Hello, I am new to ClamWin and use it along with Clam Sentinel. I am a great lover of free software and I am very happy to know that there is an antivirus program. I just don't know why this wonderful programmer is dying? From what I can see there are quite a few people here. Would it be possible to reactivate it? I'm not good at programming nor can I speak English very well but I will try to support him with a youtube ad and a donation. I wish ClamWin didn't die
Please

I have used ClamWin since 2006 when the AV companies quit supporting Windows 98. I represented ClamWin as an open source antivirus sigmaker at the Clam AV Project for 5 years, and continue to voluntarily monitor this forum. ClamWin is dying because the developers no longer have much interest in it. When Alch (and another indidividual) wrote ClamWin back in 2005, it was a lot easier to develop an AV, but that has changed. There is/was no financial support for it, like most free, open source projects, which need money to operate--to develop the software, to build an organization and to attract talented people to help,

Regards,

I understand. But I don't want this project to be abandoned. On all sides, we have corporate tracking and zero freedom. ClamWin is the only antivirus that is free. I'm very happy to have found this community and you as a volunteer Don't give up, please. People will still see what freedom really is. I will try to send at least this $10 donation. He will also try to advertise this project and try to somehow learn more advanced programming. I would very much like such little ones not to die

I wish more people felt like you, but I suggest you keep the $10. What is really needed (and quickly, I think) is someone who is a good coder and can update the old ClamWin software and GUI.

Long ago I suggested a couple of times lo the developers that they get contributions from users to pay a good coder, but they were not really interested. At one time ClamWin had 600,000 users, so this could have amounted to a good fund. I think they did not want the responsibility of taking care of the money.

Alch will probably update ClamWin when there is a big Clam AV update. He takes the Clam Av Linux code and ports it over to Windows, but unfortunately, there are always some Clam AV improvements that he is unable to use in Windows, so ClamWin just has the basic Clam AV functions.

Regards,.

Thanks for the information. It's amazing that this project once had 600,000 users. But I think still a lot of them use ClamWin. I agree that an experienced programmer would do the job here. I personally like the ClamWin GUI and Clam Sentinel very much. It would be worth changing the way files are scanned (so that it does not take so long) and add new features such as... I do not know what because in my opinion everything has. I think the problem is that people don't want to learn in the digital environment, and instead of using open and free programs, they prefer to have closed and spyware on their computer and pay extra for it to the corporation.

I think most people that use ClamWin now have old Win 98 or XP computers

I have a soft spot in my heart for Clam Sentinel. Right after Andrea Russo developed it, I convinced him to use some heuristics, based on the work I was doing as a sigmaker at Clam AV. I worked with him fine-tuning the heuristics until he dropped the project. I am the Robert Scroggins he thanked in the on-screen comments, along with the translators. It was good for its time, but the heuristics only lasted about a year until the malware writers upped their game. We showed them a thing or two at the time though!

I would not use Clam Sentinel any more--it is way out of date. ClamWin is too. It is so slow because it does not put the signatures in a cache to use all the time--it has to reload the signatures for each scan. If you can use it, Microsoft's Windows Defender is really pretty good. It has a big organization with qualified people and lots of resources.

Regards,

I am very pleased to talk to one of the creators of Clam Sentinel. Personally, I'm a big lover of freedom and privacy and that's why I use windows 7 instead of, for example, windows 10. That's why I can't rely on windows defender. And that's why I need to have antivirus software. And there is no other open source like ClamWin or Clam Sentinel. From what I tested, the effectiveness is very good. And the fact that the gui is obsolete? Well,

The ClamWin virus signatures come from the Clam AV project, as does everything in ClamWin, except for a few lines of code. Clam AV doesn't have anyone working on it full time. Most of their signatures are automated and consist of only about 1,000 signatures processed once a day from a Virus Total Feed. This is not even sufficient for their target users, which are Linux email servers. In 2020, Kaspersky said that they discovered 360,000 new viruses each day. In 2023, there are probably many more viruses than that, and many are fileless or hidden in innocent-looking scripts. Clam AV signatures are not enough, and Clam Sentinel is practically useless.

I suggest you look into some of the free security applications from the No Virus Thanks people, based in Italy. You could also switch to a Linux OS. I am using Linux Mint mostly but keep a Windows computer with Windows Defender and ClamWin (for old times sake!).

Regards,

I know that an unsupported program, especially an antivirus program, has many defects. But CW and CS really still manage. If they can detect regular viruses or ransomware such as wanna cry or inform the user about a possible infection, I think they can really do it. Honestly, I was trying to move to linux. Anything not to use windows 10. Despite the very similar operation to windows, too Linux Mint somehow did not appeal to me. Since I was a child, I learned a computer on windows 7 and I think I will stay with it forever. It's the apple of my eye. It doesn't matter if there are security updates or not. Whether the programs work or not. Currently, there is a trend that newer, newer, newer ... Or maybe it's worth staying with what actually works?
Even my home server has been using windows 7 for half a year and so far there has been no infection and CW and CS work there too
I'm currently learning programming, and so far I'm not doing too badly. I would like to be able to raise many failed "Free Software" projects under open licenses with no profit obligations. He wanted, out of pure ideology, to convince people to use freeware programs and help them revive.
Regards

It sounds like you are doing okay then. Common sense is really the best antivirus, and you can use a couple of browser helpers to stay secure too. I like Netcraft's extension that informs you about "bad" web pages, and uBlock Origin is the best ad/other blocker. Download Eset's Online Scanner, and use it occasionally. If you ever need a paid AV, I think Eset's Nod 32.is the best.

Thanks for using ClamWin/Clam Sentinel!

Regards,

thanks for the offer. Like I said, I try to separate myself from the goddamn corporations and their tracking. The idea of sending emails about dangerous sites is a good one. Remember, however, that you don't know if a given company will sell your email address and then trash your inbox. I myself use Proton email which is based in Switzerland and which cares about privacy. I use this email only for the bank or social networks. You see, at every turn your privacy may be at risk. But if there are solutions like Free Software, why not use it? For example, I've always used Google Chrome, but since I found out that FireFox is approved by the Free Software Foundation, I'm slowly switching to it. And like many other programs, I changed from a closed license to a GPL license. I also plan to create a YouTube channel and explain to people that it's really worth using Free Software.
When it comes to the Eset antivirus, I do not question its effectiveness or efficiency, but it must be remembered that it is a closed corporate program after all. No one knows what data it collects and what it does with the user's files over time. I'll tell you honestly that if you know what you're doing, you have adblock and you don't go to any sites with cracks, you'll really need a clamwin with clam sentil
Let's be free!

I see that I am an interesting person with whom you can have a good conversation about technology. Would I like to talk privately sometimes? I found a messenger that is open source and approved by the Free Software Foundation for peer-to-peer communication, i.e. zero tracking and zero central database. This messenger is "Jami" Please let me know if I would like to talk there

Thanks for the offer, but I do not use any message services or social media. Good luck!

Regards,

I installed ClamWin from Mailenable installation file. It gave me "command line scanner returned: 1". I believe this is right. As I´m not a fan of free software, I´m trying to find a paid AV, but so far nothing is good. Will Mailenable be compatible with AVG Mail server.

You should always get any computer software--even AVs from the originator--no place else.

I don't know anything about Mallenable.

Microsoft's Windows Defender is a free AV program that comes with Windows. It is as good as any antivirus and better than most. It is backed by Microsoft, which is bigger than any AV company, and there are many good, qualified people working on it.

The ClamWin developers recommend that you use ClamWin as backup to a real-time Windows Av.

Regards,