HELP: avg 7.5 for linux

[900i]

Please explain why you deem it necessary to run Anti-Virus on a Linux box!

[900i]

Or look in the wiki

http://linuxmint.com/wiki/index.php/Doe ... e-firewall

[linuxviolin]

radioman, there are indeed some threats to Unix systems but they are few and a home user really very little chance to see one (at least for now). But if you have a server that is another story...

[Katzedecimal]

While it is true that Linux systems are less vulnerable, there are still some Linux malware in existance (currently none in the wild but the more that information circulates, the more likely some yob is to try to change that ) But there is also the "Typhoid Mary" aspect to consider, if you do a lot of file trading with Windows users. Or maybe old habits die hard and one just wants to feel 'better safe than sorry' (seen that happen too...)

At any rate, here is a tutorial that answers your question and it addresses your specific issue on the second page:

http://www.howtoforge.com/avg_antivirus_ubuntu_feisty

Although it's written for Feisty Fawn Ubuntu, it works in Mint (I tried it while I was putzing around with my first Mint installation) Be aware though, that AVG has discontinued support for AVG 7.5 in favour of bloatware-loaded AVG 8, and AVG's effectiveness has apparently been dropping rapidly.

[wesley]

not just that, anyone can send you a zip file with virus to you via msn without knowning, then you send the same file to someone else (windows) then you'll get the blame

[nick]

Hi

Warning on AVG (not sure if this applies to LInux)

Early last month, webmasters here at The Reg noticed an unexpected spike in our site traffic. Suddenly, we had far more readers than ever before, and they were reading at a record clip. Visits actually doubled on certain landing pages, and more than a few ho-hum stories attracted an audience worthy of a Pulitzer Prize winner. Or so it seemed.
As it turns out, much of this traffic was driven by the new malware scanner from AVG Technologies.
Six months ago, AVG acquired Exploit Prevention Labs and its LinkScanner, a tool that automatically scans search engine results before you click on them. If you search Google, for instance, and ten results turn up, it visits all ten links to ensure they're malware free.
Then, in February, AVG paired LinkScanner with its anti-virus engine, which has about 70 million active users worldwide. The company estimates that 20 million machines have upgraded to its new security suite, AVG version 8, and this has already cooked up enough ghost clicks to skew traffic not only on The Reg but any number of other sites as well.
Adam Beale, who runs a UK-based internet consultancy, says that across his small stable of clients, traffic has spiked as much as 80 per cent on some sites. And this is more than just an inconvenience. After all, sites live and die by their traffic numbers. And net resources aren't free.
"Although [the AVG LinkScanner] might be good for the security of users, it's a real pain for website owners and webmasters," Beale tells us, having blogged about this growing problem. "It's causing people to think their traffic is increasing, costing those who pay for bandwidth, and wasting disk space with large amounts of unnecessary lines in log files."

i.e. it is using large amount of YOUR bandwidth

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/13 ... page2.html

Nick

[oliverjames]

Having had an annoying virus experience under Linux (see my post "Thunderbird unusable under Linux", I found this thread on searching for anti-virus information.

As much as I like the Linux OS, it is careless to assume that virus protection is not needed under Linux.

In my case I received a virus via Thunderbird under Linux that was sent to my email message store (fat32 partition). While I have email scanners when accessing mail under WinXP, I have nothing in Linux. Result, the Win32 Faker-M trojan was able to sneek in via the backdoor and was faking my incoming email messages via Tbird under both Windows and Linux.

Adaware and SPybot scans in Windows restored the situation with Tbird WinXP but for a bout 4 weeks I was unable to access e-mails via Tbird in Mint Linux.

In these days of Java script it seems highly likely, particularly given the rise in the number of Linux users, that viruses will become cross-platform.

I welcome any advice regarding good AV setup for my Mint Elyssa and DarynaXFCE installations. I need a good email scanner.

[iironjade]

I too, would like to know how to update AVG for Linux when "permission denied" appears. AVG has always been ok for Windows although I admit version 8 was a bit cantankerous. As Avg have designed a Linux version it does seem odd that Linux refuses to cooperate with it.

[oliverjames]

Hello iironjade,

Just installed Avast under Mint. If your interested you can get it from the Avast site. Install using Debi. Then open terminal and paste in your registration code (free for non-com use)

Then create launcher - point it at avastgui. Follow instructions for update and scan.

Avast found the trojan that had crippled my email under windows and linux.

Oliverjames

[JohnH]

To update AVG you have to be "root". (There is plenty of info on Linux sites about how to be 'root' but in you need to know that Mint uses the sudo command in the Terminal to do this. Do a Google on sudo or check out the Ubuntu/Mint sites for info.)

Funny thing though: I just went to do an update so I could give a small How To when I realised I haven't installed it on Elyssa......

I guess that tells the story. No real panic to get it up and going under Linux.

My recollection is that the instructions that come with AVG Linux tells you have to be 'root' to do the updates.

You can go into the "terminal" and do sudo AVG whatever. Look for the instructions that come with AVG and it should tell you.

Meanwhile I'' download it again and try to update as before.

Regards
John

[iironjade]

Hello iironjade,

Just installed Avast under Mint. If your interested you can get it from the Avast site. Install using Debi. Then open terminal and paste in your registration code (free for non-com use)

Then create launcher - point it at avastgui. Follow instructions for update and scan.

Avast found the trojan that had crippled my email under windows and linux.

Oliverjames

Thanks, I'll have a look.

[JohnH]

Okay, further to AVG7.5,

I've loaded it and now I can speak more authoritatively about what to do.

1) Yep, you need to update from root.
2) the easiest way to get to the file that makes it happen is to open the file manager as root. To do this, open the Terminal and type s

Code: Select all

udo nautilus

3) Once you have it open, navigate you way to usr directory then open the bin subdirectory.
4) Scroll down until you come across avggui
5) click on this and you will be asked what to do with it: Run in Terminal or Display or Cancel or Run. Hit the "run". This opens the gui and from there you can do an update.
6) There is a short cut to doing all this whereby you can set this up to work without all this but I have never committed it to memory. This works for me unless someone can tell me how to get the other working more simply.

Regards
John

[900i]

The correct way to open a GTK app is to press F2 to open the run command and type "gksu nautilus"

[JohnH]

Thanks 900i. I knew the ALT F2 but I can never remember the other. I will make a note..

So the really neat way to do this is:

Press ALT F2 keys and then the Run menu pops up. Then type gksu avggui, press Run and there you have it.

Cheers
John

[iironjade]

Works a treat. Well done and thanks very much.