AstroSkipper Posted July 8 Author Share Posted July 8 25 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said: .rar files in general used to be considered suspicious just for being .rar I wouldn't go that far, but .rar files packed in .zip files would make me sit up and take notice. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multibooter Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 (edited) 6 hours ago, AstroSkipper said: Most antimalware scanners have problems with multi-packed archives... Regarding multi-packed archives I don't like them and usually avoid downloading such files. The method of multiple packaging has always been a strategy for hiding and foisting malware on the user of such files. Download sources that use this strategy are generally dubious. .zip files, except those from official sources, appear to me, especially from dubious sources, as more suspicious than .rar files. The multi-packing of archives appears to indicate to me most of the times that the content is OK. Probably very few trojans, viruses etc replicate themselves using multi-packing and the initial spreading of a multi-packed trojan, virus etc may not be effective. The multi-packed file in "My personal in the Wild", and flagged as "infected" by my ancient version of Kaspersky after manually unpacking --- turned out to be OK when run in a sandbox. It is one of perhaps 10 falsely flagged positives in "My personal in the Wild". Actual infections on my computer were caused mainly by my own personal stupidity, like double-clicking on a file with a .rar icon and an extremely long filename, so that the ".exe" wouldn't be fully displayed. Unfortunately the file was a .exe, not a .rar. Happened twice to me, when I was in a hurry. But when I noticed, 10secs later, that I had done something that I shouldn't have, I pulled the plug of the computer, booted into Win98 and restored the partition from a clean backup. Everything was OK, except that I had lost some work in progress. Edited July 8 by Multibooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmiranda Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 (edited) 5 hours ago, AstroSkipper said: Most antimalware scanners have problems with multi-packed archives. Personally, I never scan archives. It takes far too long on my old computer. I only scan archives when I unpack them and really need the files they contain. Regarding multi-packed archives I don't like them and usually avoid downloading such files. The method of multiple packaging has always been a strategy for hiding and foisting malware on the user of such files. Download sources that use this strategy are generally dubious. I don't mind rar format from sources in the linux-bsd community (including windows ports), though. Edited July 8 by dmiranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multibooter Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 1 hour ago, dmiranda said: I don't mind rar format from sources in the linux-bsd community (including windows ports), though. My ancient version of Kaspersky runs under SSE-only, but not under Win98. Would this SSE-only compatibility mean that it would probably also run under Linux Wine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multibooter Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 (edited) On 6/25/2024 at 11:50 PM, Skorpios said: I use Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2015 for offline scanning (still updated, ~260 MB download). https://support.kaspersky.com/utility I have tried Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2015 v15.0.28 on my SSE-only Inspiron 7500. I would be VERY CAREFUL: 1) I have downloaded kvrt.exe FOUR times, in a period of 2 hours, 3 downloads were just minutes away from each other. All four downloads differed substantially from each other and were not digitally signed, i.e. the differing files kvrt.exe may have been individually marked. 2) The license agreement specifically states that Kaspersky ("the Rightholder") will receive a lot of information from you and about your computer. You have to mark THREE separate checkboxes that you explicitly agree before you can proceed. After kvrt.exe ran for about 5 mins, the window Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool came up, Ready to Scan, This version is obsolete, Database release date 30.06.2024. I clicked on Cancel because I had run kvrt.exe under Total Uninstall, with the Ethernet cable disconnected. A StartUp Organizer msg window had popped up, indicating one Run Once registry entry. Upon rebooting there was no desktop icon, no -> Start -> Programs entry to start Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool. Total Uninstall showed a lof entries for Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, but I could not find KVRT files on the HDD, except for the license agreement. It seems that kvrt.exe is a portable program and doesn't install anything. In any case, I didn't make a scan and restored the WinXP partition to wipe out any installed stuff. Was I overly cautious, with the four differing kvrt.exe files downloaded and the three separate checkboxes in the License agreement? Edited July 8 by Multibooter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 8 Author Share Posted July 8 (edited) 47 minutes ago, Multibooter said: I have tried Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2015 v15.0.28 on my SSE-only Inspiron 7500. I would be VERY CAREFUL: 1) I have downloaded kvrt.exe FOUR times, in a period of 2 hours, 3 downloads were just minutes away from each other. All four downloads differed substantially from each other and were not digitally signed, i.e. the differing files kvrt.exe may have been individually marked. 2) The license agreement specifically states that Kaspersky ("the Rightholder") will receive a lot of information from you and about your computer. You have to mark THREE separate checkboxes that you explicitly agree before you can proceed. After kvrt.exe ran for about 5 mins, the window Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool came up, Ready to Scan, This version is obsolete, Database release date 30.06.2024. I clicked on Cancel because I had run kvrt.exe under Total Uninstall, with the Ethernet cable disconnected. A StartUp Organizer msg window had popped up, indicating one Run Once registry entry. Upon rebooting there was no desktop icon, no -> Start -> Programs entry to start Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool. Total Uninstall showed a lof entries for Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, but I could not find KVRT files on the HDD, except for the license agreement. Perhaps kvrt.exe is a portable program and doesn't install anything. In any case, I didn't make a scan and restored the WinXP partition to wipe out any installed stuff, because of the many differing kvrt.exe files downloaded and because of the three separate checkboxes in the License agreement. As for Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2015, you are absolutely right. A potential user has to be very careful. Let's be clearer, this piece of software should be avoided in any case. Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2015 is of the really bad kind. To call it spyware would almost be trivialising it. Kaspersky shows its true colours with this tool. Edited July 8 by AstroSkipper Update of content 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 Any further posts in this conversation and this thread will be locked. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 (edited) Regarding SUPERAntiSpyware I forgot to mention two additional facts in my article. First, it was certified by AppEsteem in 2023. Here is a quotation from SUPERAntiSpyware's homepage: Quote SUPERAntiSpyware is now certified by AppEsteem! The SUPERAntiSpyware application, website and installer passed nearly 200 tests, developed to ensure customers are protected from cybercrime and unwanted software. And another interesting fact is that SUPERAntiSpyware has been added to VirusTotal's scan engines (I don't know when this exactly happened). I will add these facts to my article later as they may be helpful for potential users in their decision whether to trust this software or not. Especially for those who have never heard of it or never used it before. Edited July 10 by AstroSkipper Update of content 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 (edited) One entry of my internal list of security programmes is Comodo. I already wrote about Comodo Antivirus in the old antivirus thread: https://msfn.org/board/topic/177099-which-antiviruses-are-known-for-a-fact-to-be-working-on-xp-sp3-as-of-2019/?do=findComment&comment=1241826 https://msfn.org/board/topic/177099-which-antiviruses-are-known-for-a-fact-to-be-working-on-xp-sp3-as-of-2019/?do=findComment&comment=1241854 Is anyone here who has been using Comodo Antivirus or Comodo Internet Security under Windows XP in the last time? I need information, user experiences and test results together with the name and the number of the used version. It is particularly important how up-to-date these versions still are with regard to programme and virus definitions updates. It would also be interesting to know whether the programmes for Windows XP that are still advertised on the Comodo websites are actually XP-compatible and still work today. Here is a link: https://antivirus.comodo.com/security/windows-xp-free-antivirus.php In any case, my research from last year revealed that the last error-free, XP-compatible release of Comodo Antivirus was the version 12.0.0.6818. However, I don't know whether it is still working today or not. BTW, Comodo Firewall will also be looked at. But only at a later date. Edited July 10 by AstroSkipper Update of content 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genieautravail Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 @AstroSkipper SUPERAntiSpyware isn't anymore compatible with XP. If I run the setup of the free edition, I get an error message saying that the setup is not a valid Win32 application. Same thing with previous versions downloaded by Internet Archive. Which version do you use ? Do you have a setup of the free edition compatible with XP ? Regards 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, genieautravail said: @AstroSkipper SUPERAntiSpyware isn't anymore compatible with XP. Personally, I am using the Professional X Edition which is working fine under Windows XP. I have installed the latest verson 10.0.1266 on my Windows XP machine (via the internal updater). Look at my screenshots! However, I didn't try the Free Edition. I thought it was also XP-compatible, especially if the Professional X edition is still XP-compatible. But first, try an older installer version from here: https://www.filepuma.com/download/superantispyware-17/versions/ I would try the version SUPERAntiSpyware 10.0.1250 first as I had compatibility problems with the version 10.0.1252 I already reported here. Maybe, only the installer of the more recent versions is no longer XP-compatible. Edited July 10 by AstroSkipper Update of content 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 (edited) @genieautravail My advice to you is to find the last XP-compatible installer of SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition and install the programme. Then try to update the programme using the internal updater. Edited July 10 by AstroSkipper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 (edited) 3 hours ago, AstroSkipper said: @genieautravail My advice to you is to find the last XP-compatible installer of SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition and install the programme. Then try to update the programme using the internal updater. The last Windows XP compatible installer of SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition is the version 10.0.1254. Install it and use the internal updater! Then you will get the latest version 10.0.1266. Here is a screenshot: And here is the download link for the installer: https://download.filepuma.com/files/spyware-removers/superantispyware/SuperAntiSpyware_v10.0.1254.exe. Accordingly, I have updated my article. Cheers, AstroSkipper Edited July 11 by AstroSkipper 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genieautravail Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 @AstroSkipper Thanks for the link. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) 3 hours ago, genieautravail said: @AstroSkipper Thanks for the link. Regards You're welcome. Finding download links was no problem, but the constant testing is annoying. Anyway! Thanks for reporting the XP incompatibility of the more recent SUPERAntiSpyware installers! One thing has once again become clear. The incompatibility of an installer does not necessarily mean that the programme itself is also incompatible. Edited July 11 by AstroSkipper Update of content 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now