I keep getting pop ups for windows anti virus 2009 and it says the only way to get rid of it is to install then unistall. I feel this is an intrusion. Does ClamWin cover all that the 2009 anti virus covers?

Antivirus 2009 is a rogue program that is categorized as extortionware or riskware. You do not want that program! There are many of these so-called "security" programs that popup even on legitimate web sites, and they are hard to get rid of. No legitimate antivirus program would do that. Here's a blog about it: https://billpstudios.blogspot.com/ on the web.

You should close your browser, if possible, when you get one of these popups. If you can't do that, hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE a couple of times to reboot your computer. You can close the popup without hitting CTR-ALT-DEL that second time if you are familiar with Windows Task Manager, but for most people, it's best to just hit it twice.

ClamWin is a legitimate antivirus program. It is an on-demand file scanner, at present. This means it only scans a file or a directory when you tell it to. It does not stay resident in memory all the time and automatically scan files as they are downloaded or opened/closed. You can schedule it to scan your computer (you can let it scan everything or you can select the directory you want to scan for each scheduled scan). The developers are working on a resident/real-time version, but no completion date has been announced. So for the present, it's best used as a backup scanner to a resident/real-time virus scanner.

For the best protection, I recommend you use a resident antivirus, even if you decide to use ClamWin. There are some good free ones: AntiVir from Avira, Avast from Alwil, and PC-Tools Antivirus from PC-Tools.

You should also use an antipsyware program like the free Windows Defender from Microsoft.

Also use a firewall--Windows XP comes with one that is better than nothing. It only protects you from inbound internet traffic--doesn't protect you from outbound traffic, but your antivirus and antispyware are supposed to stop malware from getting on your computer. PC-Tools offers a free firewall, and so does Comodo.

Regards,

Bobs right( i can call you that right? )

Antivirus 2008 and 2009 are both rouges and are VERY HARD for any antivirus to get rid of, even the best. So your question,



NO BECAUSE ANTIVIRUS 2009 GIVES YOU VIRUSES. IT DOESN'T HELP YOUR COMPUTER AT ALL AND WILL TOTALLY CRASH IT AND TRASH IT.

Sure, Theo. I've been called much worse than that.

Always do some Googling first before you commit to using any security software. It's not all equal, and there's a lot of rogue stuff out there. If they don't provide their scanner to the free Jotti or VirusTotal scanning services, they are either not very good, or they are rogue software. You wouldn't want it in either case.

Regards,

Antiviruses without a name are most obviously rouges. Antiviruses would almost never advertise themselves in popups but usually in advertisement sections of the web page. But never popups