

Hope you both had a nice Xmas.

Yes I kind of agree, and will continue to use Avast till it finally drops support for updates etc, although as Antonio says, there isn't a problem having ClamWin installed at the same time, but not running both engines at the same time of course.

Re the free AV protection issued by Microsoft come June 2009, yes I agree that other vendors such as AVG, Avast, and other free and paid subscription AV companies will probable drift away as they will be hit in the pocket money wise where it hurts.

Hello starbound,

First of all, thanks for the wishes. We had some snow here in Italy on xmas evening so it was really delightful time
On www.softpedia.com I found something that could be of some interest;a Bkav2008 2028 free antivirus which seems to work on all win platforms and has real time scanning capabilities. The link on softpedia redirects to a Vietnamese site and only the download section is translated in english, therefore I would make some further searches will google to find some reviews before installing it. I absolutely have no idea of its efficiency but since it is listed in Softpedia at least I assume is clean from malware.

Hope this helps,
Antonio

Below is a link to BK's abbreviated English web page (thanks Antonio). They say they update their signatures twice a day. They probably don't have all of the European malware in their signatures, but they should be up-to-date on the Asian stuff. Anyway, if it's real-time, it should make a good compliment to a regularly-scheduled ClamWin. Be sure to scan the program on Jotti before you install it.

http://www.bkav.com.vn/home/DownloadE.aspx

Update on BK Antivirus:

It's too large to scan on Jotti, but 9 of 39 scanners on VirusTotal saw malware. Four saw adware/phishing, and five saw something with their heuristics. Some of the scanners I really like didn't see anything--Symantec, AntiVir, F-Secure, F-Prot, Dr. Web, and Kaspersky didn't see anything. It could be okay--maybe has a "nag" screen or link to their advertising, and the scanners spotting it with heuristics are pretty agressive.

Just to be sure, however, I wouldn't mess with it.

Regards,

Hello,
Thanks for pointiing this out, Bob.
I downloaded the BK installer and made some scans before running it.
Clamwin, Threatfire and online Trend Micro House call did not find anything. Unfortunately, file was too big to be uploaded to Virus Total. However I made only the first step of installation and after that Spybot detected a couple of trojans. I got rid of the suspect files; I guess it is better not to have to do with it, definitely.
Regards,
Antonio

Thanks folks for the testing and keeping us up to date with those potential programs.