McAfee and AVG

[Vytamindi]

So my McAfee expired yesterday and instead of renewing my sub, I installed AVG. AVG has performed well on my previous systems, but this time it prompted me to uninstall McAfee, so I did. Now I am having the following problems that have NOT happened to my computer (year old, working perfectly to this point):

*Problems with flash? I can watch youtube videos just fine, but Hulu causes my whole browser to freeze up, and it never catches up. At best, the video skips every five seconds. Also, if I accidentally rightclick a flash app (like farmville or flash ads) the menu pops up, but I can't choose any options or make it go away... unless I force firefox to end through the taskmanager.

*Typing? Even now, while I am typing I experience a skip every five seconds are so. The typing pauses, then catches up. This has never happened on my machine...

*Alt text and other mouseover info: Doesn't show up... it shows the shadow of the box that SHOULD be there, but no matter how long I hover, it's just that shadow...

So, what do you think went wrong?

Trying hulu on IE (shudder), it prompted me to DL adobe 10. Trying this now.

**glad I had this still on my clip board** Aaaaand we're back to the crappiness.... Any ideas?

 

[figmentPez]

McAfee probably didn't uninstall completely. Anti-virus programs are often a pain to remove.

 

[Vytamindi]

Any tips on how to find it? A search of my programs reveals nothing, although I am quite aware files may still exist.

 

[PatrThom]

http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507

--Patrick

 

[Matt²]

from my webpage :

...AVG used to be great, but it does not fully protect against one of the most malicious virus / virus variants out there today : AV2008/AV2009/AV2010 and "Personal Security". To be clear and perhaps to be a little more fair,, AV2009 (The warning on the news page about the FAKE antivirus programs) seems to specifically TARGET AVG and disable it first, then infects the computer in many differing areas. I personally tested this specifically to find out how good the virus protection was on a several computers of my own that then became infected due to this program. AVG unfortunately offered either no protection or inadequate protection. I contacted them but their solution to the problem was to refund me my money, so I can't in good conscience offer a program that doesn't work. The picture to the left is just one of the many pieces of av2009 that AVG missed. (found with AVAST!) ...

(pic of it infecting the pagefile)

AVG = teh evil.

I recommend dumping AVG and going with Avast.

 

[strawman]

uninstall McAfee

You have committed the unpardonable sin. I've never uninstalled mcaffee without it royally messing up the system in some difficult to fix way. Try the removal tool suggested and see if that doesn't fix things.

I've never had a problem with the free version of AVG, but they've been a lot more vocal lately about promoting their pay product, which leads me to wonder if they aren't also encouraging people to go with the paid product by providing customers with poor performance on the free product.

 

[Seraphyn]

What stein said, every time I tried to uninstall McAfee (long time ago though) it would royally fuck up the system. In the end, uninstalling McAfee basically meant a reinstall of Windows, because that was actually a lot quicker then trying to fix the things McAfee broke.

And to add to the suggestions, just get Microsoft Security Essentials. AVG used to be alright, but seems to be slipping somewhat.

 

[Matt²]

What stein said, every time I tried to uninstall McAfee (long time ago though) it would royally fuck up the system. In the end, uninstalling McAfee basically meant a reinstall of Windows, because that was actually a lot quicker then trying to fix the things McAfee broke.

And to add to the suggestions, just get Microsoft Security Essentials. AVG used to be alright, but seems to be slipping somewhat.

only problem with MS SE that I've heard about is if you have programs that "Microsoft doesn't like" (I've not bothered with it personally) get disabled or targeted by MS SE. You know what kinds of programs I'm talking about.

 

[Matt²]

btw, even my customers that have the PAID version of AVG are complaining that it's not catching everything. I tell them to switch to Avast.

 

[PatrThom]

only problem with MS SE that I've heard about is if you have programs that "Microsoft doesn't like" (I've not bothered with it personally) get disabled or targeted by MS SE. You know what kinds of programs I'm talking about.

So I gots nothing to worry about, then?

--Patrick

 

[Matt²]

as long as you don't do torrents or such, AFAIK

 

[Calleja]

Wha? I've used MS SE essentials for a long time now, and I'm torrenting TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN. It's never so much as blipped about it.

 

[Matt²]

(sigh) ok, fine... I'll go test it on my bench machine and get back to you...

 

[Vytamindi]

Ugh... so I have to reinstall Windows??? How do I do that when I bought my compy from Dell with Windows already installed on it? (don't think it came with a reinstallation CD, but I'll look. It should have.)

Sorry guys.. I am just not as savvy as you are when it comes to technical things.

 

[Calleja]

If it came with your laptop and they didn't include an installation CD then it's pretty certain you have this nice and easy "insta-format" feature. My dell does. It's a particular key you press while rebooting whoch will then use a "hidden" partition, format your hard drive, and leave the compy just as it came from the factory. In like 20 min tops. It's a symantec ghost thing... call Dell tech support, they're pretty helpful and should be able to easily walk you through it.

