question of running programs possibly interfearing with eachother

i have just finished a thread over in malware section for spyware doctor finding a trojan,that was apparently a false positive. although i still seem to have moments of my computer slowing and even freezing, so the only thing i can think of for now is that it might be some programs interfering with each other. like more than one trying to preform the same task.
the programs i see running in the bottom right are as follows:

although i think all of the protection and programs running in bottom right are:

liveonecare, superantispyware, spyware dr. w/ antivirus, a-squared background gaurd, speeditupfree,tuneup mem optimizer,spyware gaurd, windblinds, realteck hd audio manager and desktop notes.

there may be more than that running, but then again this is also the first thing i thought of that might be effecting my system. i have ran a lot of different antivirus and spyware programs, along with registry mechanic... so i would ask if anyone has any clue what might be causing freezes and the slowing of my computer like this.
also, i am only trying the liveonecare for the 90 days(or less), and i payed 40$ for the spyware dr. w/ antivirus(yet if it is giving me false positives). i am wondering if i could have AVG with spyware dr. or if that would make problems(just dont want to waste my money, even if its giving false positives)
maybe they would let me return it since only reason i got it was to fix the problem that it cant and seems to be a false positive.

sorry for all the rambling, hope enough of it was coherent, and thanks for all possible help.

 

ok, i will try cutting back a bit....
i was simply reluctant to rely on spyware doctor to do it all when i am either getting these false positives, or it cant get rid of the infections(and it just did a scan on its own and supposedly found a "trojan.chm.psyme", so i dont know what to think).

and i just mentioned avg, since unless spyware dr. stops finding imaginary problems(or maybe fixes them permanently) then avg might seem like a better option. but however every time i look up these problems it finds, all the searches seem to mention "vundo" in the background which scares the heck out of me....but it can never seem to find anything else anywhere else.

anyway, i'll put my scared ramblings in malware again maybe. thanks for the recommendations, ill post any results.

 

Even though i hate the idea of possibly wasting 40$, there has been no response back from pc tools and the latest thin i found on the net was some one being told to get rid of it all together(http://www.smartcomputing.com/QABoard/QAMain.aspx?search=fq&fqid=3269454&lnqs=df&qapg=1&guid=).

so as of now i am running:

avg, threatfire, spywaregaurd, winpatrol along with regseeker, registry mechanic,advanced windows care,spyware blaster, ccleaner, malwarebytes,iobit smart defrag, assasin se,seurity task manager.

also, i have a question about advanced windows care. it hadnt been finding many issue but this time it found like 2000 infections under the security part, including trojans and spyware.

"downloader trojan-virtumonde/vundo adware related and detected by drweb antivirus as trojan.jaun
quick links/linkmaker adware variant
tencentaddressbar adware-bundled with the tencent_qq instant messaging client.
trojandownloader.wind32swizzor.ae,trojanclicker.win32.rotarran"

etc.

are these things that i am now protected from, or something my computer had as an infection?

also, do u have any idea if this program offers a log of the results? the only option besides the details option next to the results of each section was an online site that just said like hey we solved a bunch of things, no specifics.

thanks

 

well, i was told in the malware section that threatfire is ok to run alongside the other things... whether it is overkill i am not completely certain. then again, he also said that AVG 8 has been giving a bunch of false positives for some. so i cant seem to get away from software like this.
things in real time i think is just AVG8, winpatroll, threatfire, and spyware guard.
i may drop spyware guard if it is something that only blocks something in IE, which i don't usually use unless it is the only thing that opens that site. however if there was a replacement for it(if i even need something on top of avg bar that is in IE and firefox now) that would protect more than just IE, i may want to try that.

also, i would ask if the firewall that you recommended is a step(or more) ahead of windows firewall(which is all i bother with atm)? i did read part of a thread on how windows firewall sized up, but it did not exactly, conclusively tell me anything.

other than that i cant say that i am experiencing too much of a difference since i made the changes in programs that i am now running. especial y since i turned my computer off before going to work last night(or so i thought), only to find that it had frozen(or at least not finished shutting off)at the closing screen.

