Re: Password vault software

"Bogwitch" wrote in message news:CY2yi.11374$mZ5.9478@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have Avira Antivir PersonalEdition Classic loaded onto one of my lab machines. It is bannerware but it is _NOT_ crippleware. It has been running succesfully for well over a year with full updates and no license timeout.

Just before posting, I ran a test of AntiVir in a VM under VMWware Server. After the install (and reboot) done today (Aug 2007), I did a sig update. I then moved the clock forward to 2 weeks beyond the 3-month trial period and rebooted. The sig update still occurred but the log showed that AntiVir was now in DEMO mode. Something must change regarding the functionality of a product that switches from full to demo mode. I then moved the date ahead to Mar 2008, rebooted, and an attempt to run a sig update now showed in the log showed "invalid license key" plus the sig update failed (so it still showed the last update was back in Aug 2007 when it was first updated). I saw the product change to DEMO mode after the 3-month trial period but before the extended month had elapsed. At 7 months out, it refused to retrieve sig updates complaining about an invalid license and still showed the 7-month old sig datestamp. This was tested using AntiVir version 7.00.04.15 (since that's what the download is today) under Windows XP Pro SP-2 but under VMWare Server 1.0.3.

It is unclear what exactly happens when AntiVir goes into DEMO mode but it does happen after the 3-month trial. I suspect that you don't get program updates in the 4th month but still get sig updates (but I had their latest version so there were no program updates to retrieve to test). I've seen many posts by other AntiVir users who complain that their last signature update was sometime before the trial expiration; i.e., after the trial expires then no more updates.

If it weren't for the banners and the expiration then I'd be using AntiVir (free version). I just removed AVG (free) and put in Avast which consumes twice the memory (real + virtual) of AVG: 3.3MB real + 37.1MB virtual for AVG, 41.7MB real + 41.1MB virtual for Avast. There are several features of Avast that I like but it definitely consumes more memory. Hopefully another 40MB won't matter with 2GB real RAM. Unfortunately I've had several more false positives with Avast than with AVG. I understand why the false positives on the Nirsoft utilities but not why on the .vdmk files for the VMs in VMWare (which are base OS installs with no other software, like Windows XP Pro SP-2, Solaris 10, and Fedora 7). For AVG, I could schedule an on-demand scan using the command-line in a Task Scheduler event (the schedulers suck that are in AV products) but the ashCmd.exe for command-line access to Avast is missing in the free version. I can run "ashQuick.exe c:\ d:\" to scan my 2 drives but it halts on a detection (even a false one) so it is worthless for scheduling a scan when no one will be at the host.

I suppose that eventually I'll have to abandon the freebies and get the commercial versions. Oh joy, then I get to trial all the commercial versions to compare them against each other.

I was put off AVG some time ago when they used to have updates only once a fortnight for the home version - I am reliably informed that they have changed the policy on this and now provide daily updates but it's difficult to forgive and forget - the same as you with Avira, I guess!

From what I've seen from using AVG (free) for several months, you get
one update per day for the free version. You get to schedule it to occur within a selected 2-hour slot so you can vary the time of day when it happens. The default for Avast (free) is 4 hours although you can change it. I gave up on the AntiVir retest when I saw it interferring with my fullscreen apps with its popover banner windows, saw it go into DEMO mode after the 3-month trial expiration, and couldn't get sig updates after the 3+1 trial period, so I don't know what are the scheduling options for updates in AntiVir.

Do you have any experience of submitting virus reports to any of the AV companies? I have had mixed success from AV companies but the response from Avira has been excellent, only surpassed by Sophos and don't get me started about McAfee!

I figure if the AV program tells me about a virus then there is no point to report it. They already know. Last time I submitted any suspect files was to Symantec who started a discussion within 3 days. That was several years ago (and for false positives). It's been so infrequent that a virus or malware made it to my host that I can't remember when I last had any show up. Despite all the security software (which I've pared down to IPS, AV, firewall, and anti-spyware where only 1 of each is running since I still want a usable host), I figure the final protection is at the user. All the security software in the world cannot circumvent an ignorant or corruptive user since their general-purpose computer must still be usable to them.

.

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