TrueRoots · Blog

HouseCall is a free online virus scanner offered by Trend Micro, which checks whether a computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware. You temporarily give them permission to scan your computer, and then it will also delete any viruses/ worms/ spyware. Nothing to download, nothing to install. Completely free, and Dave trusts it.

housecall.trendmicro.com

I've been reluctant to trust on-line scanners from firms I've never heard of before. With all of these products, how do you know they work, and that they are not putting their own mal-ware onto your system? The only true way is to double-check by running competing scanners. Unfortunately, you can't have two anti-virus programs installed, but you probably could run a local and an on-line to double-check each other.

The reputation of a provider is what determines a program's ongoing success. Most commercial stuff is at least adequate, but freeware? Who knows? You kind of have some trust for Symantec, for McAfee, because they've sold their products for years. Startups and non-commercial developers rely on word-of-mouth to develop their credibility. Good reviews by CNet, for instance, or Kim Kommando, help boost a program's name.

I have faith in McAfee and Norton, although their approaches leave something to be desired anymore. AVG, Grisoft, and Auslogics, among others, have developed a good reputation with their free tools that have stood up against the test labs and the competition. These companies offer free tools hoping you'll buy the farm after you've hoed a row or two.

Panda's PAVARK antirootkit works well for me. AVG antivirus works well, and so does their antirootkit (although they have discontinued support for it in favor of a commercial version). Spybot Search & Destroy comes well recommended, and Spyware Blaster is also worth looking at. Most browsers have an integral popup blocker, which takes care of that problem.

Other system tools work a little deeper. CCleaner [formerly known as "crap cleaner"] helps deal with unwanted cookies, unwanted files, and cleans up some registry problems as well. Registry First Aid goes deep into the registry, finding and fixing things that my Norton System Works didn't notice. (I let that subscription lapse but some of the software still runs from the CD-ROM.) The Ultimate Troubleshooter (TUT) also works with system files, helping you control what runs at startup and preventing unnecessary things that the casual consumer may want (Real Player, or iTunes), but will happily launch on demand without the background process constantly running. Naturally, you have to be very careful when working with the registry and system files and processes, but if you stick with the recommendations of these programs and don't go off blindly into the storm, you'll sail through with a better-working system.

Trend Micro is a good company. But I want tools that will run even if I'm off-line (almost never, actually). I may try Housecall someday just to double-check my AVG, but I think I have most of my bases covered.

Thanks for the suggestion! Hope my comments prove to be useful, too.

O.k., you've done much more homework than I have! :)