Fighting all malware at once

[Vanguard]

Well, before installing Pc Guard/Laptop Guard I had either to clean
my
system using antiviruses, spy-bot, etc. or format my system, create
2
partitions, and install a fresh copy of my OS of choice and programs
on
partition 1.

At that point I know my system is clean.
is "clean".
Lets say buying a new Office program, or any other, and inmediately
tell Pc Guard to save it.
If I download something from the internet that I can get for "free",
and I know that the program is about $100 or $200, then I'll get
suspicious..........can be loaded with malware.................so I
don't install it "permanently".

Lets say, I love to download free music. I download and install
Kazza.
I use it, download and copy my songs, etc to my 2nd partition, or
burn
a CD.
When I'm done, I just shut down my system.
Next day when I turn it on, Kazza and all its malware army is gone!!
but I get to keep my songs...
One more thing.
It doesn't matter where I go on the Internet. On my next reboot I
will
not have any cookies, or Temporary Files or web History clogging up
my
computer.
I would say I use common sense when it comes to save something on C:
"permanently"
That has helped me.
And If I accidentally I have a malware infection, well I guess I'll
have to clean it and then save the clean state of my C: drive, and
be
more carefull the next time.
But that hasn't happen to me yet. And I'm using this products for
over
a year now.

As you said when I mentioned ShadowSurfer (ShadowUser is it big
brother) that I could not save changes. That was the entire point of
why I use ShadowSurfer: so changes will never get saved WHEN I have
chosen when to activate ShadowSurfer. Invariably users will start to
feel comfortable after the install of unknown and untested software
(i.e., it was unknown to them since they have not experienced it
previously on other hosts and also have not tested it before). When
they feel comfortable, and when their anti-virus program and other
anti-malware software doesn't find anything for awhile (which is more
freebie utilities) then they decide to commit the change. Then
sometime later they find they were infected or simply ended up with a
configuration that causes problems (non-viral apps can also screw up
the registry) but they have no prior image from which to restore. Of
course, images and logical backups don't guarantee absolute freedom
from pests since they may contain them at the time the image or backup
was saved. However, with images and backups, the user often has
several instances of them to walk forward from some starting point to
discover at which point their system gets screwed up, and then walk
forward to just short of that point, and without having to revert all
the way back to fresh installs of the OS and applications.

ShadowUser, PC Guard, and other such "recovery" utilities give you
just one-shot for recovery. You get one image or state to which you
can return. They do NOT obviate the need to periodically save
disk/partition images or logical file backups. As such, I see no need
to just a one-shot recovery state using the version of those utilities
that will let you save a change. You only get to save one change;
i.e., you get to go back to the prior state until you overwrite that
saved state with the next time you choose to save the current state.
ShadowSurfer doesn't let me save changes but then one state back is
often insufficient to eradicate any pest or corruption since it may
not be discovered until AFTER you have already commited to save the
changes to overwrite that saved state. I look at it like disk
mirroring: it is NOT used for data recovery but as a quick means of
restoring the hardware to a known state. It's a known state. It may
not be a desired state. If you don't have images or backups, you
could end up trying switch from a more infested or more corrupted
state which is the current one to step back to a less infested or less
corrupted state, but that may not step you back far enough to
eradicate a pest or undo the corruption.

 

[Dr Frank]

As you said when I mentioned ShadowSurfer (ShadowUser is it big
brother) that I could not save changes. That was the entire point of
why I use ShadowSurfer: so changes will never get saved WHEN I have
chosen when to activate ShadowSurfer. Invariably users will start to
feel comfortable after the install of unknown and untested software
(i.e., it was unknown to them since they have not experienced it
previously on other hosts and also have not tested it before). When
they feel comfortable, and when their anti-virus program and other
anti-malware software doesn't find anything for awhile (which is more
freebie utilities) then they decide to commit the change. Then
sometime later they find they were infected or simply ended up with a
configuration that causes problems (non-viral apps can also screw up
the registry) but they have no prior image from which to restore. Of
course, images and logical backups don't guarantee absolute freedom
from pests since they may contain them at the time the image or backup
was saved. However, with images and backups, the user often has
several instances of them to walk forward from some starting point to
discover at which point their system gets screwed up, and then walk
forward to just short of that point, and without having to revert all
the way back to fresh installs of the OS and applications.

ShadowUser, PC Guard, and other such "recovery" utilities give you
just one-shot for recovery. You get one image or state to which you
can return. They do NOT obviate the need to periodically save
disk/partition images or logical file backups. As such, I see no need
to just a one-shot recovery state using the version of those utilities
that will let you save a change. You only get to save one change;
i.e., you get to go back to the prior state until you overwrite that
saved state with the next time you choose to save the current state.
ShadowSurfer doesn't let me save changes but then one state back is
often insufficient to eradicate any pest or corruption since it may
not be discovered until AFTER you have already commited to save the
changes to overwrite that saved state. I look at it like disk
mirroring: it is NOT used for data recovery but as a quick means of
restoring the hardware to a known state. It's a known state. It may
not be a desired state. If you don't have images or backups, you
could end up trying switch from a more infested or more corrupted
state which is the current one to step back to a less infested or less
corrupted state, but that may not step you back far enough to
eradicate a pest or undo the corruption.

I gave you 4 stars for you excelent point of view.
Not only viruses and malware damage your system.
Software poorly planned, or bad uninstalled programs can also damage
your system's registry. And there is no antivirus on anything against
it.

Of course it depends what is the final user's habits.
If there is a teenager, or anybody else with nasty internet habits
(download games, try whatever free stuff they find etc) or
inexperienced, I second your opinion. They should implement their
solutions with a selection of at least 2 last saves for recovery
purposes.
Either way, the previous saved configuration will always be better than
the messed up one you trying to get rid of.
But I was basically talking about my personal experience.
I'm in charge of a medium size computer lab in a local school, were the
students use the computers without supervision.
Pc Guard gives me the "Controlled environment" I was looking for.
Before installing new software, or patches, I try it on one computer.
If I see good results, it is when I save the new configuration.
And Laptop Guard protects my Laptop when I access the internet from
unknown Hot spots wireless internet access on the road.
Bottom line, users are the responsable for their system's safety.