IT Queries: Computer problems answered

My AVG Free has suddenly developed a fault when it tries to download Updates, the connection to the server always fails. Does this signify that it has detected a virus but AVG cannot deal with it?

The error message says that the connection to the server has failed.

The problem seems to be with the AVG update server. It appears the server is being overwhelmed which is hardly surprising due to the popularity of the free program.

Manually updating is the best solution for this. Once the computer has started, right-click the yellow, black, red and green icon near the time in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and click Update now, this should force a manual update.

You may have to do this a number of times before it successfully connects.

If you are getting the message “Invalid update control CTF file” then we have the resolution to that problem in another post.

Hi, My pc has the following:

Norton Internet Security 2008
Spyware Doctor 6.0.0.386
ThreatFire 4.0.0.8
SpywareBlaster 4.1
MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware

My question is: is KIS 2009 compatible with ThreatFire 4.0.0.8 as I want to continue with ThreatFire as it is a very good program?

I intend to keep Spyware Doctor.

It sounds like you are very much on the ball when it comes to protecting your system against malware and certainly your choices of sofware make sense.

However I’m concerned your system’s going to struggle with both Kaspersky and Threatfire on your system. Generally it’s not a good idea to be running two scanners at the same time.

While I’m not familiar with Threatfire, it’s likely it will cause problems with Kasperski or any other anti virus simply because Threatfire will identify the anti virus program as acting suspiciously.

It’s good practice not to have more than one malware scanner running at once and I think it would be best to leave one or the other’s automatic protection off and manually run a scan every few days or weeks.

Malwarebytes and Spyware Blaster are good programs as well and it won’t hurt to reguarly run a manual scan using those programs as well.

If you are really concerned about malware then it may be better to be a Limited User for your day-to-day computing. This will stop most nasties getting on to your machine.

This is Sunday 17th August and attempting up update my AVG 8 free,the update failed, and the reason was no .bin file.
I actually removed and reinstalled AVG 8 free and the update failed again for the same reason.
This leaves me open to attack.Can you give some advice ?

It appears there is a problem with the AVG 8 updates this weekend. A post on the AVG Forums indicates the problem will be fixed for the next update.

While AVG hasn’t updated, it doesn’t mean you are unprotected. Although you should always take care regardless of the status of your virus scanner.

We’d suggest retrying until the good update comes through.

On your recommendation I’ve installed AVG anti virus and now I find the little green stars and ticks are slowing my web surfing down. Can I turn this off or should I uninstall it?

The link scanning function of AVG 8 is a serious problem and Grisoft’s reaction has been less than impressive. While it’s slowing your web browsing down it is also causing havoc for webmasters having to deal with excess traffic and messed up access logs.

To turn it off, double click the  mutlticolored AVG icon near the time in the bottom left hand corner of the screen to open the AVG control screen. In the AVG Control Centre, click on Link Scanner.

In the Link Scanner dialog box, take the tick off  Enable AVG Shield Search, click the Tools item on the toolbar and select Advanced Settings, click Ignore faulty conditions and tick Linkscanner, click okay, save changes and restart your browser.

There’s a number of alternatives to AVG if this is too fiddly. Other free antiviruses are Avast AntiVirus Home Edition and AntiVir Personal Edition Classic.

Hopefully Grisoft will fix this problem quickly. It would be a shame if such a good product has its name tarnished by this silly mistake.

I am having trouble with a slow computer it is a Compaq Presario aobut 3 years old..I have XP operating system and have recently updated my Norton antivirus software this being Norton Antivurus and Norton internet security and norton System works..since putting these into my computer it is running very slow and cannot have more that one application running at a time…
which is very frustrating…my emails keep timing out as well and i am on broadband..

Unfortunately this is a fairly common problem with Norton products. They are very memory intensive and this is why we don’t recommend them.

If you are going to stick with Norton then the first thing you must do is run the Live Update function and reboot everytime you are asked. Repeat the Live Updates until there are no more updates available.

Then run a full system scan on your computer to check there is no malware.

Given Norton’s poor record in detecting threats, we’d also recommend following the instructions in our Removing a Trojan page.

Next, you should run a clean up on your computer. Make sure you back up all your data first, however.

The email problem indicates Norton Internet Security is blocking your mail server. It could be that NIS is slowing the computer by blocking various functions.

Symantec have a number of suggested fixes for the computers for this problem. It’s also possible the computer is being slowed because some services want to connect to the net.

If none of these solutions work, we’d suggest investigating a different security package.

Hello.  I had a problem that PC Rescue helped me resolve previously, but the problem returned since I upgraded to the latest free AVG anti-virus protection. 

The problem was that my emails were arriving with an attachment symbol next to them, including those that did not have an attachment.  However I have recently downloaded the latest version 8 of AVG and the problem has returned.

This is the certification function in AVG. It adds a message confirming the incoming mail has been tested by the virus scanner and, as you’ve found, can irritate a lot of people.

We’ve already looked at another issue the certifier causes so if you follow the instructions in that post you’ll fix this problem.

I am wondering about a program that keeps wanting to download to my computer. It is called wksvcsc.exe.

That’s a baddie and it indicates you have a Trojan horse on your computer that’s trying to get a backdoor program onto you computer. Once it’s installed there’s a risk your computer can be taken over by others.

It’s essential you follow our instructions for removing a Trojan.

Since installing AVG 8 I’ve found my email won’t display HTML emails. All my email appears in plain text. How do I fix this?

This is a weird bug in AVG 8. To fix it, open the AVG Control panel by double clicking the AVG icon, the multi-coloured square in the bottom corner of your screen.

In the AVG Control Panel click Tools, Advanced Settings and select E-mail scanner. Take the tick off  Certify incoming email.

This is a bug with AVG and we expect it will be fixed in the near future.

Since installing AVG all my attachments have disappeared. What should I do?

This is probably due to the wrong email scanner being installed. You’ll need to reinstall the program.

If you don’t have the file you installed AVG with, visit the AVG website and download the installation file.

Run the installation file and choose Add/Remove components. Co through the Wizard until you get to Email Scanning then choose the Advanced Configuration option.

In the Email Scanner screen choose the email program you use. If you have no choice, or you use more than one email program, choose Personal Email Scanner for all other applications.

Continue through the wizard until it finishes. Reboot your computer and it should resolve the problem.

I have an error come up when I log on to my computer, it is:

Buffer overrun detected

program: …iles/CA/CA Internet Security Suite/caissclt/.exe

A buffer overrun has been detected which has corrupted the programs internal state. The program cannot safely continue execution and must be terminated.

How do I do this and what does it mean?
Thanks
Raelene

It appears you have a problem with the Computer Associates Security Suite. This is either because you’ve switched to another security package or you’ve been infected with some spyware.

Before doing anything else, we’d suggest you check your computer for malware. If this is due to a virus or spyware infection, then you’ll need to clean it up before going ahead with anything else.

To repair the CA installation and get rid of the error message, you’ll first need to uninstall the program as per our instructions for that on a previous post.

Before uninstalling, check you have the software installation disks. If you’ve replaced this software with another antivirus, then you don’t need to bother about reinstalling and the disks probably won’t be necessary.

If the Computer Associates software is your security suite, then you will have to reinstall. Be aware that you will not be protected until you have reinstalled the software. We’d recommend disconnecting the computer from the Internet while your security software is disabled.