....and this may be a though/question for another section of this forum, but aside from an actual infection(which malwarebytes has yet to find), i can only think that maybe there was.... or is some problems that have been cause by any removal or editing to programs or registry in my attemtpts to find the problem. if that made no sense, my question is where might i ask(or is it possible) for some one to asses a possible registry problem....or maybe just what would cause the firefox and shutdown freezes, along with computer slows.

also, to see what else i have been trying to do on the malware end there is this link for ya...

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1180155#post1180155

 

also, before i forget again, i meant to reissue the quest.... if anyone knows about advanced windows care v2 personal. it was one of the programs that was on the list of free products for various protection. i mentioned it a few posts ago, and am wondering what security issues it brought up were things i was now blocked against or actual infections.... as well as if there is a option to view the scan results as a log/txt.
since if they were all infections than something must still be wrong, or i have happened upon another program that loves false positives.

thanks

 

ok, well i will look into the firewall part at least. i am not sure that i am getting anything out of win patrol or threatfire as of yet. however, my luck has taken another turn for the worse.... as i am writing this from safe mode. since the last time i turned off my computer it froze(or at least stopped) at the last screen before shutting down(usualy the welcome/sign in screen). i guess since then, or maybe shortly after.... i can now nologer run programs in normal mode. that is to say, no amount of time i wait after trying to start a program, does one actualy start. even when trying to run a task throught task manager or anything of the sort. o, and it still wont shut down properly.

so i am running scans, but unless safe mode allows my computer to be more openly scanned... than i cant say any of these programs will find anything, as they havent since i have gotten them.

 

now when i see the comodo download page saying that it offers a av and atimalware, should that wory me, or is this simply another program to run alongside of the antivirus etc. like u said about threatfire?

 

Link, please? Comodo offers these freeware products here. But in general the rules are:

1. Have a firewall installed. But only one = disable Windows firewall if you install an other
2. Also have an antivirus program installed. But only one
3. Also have antispyware programs installed. You can have one, two or three but only activate realtime protection in one of them

 

In addition there are security products that can supplement the obligatory ones mentioned above. Examples: ThreatFire, Comodo's BOClean, Trend Micro RUBotted, SpywareBlaster, ZonedOut (with or without IE-Spyad).

 

i just put in comodo, and need to restart. however i may try scanning more since i dont want to have to force restart again and come back to safe mode.

i also downloaded avg 7.5, but perhaps the wrong one since it was asking me for a code. for some reason while searching for version 7.5 all i found was the free version for linux. other ways i tried just led me to v8.

 

Majorgeeks is a possibility.

 

well i had my fingers crossed all the way... no problems were found through avg8, or the built in scanner on comodo before i restarted.
at least now i am out of safe mode and able to seemingly run most things as normal.

for now my only other questions would be, is there any type of settings that i should change/go with on comodo?
and
although i seem to be getting the idea that avg v7.5 is more stable, is there as much protection etc under v7.5? are the false possitives the only downside?

and thank you for the link to v7.5

 

The best antivirus freeware products are:

1. Avira Antivir - here
2. avast! - here
3. AVG 7.5

In that order. AVG is falling behind. Really. It is said that 7.5 is better that 8 which is likely but we honestly don't know for sure.

Also which of Comodo's firewall did you download? You need Comodo Firewall - this one. They also have a memory firewall but you need the one I just linked to.

 

uh huh, well thats interesting. i did get the same comodo, from that site.

as far as the antinirus results, i had no clue there was a decided order. i would have expected a sort of "they are all fairly good, and free", simple comment.

i had avira before my computer crapped out the first time and i reset to factory settings.

besides the pop ups it seemed to be a fairly independent program. perhaps the recommendation will make me change. yet i have no idea what the differences in any of these programs would really be minus maybe the false positives.
although i cant recall avira offering as wide of coverage as AVG seems to.

but thanks again for your emediate and constant replies, helping to minimize the stress a bit :-D

 

No freeware is that good. You need to juggle a wide range of freeware products at the same time and search the Internet for possible compatibility problems. AVG and avast! have some issues with other security products. Avira Antivir very little. That company fixes the bugs that emerges. They are a bit slow at it but they do it. And their update servers finally improved just a few days ago.


This here is majorgeeks recommendations. Firewall, malware and virus protection.

 

By the way: the number of false positives is very small for all 3 antivirus products. All antimalware products have false positives here and there - the free ones as well as the ones you pay for. I only had one false positive from Avira Antivir this year. It damaged some insignificant freeware.

