Need experts' advice about virus scanner and Sonar

I have used PC TOOL security software in the past. I upgraded and then ran the anti-virus software. I was horrified when I found the software considers most of my VST plug-ins to be malware, and is waiting to delete them.

 I got my money back when it actually quarantined a whole bunch of dlls including my Cakewalk VST adapter, Crysonic demos, Revalver live exe, and more!

 Is this a common anti-virus mistake, or can malware turn innocent VST plug-ins into "evil" trojans? What anti-virus is smart enough to weed out malware while leaving audio vsts alone?

Any and all advice will be appreciated...mostly. :-)

YES! Avira freeware and Pro would not allow the "FLUX" VST's.

I found a great and highly rated freeware: Avast - Antivirus and have had no further issues.

I've tried most of the free AV's and, like Jonny above, have settled on Avast. Among other things, I like the ease with which it can be turned off and on in various modes.

Have you tried putting the vst in exclusions list if possible?

Why did I start each sentence with "I"?

I wonder.....?

gwp99


I have used Eset's Nod32 for several years without any false positives on my vst's.

+1.  Unobtrusive and efficient.
Just to be on the safe side though I do include CW folders in its exclusions list facility. 
 

JoshWolfer,

I thank you for your comments.
I noticed that you too started every sentence with an "I"!
I think we both have been plagued with the dreaded "I-virus"!

Hi Glyn Barnes,

How do you turn auto play off?

benstat
Microsoft Security Essentials. Lightweight, unobtrusive and free!

This is the way I've finally gone as well. I've used all the free scanners at some point, but every now and then they change something radical in a new version or one of the upgrades gacks up and then you've got to spend six hours cleaning up a big mess. Now that MS has a scanner that works well it's a no-brainer to feed it updates and forget about it. 


It's only on days when I'm REALLY bored I'll even run a full scan, I usually just target whatever new data I'm bringing in and scan it before doing an install. It's so great I don't even have to use AdAware, Spybot, or any of the other malware tools I used to use in combination with Avast and AVG. 


Of course, all that said, my DAW spends very little time on the internet and I'm an old man now. My days of l33t warez-ing and needing every VST that I can find are pretty much behind me.

+1 to MS Essentials. I still use avast! on my laptop, and that's been fine, too.

-Susan

benstat


Microsoft Security Essentials. Lightweight, unobtrusive and free!

Ditto.  I used to use AVG but am much happier with the unobtrusiveness of Security Essentials.

Another vote for MS Security Essentials. I recently replaced a paid-for KIS Licence with SE on my "general" PC installation (I use dual boot), simply because like most AV suites kaspersky's has grown into PC-slowing over-complex "do everything" bloatware. Configuring it to co-exist with a DAW is possible, but it's not a trivial task.
 
My DAW installation has no AV though - not even Windows Defender. Windows firewall is only running at the rare times I enable the wireless LAN for essential internet access, generally updates and authorisations. The fewer background processes the better.

If you do need to use a single Windows installation for DAW and internet uses then MSSE is relatively easy to switch off, and far easier to configure than the large AV suites.

I just recently started web access on my audio DAW and the ease of  updating/registering software makes it worth it for me...it is now just a mouse click away! 

The only time I've ever gotten a virus on my own rig... is when I was weakened by the temptation of the fairer sex. I'm ashamed to admit it but sometimes the call is too strong to resist. And don't give me that look either! The rest of you fella's have strayed from the path as well... it's powerful g'dam it!

Oh, I also use both Avast free and MS Security Essentials. Malware Bytes also I use at work.

@ZUMA: BWAH HAHAHAHA that's the funniest thing I've heard all day.