Virus Protection Information

Question: What does virus protection actually do?

(Posted by: Calcifer643 on 2010-03-11 18:38:38)

More specifically what does AVG do because i have AVG but yet i will still get viruses one my computer. So many in fact that i will have to restore my computer to factory settings. And before you say anything NO i do not look at porn on my computer. I have AVG Free

Posted by: PokerFan on 2010-03-11, 18:58:39

Antivirus programs have a list ( "pattern file ") of unique identifying code of each virus/ malware they know about. Each time you access a file or program the antivirus programs scans the file before the operation system acts on the file. When the file is scanned the bytes that make up the file are matched against the pattern file; if there is a match, the antivirus program blocks the operating system from processing the file and displays a prompt. Alternatively, when you scan your hard drive with an antivirus program, it matches every file with the pattern file and flags those that match as containing viruses. The weakness of all these pattern file antivirus programs is the pattern file. If it is not kept current, it won't catch new viruses. If the company doesn't have a good virus research department, it might not have a very good pattern file and so won't catch all the current viruses. That's the major weakness of free antivirus programs like AVG. When compared with pay-for-use antivirus, the free antivirus programs are typically weaker. You should read some of the comparisons done by computer magazines and web sites; it surprising how some antivirus programs only catch 70-80% of the tested viruses while others catch nearly all viruses.

Posted by: zep516 on 2010-03-11, 18:42:42

Anti Virus programs are not stone walls, they all let viruses in Norton, McAfee, AVG, Bit defender, Nod, Avast. Ther only insurance tools. If you keep getting infected you need to change or practice safe surfing habits. This why everyone here is infected because of poor surfing habits, not poor Anti Virus programs...

Posted by: Mercuri on 2010-03-11, 18:43:00

No antivirus is 100% effective, especially not a free one like AVG.

Posted by: Christopher on 2010-03-11, 18:45:26

You have AVG, god help you. sorry. I don't touch AVG As for virus. A virus is a small program that inserts it's self into an operating system. There are different kinds such as key loggers. Viruses mess up your system, make it slower, use network bandwith, make your hard drive always apear busy, create a reduction in pc preformance. the list goes on. One piece of advice my fellow citizen of the world. The internet is your friend, such as google. You could have had an answer by now by typing in, "what is a virus " or "what is AVG " As for porn, viruses often come with those, jaja. do you use limewire? it is filled with viruses. Trying to download something that is illegal, or ill-legit? most likely has a virus or a trojan.

Posted by: TechnoholicGeek on 2010-03-12, 02:54:08

Virus scanners are best used to prevent viruses from ever reaching your machine, but you raise a very good issue that most folks don't realize. There are two types of scans, and each has a place and a purpose. The most common type of scan is the continuous "real-time " scan that watches for viruses in data as it arrives (and possibly as it leaves) your computer. I say it's the most common because it's enabled in the default configuration of most anti-virus programs. Using a real-time scan, the anti-virus software will hook into your network connection and simply watch the data coming and going to and from your machine, watching for viruses. If it identified one then it takes appropriate action and alerts you. Typically, real-time scans are considered the safest, since viruses are caught before they've ever had a chance to run on your machine. Some will also prevent email-borne viruses from arriving in your inbox as well. It's extremely important that there be only one real-time scanner running at a time, as they can conflict with each other resulting in false positives, missed viruses, program crashes or worse. But fortunately one real-time scanner is all you need. for technical help: pccare247.com