 

ok, well it is probably my want to be completely covered that had it so i had too many competing programs in the first place. however seeing a program that mentions how it is blocking several different things all at once, just in the second you open it is comforting i suppose(i mean avg8, although they may all do it). like anitvirus, antispyware, link scanner, email scanner....etc.

and, i was questioning if there was anything to do with comodo since i dont want it to compete....as well as, for some reason, for a small while there ( maybe during when it trying to send a mention of an unknown action) it seemed as though it was sucking away all my bandwith. since i was downloading avira and it was down to like 4kbs a sec or something, and wouldn't load pages.
that may be the dsl, or router(especialy since its my brothers and not mine, and he still may know less about it than i do).\

but i may still opt for avira if they are the most solid for now, regardless if avg says they scan/block everything.

 

and all of the protection i have gotten and am now running is all through things on this site like the link you put on the last msg, and the recommendations of people on the site.

 

Listen, the payed for programs you listed in your first post are actually better than the freeware. Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus is quite good. But Comodo's firewall is better than Windows Firewall, though. But really the paid for products are much better. Avira Premium Security Suite came out of a number of international test as number one in the recent past.

 

You can't run all this at the same time: liveonecare, spyware dr. w/ antivirus, a-squared background gaurd, spyware gaurd,

A fine thing that SpywareGuard is gone.

But's difficult to advise you because you haven't given us information about what versions you have. Your SUPERAntiSpyware - is that freeware with no realtime protection? Because if it is it's just an extra safety scanner and that never harmed anyone. And Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus - is that the payed for version?

EDIT: yes, it is. Just found it. Then this is the one, you should keep. The one from the Opera/Dr. Phil show. :-D

 

This thread is a mess. You need better advice, artz19. Are you still here? We - and I - need to make a bigger effort in order to help you. I'm still here...

 

i just installed avira anti virus, but for some reason it isn't in my bottom right and the windows warning is coming up for no anti virus on.

and if it ever gets up and going, what i will be running will all be freeware...

avira, and comodo.

thats all that is realtime in the bottom right. i have other things like spybot, malwarebytes, ccleaner,regseeker,spyware blaster... i dont know if i am down to a good minimum.

and if spyware dr. with antivirus might be better than having avir.....than i might vry well be back to being confused again. im not sure if it was all the false positives that drove people away, but the only opinion i could find of the program was get rid of it.

 

of course now that i said that windows said antivirus was off in contradicts me and says it on. yet there still isn't the little red umbrella i expect to see in the bottom right.

 

Yes, I'm sorry. This is simply not good enough on my behalf. I will get back with suggestions for all categories. Just a moment.

 

hahaha, sorry for all the confusion man.

i have a talent for making a magnificent mess of things. paranoia is only a helper.

thanks again.

 

First of all I think you should stick to your PC Tools. The payed version is really very fine and you can combine it with other PC Tools products because they have been checked for compatibility.

You cannot avoid false positives. All companies and security programs have them. And in your case the false positive in all likelihood came from one of all your other security programs. They can't coexist - they attack each other.

You can run
Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 and ThreatFire 3.5.0 from PC Tools at the same time. You asked about it and ThreatFire was made for that. And it's an excellent supplement.

Here is my suggestions:

Firewall:
Comodo Personal Firewall 3.0 or PC Tools Firewall Plus 4.0.0.35 (Freeware)

Antispyware and antivirus program:
Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 5.5 for Windows from PC Tools

Supplements:
ThreatFire 3.5.0 from PC Tools
SpywareBlaster 4.1 from Javacool Software

For extra scannings:
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.20 - freeware edition
SUPERAntiSpyware 4.1 - freeware edition

For ordinary cleaning:
CCleaner v2.09.600 or ATF Cleaner 3.0.0.2 from Atribune
IObit SmartDefrag Beta 5.01
Registry Mechanic 7.0 from PC Tools

Sould be uninstalled:
AVG 8,
Winpatrol 15.5.2008,
RegSeeker 1.55,
SpywareGuard 2.2 from Javacool Software,
Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal 2.8 from IObit,
Assassin SE 5.1.1 from Black List Software,
Seurity Task Manager 1.7 from Neuber Software,
Windows Live OneCare 2.5.2744.0 from Microsoft,
Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal 2.8 from IObit

If you want to keep Avira AntiVir Personal Edition 8 8.1.00.295 you could do that. But then Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 5.5 for Windows from PC Tools must go.

