A question about Comodo:

[|tera|]

I have to help an old lady tomorrow by cleaning out the malware on her laptop and updating Xp to SP3.

I've been wondering which security system to put on for the lady.

Problem is, the laptop is quite old, it's not a new model.

I'm pretty sure Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 would do the trick, but I haven't used it personally before.

A question I have (which I hope someone can answer tonight).

Do I have to install both the Comodo Firewall and the separate Antivirus? Or should I install the Firewall only?

Problem is, Comodo's site isn't very user friendly in the regard that it details what you get with which package.

A google search revealed some text in a search result that you can activate the antivirus in the firewall application, but I don't see that info at the opened link.

Any help would be appreciated.

Concerning AVG, Avast and Antivir. I've used them all (free versions). Generally speaking for an old lady I'm trying to find the most effortless solution.

AVG: not complete enough security
Avast: she will get a heart attack if a virus is found and that sound and flashing notice pops up.
Antivir: just bloody ticked me off when it keeps popping up ads to upgrade to a latest version when definitions are updating.

Thanks
tera

 

[HavocXphere]

Comodo won't work...it asks to many technical questions. No idea what you could use though.

For the AV, I'd go with avast....it autoupdates & and covers more bases than AVG (email, network etc).

 

[|tera|]

Comodo won't work...it asks to many technical questions. No idea what you could use though.

For the AV, I'd go with avast....it autoupdates & and covers more bases than AVG (email, network etc).

Ok, just read a few reviews on download.com from users which said the same. I thought once configured it would just be like any other security solution.

Problem is though, Avast does not contain a firewall?

Any suggestions?

 

[HavocXphere]

Ok, just read a few reviews on download.com from users which said the same. I thought once configured it would just be like any other security solution.

Problem is though, Avast does not contain a firewall?

Any suggestions?

Nothing wrong with Comodo...the "old lady" part is the problem. All proper firewalls are going to ask a bunch of questions though...so I dunno how to solve the problem.

Avast has a network shield....but not a FW.

 

[|tera|]

Nothing wrong with Comodo...the "old lady" part is the problem. All proper firewalls are going to ask a bunch of questions though...so I dunno how to solve the problem.

Avast has a network shield....but not a FW.

And does XP Sp3 make any additions to the Windows firewall?

I feel a bit bad not giving this lady proper protection. A product like Eset Smart Security would definitely do the trick. She does have money as well, so I might just suggest it to her.

You can at least set the notification settings in Eset, so you don't even know what gets blocked.

 

[diabolus]

Do I have to install both the Comodo Firewall and the separate Antivirus? Or should I install the Firewall only?

Yea. Comodo Firewall is only the firewall, they DO have a seperate antivirus too, but it sucks. For myself, i went with Comodo + Avast .

The one thing about Comodo is that if you configure it wrong it will pop up for every little thing...especially when installing stuff. People that don't know what's happening might get very confused.

Avast i've had no issues with, it's out of the way and does it thing.

Anyhow, i switched to an all-in-one paid solution [Agnitum Outpost Security Suite] because well, i always liked Agnitum's Firewall. The main part i liked , and what Comodo is missing is the "learning" mode. Basically, it scans your system and assumes for the next x-days the stuff you run is what you always will run..so it just learns instead of popping up and asking obvious questions like "can internet explorer access the internet?" .

For less savvy person , if it has to be free, i'd still go with Comodo [but configure it for absolute basic users] and Avast.

However i think the paid integrated solutions are better suited for less savvy people. Most familiar ones : Norton 360,Kaspersky's Security Suite,Mcafee etc . Of the last 3, i'd go with Kaspersky, their firewall is the most secure of the big bloated packages [there's a site where they test these things ]

But i'd still look at something like Agnitum [does not take over your system and sit like a big bloated tray icon pissing you off every 5 minutes aka Norton], since you do get a 3 PC license for the R400..[which you do not get with Norton etc] ...makes bigger diff than you think .

Oh and of course there are Microsoft's own antivirus/antispyware solution [Windows OneCare] , but i wasn't too happy with it. If an antivirus is in my face and not picking up virusses, then it's not working .

 

[|tera|]

Thanks diabolus.

Updating to SP3 went like a charm, no life or death issues, except the dreaded lost internet connection

I installed AVG 8 and I'll see if she picks up any issues. Did an online scan with Eset and no viruses/malware were found either

 

[mancombseepgood]

Comodo AV sucks

Just to add +1 to that - Comodo AV gives trouble with Office 2007 - open an Excel 2003 file in compatibility mode, save and it won't overwrite the original 'in use'...

 

[|tera|]

Just to add +1 to that - Comodo AV gives trouble with Office 2007 - open an Excel 2003 file in compatibility mode, save and it won't overwrite the original 'in use'...

Thanks man

I'll just see what problems the lady picks up etc. Did a scan previously with Spybot and found about 20something nasties.

Did a scan with Eset's online scanner and nothing was found, so Spybot is pretty cool these days.

 

[mancombseepgood]

Wow - 20+? eish...
If it's a once off scan/clean - try malwarebytes antimalware - very impressive...

 

[Threepwood]

...The main part i liked , and what Comodo is missing is the "learning" mode. Basically, it scans your system and assumes for the next x-days the stuff you run is what you always will run..so it just learns instead of popping up and asking obvious questions like "can internet explorer access the internet?"...

Comodo has got this feature. If you look at the Network Defence security level and Defense+ security level both can be set into "training" mode.

But the best IMO is to make sure you're PC is clean, then set Network defence to Safe Mode and D+ to Clean PC mode, that way it says all existing apps as safe, anything new is unrecognised and will need confirmation.

That way you basically only get the pop-ups when adding a new executable to the PC (like when installing or unzipping one from an archive), then you just set it to "Installation Mode" temporarily to avoid the pop-ups.

Initially I found CFP3 with the constant notifications a pain, but if you set it up like I said you get, I think a good balance between safety and fewer notifications.

If you have just installed a new on-line game AFAIK you set it to "Training Mode" and it automatically learns all the games processes etc. Just remember to set it back afterwards.