BACK UP ALL YOU WANT TO SAVE FIRST THOUGH!

 

[Shakey]

Before you reinstall Windows, I would uninstall AVG first and see if that was the problem. AVG has been a resource hog for me lately.

 

[Zappit]

Contact McAfee's support services. Mc got interrupted one day when it was updating, and caused some major damage. Their tech support figured out what went wrong, and fixed it (something about needed a new, clean root page or something like that.)

Glad that old machine is gone, though - got a nice one with Norton, which, while a pain, is not a devourer of digital souls like McAfee turned out to be.

 

[Vytamindi]

McAfee tech support can't help me since I no longer have an active sub. According to Sajeer.

Uninstalled AVG and installed Avast. Computer is working wonderfully...for now.

THANKS GUYS!!!!!!!!

 

[Matt²]

Just tested MS SE on one of the most prolific viruses out there, Personal Security 2010, and it FAILED MISERABLY.

correction : XP Defender Pro.

btw, if you DO get one of those viruses that sneaks through your antivirus protection, whatever it may be (Avg, Norton, McAfee, MSSE, etc) just go here and copy the two registry entries to your notepad, save, run, add to registry, then reboot. You'll be right as rain afterwards. http://www.myantispyware.com/2010/03/17/how-to-remove-total-xp-security/

Step 1. Repair “running of .exe files”.

Method 1

Click Start, Run. Type command and press Enter. Type notepad and press Enter.
Notepad opens. Copy all the text below into Notepad.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"

Save this as fix.reg to your Desktop (remember to select Save as file type: All files in Notepad.)
Double Click fix.reg and click YES for confirm.
Reboot your computer.

Method 2

Click Start, Run. Type command and press Enter. Type notepad and press Enter.
Notepad opens. Copy all the text below into Notepad.

[Version]
Signature="$Chicago$"
Provider=Myantispyware.com

[DefaultInstall]
DelReg=regsec
AddReg=regsec1

[regsec]
HKCU, Software\Classes\.exe
HKCU, Software\Classes\secfile
HKCR, secfile
HKCR, .exe\shell\open\command

[regsec1]
HKCR, exefile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKCR, .exe,,,"exefile"
HKCR, .exe,"Content Type",,"application/x-msdownload"

Save this as fix.inf to your Desktop (remember to select Save as file type: All files in Notepad.)
Right click to fix.inf and select Install. Reboot your computer.

also run Malwarebytes afterwards and get rid of the other registry entries left behind, or you'll be doing this all over again!

 

[Seraphyn]

In the end the best antivirus is just being a responsible downloader/internet user. Coupled with Firefox + NoScript that's like a 99,99% defense right there. Most of the IT people I know have gotten by without a virusscanner for years, with the occasional scan to check if something was up, which it never was. I have MSSE installed out of habit, since in the past I always had an AV + Firewall. I never use it or have had to use it so far though.

 

[Matt²]

Just from what I'm seeing in my shop... this virus is specifically attacking and INFECTING Avg.. not a good sign! I've had to use the Avgremover program a couple times now, one was my brother-in-law's computer.. it was so badly messed up that it was hogging 100% of the system resources. After I ran avgremove, then it dropped down to normal, and was able to recognize usb devices and such. I'm no longer a fan of Avg - I'm sorry I ever sold it!

 

[Shakey]

In the end the best antivirus is just being a responsible downloader/internet user.

I don't buy that anymore. In the past, I may have agreed with you, but not any more. Every single site on the internet has ads now, and no matter how legitimate they may be, those ads can be infected without the site owners even knowing it. Here's an article about what I'm talking about. I still don't understand why they classify those fake anti-virus programs as malware, they do more damage than a lot of viruses I've seen.

 

[Seraphyn]

Yeah I don't get ads unless I specifically allow them. One of the benefits of firefox' many extensions. It's kinda sad in a way, but the internet is/should be used via a whitelist rather then a blacklist these days. Default you block anything and everything, then open up/allow where required.

 

[Shakey]

I always hate blocking ads though. It's the only way most sites get their money. They should be forced back to plain image ads though. If they can't ensure 100% clean code, they shouldn't allow javascript in ads.

 

[Calleja]

Should... but they don't. So they get absolutely NO revenue from me thanks to Adblock and a more zealous block list. I'd be happy to unblock ads if even 50% of them weren't annoying flash/java shit... but they're not. And it's a risk I'm not taking.

 

[figmentPez]

I always hate blocking ads though. It's the only way most sites get their money. They should be forced back to plain image ads though. If they can't ensure 100% clean code, they shouldn't allow javascript in ads.

I hate blocking ads too, but if they want to make money off of my views they need to shape up. No pop-ups, no badly coded flash that causes 100% CPU usage, no banner ads with audio or video, no security threats, etc. I'm not opposed to ads, I'm opposed to my browser crashing, being unable to scroll down a web-page, or having my ears assaulted. I'll be nice to advertisers when advertisers are nice to me.