 

I forgot to write something very important: you have payed-for support from PC Tools. That's why I took Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 5.5 for Windows from PC Tools as the center point and arranged my suggestions around that program.

 

Should also be uninstalled:
a-squared Anti-Malware 3.5.0.33 from Emsi Software
SpeedItUp Free from Micro Smarts LLC
TuneUp MemOptimizer
Windblinds

What is Desktop Notes? It's not security software...

 

well i am not exactly sure what the should be installed section is, i had most of them at one point. although in past responces in this thread i was told that (things might not compete), but that things like comodo and threatfire would end up doing the same things...and comodo doing them maybe even better.

i may keep avir, i am not sure that ones defense is better than the other, but i keep thinking that i may find false positives in some reports. but pc tools seems to be the only one of them that doesn't ever really get around to fixing them, and at most will slightly lower their warning. so i could look forward to it finding the same fake problems everyday, and time i scan.
also, their supposedly award winning support is complete crap, as i haven't heard back from them since i first started using their program and having problems. that has been weeks, and conveniently they don't offer any phone support as far as i have seen.

so they may be just unappealing of a company, that i might consider waisting 40$. because if they cant even reply, then i am sure they cant give me even a cent back.

 

haha guess im tired after all, missed the "un" part. yea most of those i dont have anymore.

if avir is better in enough ways to make me get rid of spyware dr then i would do so, regardless of paying for it. i havent had it installed on my computer for a few days. unfortunately, that program was finding the false positives even when i got rid of all the excess programs. so i dont think it was attacking or being attacked by another program.

so if avir is better than i will just continue blaming pc tools for being a crappy company.

um, and i could agree with removing speed it up and mem optimizer if you think that those programs are doing nothing to improve or even hurting my computer.... but as far as window blinds, even if/when i was going to get rid of it, i was going to use another program i have to do the equivalent.
i am a custom freak, so it would have to slow my computer all the way to get rid of it i think. i like my custom styles too much.

so i would just ask you, if there is a better freeware than the spyware dr. with antivirus(i would continue to use avir if it was), and if threatfire is worth working along side comodo, since previous posts said that they would being doing the same thing,and do it better(the same for the process watch thing i had with the dog).

 

Only compatibility problem between the two are a thing of the past. And a search in ThreatFires forum and Comodos forum shows that compatibility problems are not an issue? Besides ThreatFire is not a firewall. Why pick on ThreatFire and Comodo Firewall, then? Why not Comodo Firewall and one of the others? You have a long list to go through if you want to discuss combinations. :-D Comodo say they have no quarrel with ThreatFire and visa versa. So who do you believe?

I did read that answer/post you talk about. But ThreatFire and Comodo Firewall cannot substitute each other. ThreatFire is meant a supplement.

But hey: ThreatFire is good but not that important. Don't install it, - it's not a big issue. You asked about it so I included it.

 

and i guess i dont know exactly how it is organizing this since i am now sure i am the one that jumbled the hell out of this thread. thought post reply just would stick it at the end of it all, seems i was wrong.

 

No you don't. :-D. :-D. :-D

 

Should have been: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.20 - freeware edition OR SUPERAntiSpyware 4.1 - freeware edition

But ok - you can have both as long as it's the freeware editions and not the ones with realtime protection. Just a thought here: you wouldn't have Windows Defender? You just forgot to mention it?

 

1. Why don't you look inside Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 5.5 for Windows from PC Tools or in it's logs to check where all the false positives comes from? It listed and written with a path so there is no need to continue guessing here.

2. Avira Antivir will do just fine - maybe better. But check your email spamfilter - make sure you have one. Email is Avira's weakness.

3. What functions is it in window blinds that you don't want to be without? The program is not exactly famous for anything security related? If it's for fun - then keep it. We all have that kind of stuff. Widgets and what ever.

 

well, the stuff that i was dealing with on the malware section was the false positive part. mainly the "trojan-downloader.banload.bxm", spyware doctor said that it was coming from part of my registry... an entry in the internet setting section, an embedded web browser...bslsa.com i believe. which seemed to be legit and ok. all of the problems it found minus some "known bad sites", were from this one entry and all the checks,scans, and logs i suplied to this forum came up as fine i was told.

i would like it if spyware dr. didnt have these (at least to me) huge problems, but i also wish that i hadnt spent 40$ on a program that said it would fix my problems(which just happened to be all false positives).
so if avir works out and pc tools never answers me even....then i'll just continue to think they suck, and their famous support is a lie.

but i will look back into having threatfire possibly, and the windows blinds just seems to have the best selection of actualy decent skins. i am more about asthetics than i should be i suppose. however i didnt want to bother with installing shells, that usually seem to give people problems, even if they aren't infected.
i actually wanted windows vista almost just for the animated desktop function. a stylized skin, stardock, and a moving wallpaper that looks that good probably would have made me faint if it worked well. but the other program i had was tuneuputilites which had something that would set a skin, it was adequate, although there was also style xp, that didnt seem to be pay but i guess is now so...

guess my final problem is that pc tools probably wont fix their problems, answer me, or give me money back.

 

This is not good enough. Did you only have one false positive? Make a list with all the path's and copy/paste it in here - best to remove your name in the paths first.

PC Tools have a forum for each of their products and their staff always answers in there. This is also the place to look for known false positives. That's what all of us do every time there is reason to suspect a false positive. We read or write in the product's forum - we have them bookmarked. I think Webroot (Spy Sweeper) is the only product without a forum these days. Even Norton just got themselves a community with forums. After all these years.

Your windblind should stay now that its clear that you have it for fun and not for security reasons. Fun is far more important. :-D

PS: PC Tools program is really not bad at all. Besides: what happened to it's ignore button? Did it stop working? :-D But ok - Avira Antivir is also fine.

 

A google search for Trojan-Downloader.Banload.BXM confirms what you say: it's a PC Tools problem and a false positive. But it does not mean that your program is bad. It isn't. It's a good one.

 

Thank you for that post and your kind words, MarkTrent. :cool

 

And thanks for the tip about "paid", MarkTrent. :-D I liked that and I will use it. :cool

 

well i finally found a number to call about pc tools, and apparently the lady i spoke with said that the log had only been received about 3 days ago, and was flagged as critical. so i said that i would wait it out, although i might not give it more than a week.
if i give it another chance, perhaps i will have to look closely for a ignore button. s i did manage to not see one for the time i was using it. perhaps i got too fixated on seeing "trojan" everywhere.
i wonder if i might have to drop threatfire and avir if i were to go back to spyware doctor, or if threatfire is a workalong with that as well(especially being from pc tools as well).

of course the lady from pc tools also spoke of a possible refund so who know, might just be what i want in the end. putting 800 dollars into a car to pass inspection sorta says 40 dollars in my pocket might be nice, but maybe its worth not seeing the avir pop ups :-D

i also might have to check for the forum to make sure of my issue, although i am not sure(since it was prty well established as a false possitive) that i need it.

 

and thanks for the info on the closed thread mark, i was trying to follow what you said about contacting bigbazz i think it was. however i got to his profile, didnt see any option for looking at his posts(minus searching for him, although other profiles had the option to see their posts). also i guess i cant PM untill i have 50 posts

but i am going to do a search again and see if i can find a post with AWC in it. i imagine that what i was asking about probably was only telling me that i was now blocked against those problems, but it'll be good to be sure.

um, also i may want to ask a few questions about comodo just to be sure. things like the files or actions that it puts aside for you to look at in clean computer mode(or whatever it was). and the options, the remove,add, move to, purge...
and any other recommendations with it, since i don't seem to have much common sense it seems.

 

Well done! :-D PC Tools have coordinated their products so you can run what you want from their site. And you are entitled to support as a paying costumer. Avira won't run anywhere. Give your security programs a chance now that we have reduced the number and found a new firewall. You can always install Avira Antivir again.

 

Can you quote me the other thread #, so maybe I can help with AWC? Bazza

===

 

Mark, http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthr...cc0d4&t=160132 gives a 404 error. :confused

Bazza

 

Found it, and have replied. Don't know why the 404 error popped up.
Bloody computers, they'll never catch on. :-D Bazza

 

thanks to all.
now i just need to hope that i havent complicated the uninstall of combofix too much. dont want to make too much work for TimW

but yea im just gonna wait on that call or e-mail then maybe ill give spyware dr that 2nd chance :-D