Firstly, I'm a non-computer person, so the authentic terminology is beyond me. ClamWin rescued me from an awful WinWorm & I now have the full version with Windows 8.1. However, when it updates, it always ends with an error message. I don't know what it means or what, if anything, I should do about it. This is the summary & it's the end bit in red that is worrying:

ClamAV update process started at Thu Nov 06 10:03:50 2014
WARNING: Your ClamAV installation is OUTDATED!
WARNING: Local version: 0.98.4.1 Recommended version: 0.98.4
DON'T PANIC! Read https://www.clamav.net/support/faq
main.cvd is up to date (version: 55, sigs: 2424225, f-level: 60, builder: neo)
Downloading daily-19578.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19579.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19580.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19581.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19582.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19583.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19584.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19585.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19586.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19587.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19588.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19589.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19590.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19591.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19592.cdiff [100%]
Downloading daily-19593.cdiff [100%]
WARNING: [LibClamAV] cli_tgzload: File daily.ndb not correctly loaded
WARNING: [LibClamAV] Can't load C:\ProgramData\.clamwin\db\clamav-a25a6071bb534a4ca529638e41d07a38.00000f70.clamtmp\clamav-c027ec1eaa38990c4f3d557c2e72d7f4.00000f70.cla.cld: Malformed database
ERROR: Failed to load new database: Malformed database
ERROR: Failed to load new database


Advice would be much appreciated.

Have you tried deleting the db files and allowing ClamWin to recreate them? If that doesn't work, try uninstalling and reinstalling ClamWin to see if that worked.

I am interested in knowing what worm ClamWin detected for you. The Clam AV signatures have always done well at detecting email-based worms. They do not do as well at detecting trojan-based malware, which is the most common type nowadays. That's why you need a good signature database that is updated hourly.

Regards,

Thanks, I'll try that. It was a Win chir but I forget the number. I couldn't find any reference to that number elsewhere. This is a new pc & I don't hope I didn't transfer anything across with my files - they'd all been scanned > once.

Many antivirus programs have their own name for a piece of malware. Some that license the scan engine from another antivirus have similar names. Bitdefender is licensed by many other AVs, so you will see lots of AVs with a name similar to malware found by Bitdefender.

Since ClamWin is an on-demand scanner that does not have any real-time scanning capability, if you are on the web a lot, you need to use a real-time scanner and keep ClamWin as a backup only--until/unless the ClamWin developers see fit to come out with a real-time version. I recommend one of these free antiviruses: Microsoft Windows Defender (found as Security Essentials on pre-Windows 8 computers), Panda Free Antivirus, or Qihu 360 Internet Security. I have had less trouble using ClamWin with these antiviruses.

Thanks for using ClamWin!

Regards,

Just for the record, Windows Defender and Security Essentials are actually 2 different programs from Microsoft, both are shared databases. Windows Defender is a standalone anti-spyware program while Security Essentials is a full anti-virus suite. There signatures come from other AVs and Virustotal, much like ClamAV does. They are poor and don't really have a dedicated team working on their own samples, like you see in other AVs. I would recommend using something with a lot better detection capabilities like Avira or Avast.

About 5 years ago, I told Microsoft that Windows Defender should be expanded to include complete antivirus protection. I didn't think they heard me!

Windows Defender comes free with Microsoft Windows 8 as a complete antivirus program. Microsoft re-tooled it for Windows 8 and integrated the components of Security Essentials plus ELAM (early launch antimalware) capability. The signature database is now updated more frequently, and it appears that Microsoft is grudgingly improving their product--let's hope they continue. In an earlier test this year of heuristics by AV Comparatives, Windows Defender did better than some current antivirus programs. The Windows Defender ELAM capability is preventing rootkits from attacking Windows 8, but as the malware authors get smarter in 2015, we will probably see some rootkits designed for Windows 8 appear. It will be tough for them, however, because they will have to be well-funded, dedicated, and smarter.

Re: Avast/Antivir: every time I try them (and most other "free" antiviruses), I am turned off by the stuff they foist on their users--toolbars, search engines, etc., and by the tracking some of them do. That's why I favor the three free AVs I mentioned above.

Regards,