AV Product Warning (WinCleaner AV)
Guess i'm always a sucker to try something new, even when i don't have to. Today i picked up a new AV program WallyMart was peddling for W2G/XP named "Win(ultra)Anti-Virus". Their homesite is at http://www.wincleaner.com, maybe up in Canada, maybe not. At any rate, i thought i'd try it on a W2G box, it installed like a rocket and then locked up the system tighter than a drum. Went up to the website, and they just happened to mention that if you have any CD-R/W software it won't work (actually, they said it conflicts with one brand, but i have another brand, so it's *all* brands of CD-R/W that it conflicts with). They suggest you have to unload your CD-R/W software, and they're working on their compatability problem and if they ever get it fixed they'll post the update on their website for you to download. The *problem* seems to be, Your computer won't even boot to the W2G screen, you have to do the F8 thing, go in and manually edit their notations out of all your system registries, then delete their program files to even get W2G to boot. Their update from v-6.07 to 6.08 won't download unless their program is working, so now, let's see, just how are they going to fix thier running program when it won't allow the system to run?
It'll be a real cold day in Hades when i unload my CD-R/W software just so some two-bit AV program can run! I'll just reinstall my other one that already worked.
Just thought some of our members may run across this product, maybe you could be saved some time-consuming problems by passing it up. Or at least going to their website, checking the FAQ's for conflicts with your other software and OS before you load the product.
Best Regards. :
****Edit****
Sorry, Preep, i had the comma inside the URL tag :( Works now. The prog hype on bells & whistles sounds like it would be fairly decent..... if it worked! :D
Techies at WinCleaner Fixed The Problem
OK, AO'ers, here's the final chapter on this product, with the fix:
The only time it had a problem was with any Windows2000 box that was running a CDRom-R/W, which mine does. So i contacted their tech services, and they worked with the problem and posted a complete new program at their website (mentioned above). I downloaded the new program (you download as a complete download, not an update) just like i was buying it off the web. You then run the executable, and type in the serial number from your off-the-shelf product, and it loads like a rocket and works just fine.
I would not hesitate to recommend this AV program to any of my friends or family, and i'm sure anyone would be impressed with the slick way it works, looks, and updates. You can set it to update from every 6-hrs to several other choices. You don't have to mess with it on the update, it does it in the background. My TaskManager shows it does not use any noticible amount of resources, and i'm quite pleased with it. After all, for the small price i think it's a premium product right now.
So here's the bottom line:
(1) If you don't run a CD-R/W Rom program, there is no problem in the first place.
(2) If you run Windows2000 and you have a CD-R/W Program, you need to download the program from their domain, save it to file and then run it after it's downloaded. You will have to put in the serial number of the CDRom you bought off-the-shelf.
(3) Make a copy of the download, and put it with your original AV program, in case you have to flatten your drive and reload sometime in the future.
In fact, i've replaced both Norton and Panda with this newcomer and am quite pleased with it's performance.
Cheers...
