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hooky2007
19-05-2011, 12:07
Has anyone had any problems using VM's Virgin Media Security on Windows 7 64 bit systems, I have tried it on an HP I7 pc and a Toshiba laptop and both systems take ages to shut down (10-15 mins or more), when I uninstall it both systems shut down normally

GeoffB
19-05-2011, 14:41
I use it on a bog-standard XP machine and it is very troublesome. Best avoided. Go into Task Manager and see how much memory it's using - that will give you a nice surprise too!

hooky2007
19-05-2011, 20:25
Geoffb, I have used it successfully on a Windows 7 32 bit machine with no problems, I have read on other forums that it can cause problems on startup and shutdown and other people have suggested using a free Anti Virus such as Microsoft Security Essentials or AVG

vmfriend
19-05-2011, 20:29
Most AV products have some kind of footprint that impacts on performance in one way or another, some are better (or worse) than others, it's the trade off you make for running AV software.

Might be related to you running 64bit windows, does it say it's compatible with 64 bit systems ?

hooky2007
20-05-2011, 12:04
According to the VM web site it is compatible as follows:-

What are the system requirements for Virgin Media Security?
Operating system
Windows XP Home or XP Professional 32-Bit with Service Pack 2
Windows Vista 32-Bit and 64-Bit
Windows 7 32-Bit and 64-Bit
Note: Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-Bit or Macs are not supported

Your PC must meet minimum Windows operating system requirements as per Microsoft recommendations:

Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows XP: 256 MB of RAM, 500 MB of free hard disk, 300 MHz or faster processor

cook1984
21-05-2011, 11:56
Virgin's software is itself malware. It isn't designed to protect you, it is designed to protect their network. Do not under any circumstances use it.

Microsoft Security Essentials is currently the best available antivirus software. I suggest using Chrome or Firefox instead of Internet Explorer too.

Nopanic
21-05-2011, 15:35
Virgin's software is itself malware. It isn't designed to protect you, it is designed to protect their network. Do not under any circumstances use it.

Microsoft Security Essentials is currently the best available antivirus software. I suggest using Chrome or Firefox instead of Internet Explorer too.

Protect the VM network from what exactly ? makes no difference to VM if you have a virus or spy ware, in fact, DHS was setup to help customers remove things like that, at a charge, so if anything VM would want customers to get viruses .. of course they don't but if you're going to spread rumours, least make them good.

pip08456
21-05-2011, 15:51
It certainly no Malware, that's just total nonsense!

Had he said bloatware I may have reluctantly agreed,maybe.

As it uses Kaspersky I would think CPU speed and amount of RAM would be the defining factors.

There are other free alternatives which use less resources.

Neo-Tech
21-05-2011, 20:02
Best combo for me personally is Microsoft Security Essentials + Common Sense.

And if you want that bit extra, add Malwarebytes Anti-Malware into the mix.

Best place to get it is from: http://ninite.com

Nopanic
21-05-2011, 20:38
Best combo for me personally is Microsoft Security Essentials + Common Sense.

And if you want that bit extra, add Malwarebytes Anti-Malware into the mix.

Best place to get it is from: http://ninite.com

Prefer Spybot myself but agreed

Neo-Tech
22-05-2011, 00:59
Hehe, I used to use Spybot but I found it really slow.

Milambar
22-05-2011, 20:01
It certainly no Malware, that's just total nonsense!

Had he said bloatware I may have reluctantly agreed,maybe.

As it uses Kaspersky I would think CPU speed and amount of RAM would be the defining factors.

There are other free alternatives which use less resources.

It might use Kaspersky as its AV component, but it does not have "Kaspersky" performance, or footprint.

I have taken Virgin Internernet Security off people's PC''s and put KIS2011 on in stead, and seen at least 10x performance boost.

Virgins offering really bogs down a PC, to the point where its almost unusable, in that effect, it does, kinda protect virgins network. It protects it against someone actually wanting to use it. ;)

Peter_
22-05-2011, 20:21
I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit and use Microsoft Security Essentials and run scans with Superantispyware and Malwarebytes without any issues.

Neo-Tech
22-05-2011, 22:33
To tell you the truth, I hate Superantispyware simply because I've seen so many viruses hijack it. But going kinda offtopic here so...

cook1984
23-05-2011, 18:09
Protect the VM network from what exactly ?

Spam, for example. If a zombie machine is spewing spam all day long not only does that use up bandwidth but it is a quick way to get large chunks of the VM network onto various block lists. It gets even more fun when people start launching DDOS attacks from infected PCs.

Infected PCs are a huge problem for ISPs. That is why most of them started blocking port 25 (spam).

Nopanic
23-05-2011, 18:45
Spam, for example. If a zombie machine is spewing spam all day long not only does that use up bandwidth but it is a quick way to get large chunks of the VM network onto various block lists. It gets even more fun when people start launching DDOS attacks from infected PCs.

Infected PCs are a huge problem for ISPs. That is why most of them started blocking port 25 (spam).

I think you might be over exaggerating it slightly. ISPs can monitor and lock down connections very quickly. People using up bandwidth get managed and spam gets caught pretty much straight away.

Don't get me wrong, its an issue, but its not why VMS was created.

cook1984
24-05-2011, 19:47
I think you might be over exaggerating it slightly. ISPs can monitor and lock down connections very quickly. People using up bandwidth get managed and spam gets caught pretty much straight away.

Don't get me wrong, its an issue, but its not why VMS was created.

If only it were that easy. Obviously botnet creators know all about the ways ISPs can spot infected machines and take steps to prevent that happening.

On a largely unrelated note Microsoft does some quite effective DDOS attacks against ISPs themselves via Windows Update. Come Patch Tuesday millions of machines want to download patches. Windows Update tries to avoid proxies and connects to a hard coded IP address to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks or local virus infections from messing with it. Just as the ISPs are recovering from that initial download-fest comes Exploit Wednesday when all the malware writers roll out their latest exploits to gain the maximum possible time before the next patch cycle that might knock them out.

Nopanic
24-05-2011, 23:48
If only it were that easy. Obviously botnet creators know all about the ways ISPs can spot infected machines and take steps to prevent that happening.



There are two main attacks seen through an ISP. Spam email and flooding.

Both of which are monitored very carefully.

I have personally removed thousands of problem connections, and mailboxes that I have happened upon during my day. I am not part of the security team, but know they do an excellent job in finding and removing threats from the VM network.

:cool: