McAfee Online Virus Scan

[bkaras]

This is one of the few times I have made a complaint. McAfee offers an
online scan for bad thingies (viruses, worms, etc.). All well and
good, in fact, commendable -- so far. Then it proceeds to uncover 25
files w/ bad thingies. I find this disconcerting since I have always
used anti-virus programs in > 10 years of computing. (Now I know AV
pgms are not 100%, but they should come very close. Besides, I have
run self-scans over the years that came up clear most of the times.
When bad thingies were found, I could easily delete the offending
files permanently.)

As I wrote, 25 bad thingies were found this time. When I went to find
out what they were (McAfee PROMISED to explain about them) I got this:

"We found no records matching the following criteria:
Virus name with "IRC/Flood.Winhelp".
Please try narrowing your search by using fewer characters."

This was for the IRC/Flood.Winhelp bad thingy. However, I got the same
"explanations" for the other bad thingies.

McAfee is no new, small player in the PC field. This INCREASED my
upset greatly.

Barry Karas

 

[null]

This is one of the few times I have made a complaint. McAfee offers an
online scan for bad thingies (viruses, worms, etc.). All well and
good, in fact, commendable -- so far. Then it proceeds to uncover 25
files w/ bad thingies. I find this disconcerting since I have always
used anti-virus programs in > 10 years of computing. (Now I know AV
pgms are not 100%, but they should come very close. Besides, I have
run self-scans over the years that came up clear most of the times.
When bad thingies were found, I could easily delete the offending
files permanently.)

So your first rude awakening was that all av scanners are not created
equal. Some are far better at general malware detection than others.

As I wrote, 25 bad thingies were found this time. When I went to find
out what they were (McAfee PROMISED to explain about them) I got this:

"We found no records matching the following criteria:
Virus name with "IRC/Flood.Winhelp".
Please try narrowing your search by using fewer characters."

This was for the IRC/Flood.Winhelp bad thingy. However, I got the same
"explanations" for the other bad thingies.

You can often find removal info or a removal tool:

http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/i/irc_flood_winhelp.asp

McAfee is no new, small player in the PC field. This INCREASED my
upset greatly.

Well, I'll upset you even further then by stating that there's no
excuse whatsoever for:

1. Dependence on av software.
2. Getting infested in the first place.
3. Use of on-line av scanners.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

 

[PopRivet]

....
Boy, null's the right username for you! Exactly HOW
would YOU suggest a newbie neophyte or anyone
(everyone?) less knowledgeable than you, become as
"expert" as you claim to be? Millions of people prove
you wrong every day and your egocentricity is surpassed
only by your narcissism. It's fine with me though,
becuase I know you'll get yours soon; it's just too
easy. Claims are easy to make. Misdirection has a
value only to the misdirectors.
Pop

 

[BoB]

...

Boy, null's the right username for you! Exactly HOW
would YOU suggest a newbie neophyte or anyone
(everyone?) less knowledgeable than you, become as
"expert" as you claim to be?

Null's 'clues' were meant to inform you and/or other newbies
that Safehex practices were documented long ago as being far
more effective than non-proactive protection. Millions of people
are unaware of this fact.

Millions of people prove you wrong every day and your egocentricity
is surpassed only by your narcissism. It's fine with me though,
becuase I know you'll get yours soon; it's just too
easy. Claims are easy to make. Misdirection has a
value only to the misdirectors.
Pop

I recommend you read the helpful tips from following sites:

http://claymania.com/safe-hex.html
http://www.pcflank.com/art37.htm

BoB

 

[FromTheRafters]

...

Boy, null's the right username for you! Exactly HOW
would YOU suggest a newbie neophyte or anyone
(everyone?) less knowledgeable than you, become as
"expert" as you claim to be?

???

Is this in response to 1, 2, or 3? Usually, Art defends the newbie's actions
and objects to anyone even suggesting that only the clueful should own and
use computers. OTOH even he realizes that users shouldn't blame software
for their inability to cope with the cyberworld. The OP complains about the
AV site not having any information on a "bad thingy" of which they themselves
have provided the name. More often I have seen this with AVG than any
other vendor.

McAfee as much as told the OP to narrow the search - IRC/Flood may
have brought this to his attention.

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=98936

Personally, I find that taking some special charaters out helps to find things.
I used these two items:

WinHelp

and

Flood

....I use Yahoo -oo -ooo and typed it in as WinHelp flood.

Although it would be nice to be able to, it is not a good idea to depend
on AV to do everything for you - a search would have also given this:

http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/i/irc_flood_winhelp.asp

 

[bkaras]

Please elucidate.

Thank you,

Barry Karas

P.S. I am not upset...just interested.

 

[null]

Please elucidate.

See my web site.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg