When installing security software, some say it's not very convenient to arm your computer with separate programs: one antivirus, one firewall and one or two antispywares. Only one complete security suite program like Kaspersky Internet Security or Avira Premium Security Suite or Norton Internet Security, etc.

I prefer to have separate programs for firewall, AV and antispyware rather than one large, complicated security suite. It may be harder for malware to disable three programs than one. The components of some security suites are actually composed of different programs obtained elsewhere instead of developed as one tightly-written in-house program. In cases like that, the components may not all be equal in quality or capability. What they do offer is convenience.

Regards,

ClamWin is an on-demand virus scanner. It only scans when you do a manual scan or when a scan is scheduled. It does not scan in real time as files are added, opened, or closed on your computer. It also does not protect against intrusions and some spyware. So it can not provide full protection. For that, you need the other components: real-time scanner, firewall, and antispyware.

Regards,

Regards,

I agree with this 100%. Suites offer conveninece but they tend to simply do an "ok" job of a lot of things. Individual programs usually perform much better at what they were designed to do . They do one thing but do it very well.

This is simply not true in many cases. You can mix and match programs from different companies without any issues whatsoever. Suites are convenient but they are not always as effective and they can be memory hogs.

I run either AntiVir or ClamWin with Clam Sentinel at home along with MalwareBytes AntiMalware, Online Armor and WinPatrol. I also look after computers with ClamWin and Clam Sentinel running along with the Windows firewall, WinPatrol and Spyware Terminator. No issues, no conflicts, no slowdowns, great protection.

I've witnessed Symantec and McAfee over the years simply cripple computers by trying to do everything (and usually all at once). I've seen Kaspersky do the same.

I use ClamWin + ClamSentinel +Opera ONLY to use my RAM for my PC and not another AV/AM/AS, but I use it also with just one the free and very, very light WinSonar (Shields Up!) OR SSM (System Safety Monitor) OR PG (Process Guard FROM DIAMOND CS NOT ProcessGuard The Malware!) OR Malware Defender (MD) OR Trust-No-EXE. I have AntiVir which does not run services or processes at all except for a bimonthly scan. I advocate the HIPS and behavior blockers because they teach you about yor PC quickly. One learns how to deal with malware when it stikes and the AV vendors have yet to add this malware to their signatures. Also these teach one about dealing with bad software installs so that files and registry data can be restored within seconds without the MS restore that seldom does the job when too many files are damaged or overwritten -- each of these HIPS and behavior blockers has an learning/install mode with extensive logging.

There are so many reasons not to use a realtime AV/AS/AM. Fortego Security's All-Seeing-Eye is a really good reason, it does track all changes to your system and alerts you when something is trying to run, as do the others.

Because malware IS beating the AV/AM/AS, day by day and many steps ahead, download ERUNT to backup your registry and LEARN THE NEW TOOLS OF SELF-DEFENSE! HIPS and BB's work ALWAYS, but an AV works all too often only AFTER the first 10,000,000 victims are spreading the virii, trojans, etc. or have been hit by that new bad guy that just came out and Norton will find next week!

Dave

You have an interesting collection of software there, Dave, and a healthy new age attitude toward internet malware. Both should serve you well and help keep you protected.

I share the same outlook regarding HIPS and BB's, but unfortunately on Win98 my selection is limited to SSM.

Lipper, Fortego's All-Seeing-Eye runs on 98 SE, and VirIT Explorer Lite has a freeware version now. But I run 98 SE with SSM and Clam. No problem. I think 64 bit malware and newer 32 bit malware justs get stuck somewhere and stays confused. I'm trying out ClamSentinel 1.16 which Andrea russo was kind enough to send me, and THIS IS A MUST FOR 9x users!

Dave

Thanks, Dave. Fortego's website says it is for NT through Windows Server 2003, but I will try it. Do you have a link for the free version of VirIT eXplorer Lite? All I can find is a free trial. Thanks!

I have Clam Sentinel 1.15 installed, and run it sometimes. The problem is when it invokes ClamWin for a scan it hammers my 96 MB/400 MGHZ for two to five minutes, basically leaving the system unusable. SSM, on the other hand, is so light I forget it's even running until it pops up for a permission.

If all else fails, I guess you could disable the real-time scanner in Sentinel and just run the system monitor. I don't advocate it, but you will still be protected from a lot of malware. I think ClamWin still has to be installed for Sentinel to work though. Shift-Alt-Pause will disable/enable real-time. There will be a little white arrow on the system tray icon when real-time is off.

Regards,

@GuitarBob Thanks for that keyboard tip!

@Lipper Maybe too many extensions are included. My old PCs also "get stupid" with high CPU load, but with Win 98 SE, the extensions we have are registered to parent apps so very old as to be immune from most malware, and a very short list of extensions can be used with 9x. tgsoft.it leads you to the free version of VirIT Lite, and you might want to get the freeware WinSonar from snapfiles. Still runs on 9x, and let it get to know your safe apps, because with its Shield Up! feature, WinSonar will prevent anything from running. You'll even have to exit it just to reboot! Rundll.exe and rundll32.exe are NOT our frields, so if sonar alerts you to these exe's running, just close the window, and make sure that they never end up on the safe list.

Dave

@ Bob Thanks for that and Shift+Alt+Pause. Do you know of a test file or an action to trigger the system monitor to alert? Eicar doesn't work unless ClamWin scan is enabled.

@ Dave Many thanks, I will be testing various combinations of softwares over the next few weeks to see which work best on my configuration.

I appreciate both of your inputs. Learning Win98 the second time around seems more difficult and troublesome, or, am I just getting older?

You are probably just too used to the newer Windows OS, Lipper. I used to be pretty good at DOS but have forgotten it by now.

There isn't really a test file for the Sentinel system monitor. It looks for virus profiles in files in folders where viruses commonly hang out. It will trigger on some installers, which can appear similar to virus files, and it will also trigger on some program files. Here is a safe file hasher program that triggers a system monitor detection at https://www.paehl.de/cms/english_programs on the web. Download the DP Hash program which is a nice little free multi-hashing program, and put it in your System folder, System 32 folder. default user folder, or delete it to the Recycle Bin and see what happens. Be sure to whitelist it if you decide to use it.

Regards

Great info that works! Thanks. I mainly wanted to prepare myself how to react should Clam Sentinel find a potentially real infection. Also, I have emailed Andrea for inclusion in 1.16 beta testing.

Yeah, my DOS command memory was mostly gone, too. I'm quickly re-learning it, though. Actually, most of my DOS knowledge was from Windows 3.11; by the time Win98 surfaced, most functions could be performed through the Windows interface.

I received an email back from Andrea with a partial change log and the pre-release file attached. After five hours of use I've not experienced any issues. The new and separate program Clam Sentinel - Recover works well, too. Just remember to exclude the file from scanning in Sentinel (main program) before recovering from quarantine, or Sentinel will send it right back again. Duh-LOL