TotalAV security tool?

[Sooz]

Hi, Everyone!

I couldn't easily gt into my extra yahoo email account (this email account is the one for my church ladies group) and I noticed something "guce" in the web address. Guess what? Guce was baaaaad!  I looked up what this guce stuff is, & how to get rid of guce! Hooray for the internet at 2:00 a.m. & baby steps with pictures! No more guce, just a smooth login.   

Here's my new question: Would it be beneficial for me to use the "free" download of TotalAV, which is supposed to be a security tool? After that "guce" thing with yahoo, I got a little nervous.
Here's the link--for TotlAV, which is an anti virus for Macs:
https://www.totalav.com/free-download

Y'all know I don't know enough to be able to tell if this is a good thing or an extraneous thing.
As always, I'd really appreciate your input (and humor! You know who you are!)! 

Happy Update, different topic:
I posted on March 28 about my Voice to Text not working.  Helpful troubleshooting input didn't get this back to working, and I had not turned off anything or done anything with my computer (you know I know almost nothing, but just enough to get me in trouble)--it just stopped working! 

I'm happy to report that yes, indeed, necessity is the mother of invention or something like that, so I deliberately (fearlessly! ) "played around" and did something in my Preferences, et voila! Voice to text! I took a bunch of screenshots at every step so I'd know what I did.  My first batch of Playing with Preferences did nothing, so I trashed those screenshots.  My second attempt at Playing with Preferences worked! Well, it worked last night when I really was too tired to type a bunch of emails which led me to postponing email responses and trying to do Voice to Text. Hooray! It works for now and that's a good thing!

Stay safe, stay healthy, be well!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

Where ya bin?! Too quiet around here lately! Welcome back, hope you and your better half are doing fine without any virus invasions!!

I'll look at totalAV in a minute. Maybe you could start another thread about the "guce" thing? I just hope your not talking about the Italian leather goods maker! Or the Italian that makes leather goods from where ever he gets it. I tenk mye spelin mai bee rong...

Since I'm helping you stay busy... why not start another thread showing those screen shots of the Prefs you used to fix the Talking Computer problem. Or, just add them to the thread where you discussed it. You're welcome!

Now to the AV stuff...

[Xairbusdriver]

It's so easy to find "reviews" of practically any software. The problem is finding a "review" that is honest, factual and ... well, what else really matters?!

Looked at their site first. Since it seems to be based in England, they have the language down much better than most SCAMmers! That's good! Plus 1.

Then I noticed that they offer a huge array of additional products besides the "AV" function. Those additional functions/features aren't free, of course. And that brings me to "price". This is another of the company-popular (vs customer-popular) subscription systems. As mentioned in the first review I read, as soon as the app scans your computer, you can expect to start getting 'requests' to get additional functions, ie; pay us some more. These 'requests' appear to be labeled as "warnings", however. I don't mind a company trying (at least once) to sell me something, but I question the use of terms like 'warning' as a marketing tool. I think that is walking extremely close to that proverbial line of questionable activity, if not being downright unethical.

The problem with calling things a 'warning' is that the things you are warned about can be absolutely fine. The fact that you do not have/use a VPN, should never be a "warning". The fact that you might someday lose your wallet is a fact to consider, not a "warning" and a chance to sell you additional functions that you can get from one of the credit reporting companies.

I'm not even sure that the app will remove any malware it finds! One review seemed to say that the basic app simply finds and reports 'problems'. But you will, at least appropriately this time, get a real "warning".

The fact remains that Apple does a much better job of protecting their computers now than they ever have. Most of the malware we get is installed by fooling us into clicking something. If this app (or any other) can detect malware before it is downloaded or, at least, before it is installed, it could be useful. I simply don't know how much better it is than all the other AV apps out there, even the free ones, or the OS itself! I'd be happy to hear from any TS members who have some experience with it.

[Xairbusdriver]

See what you get with a search engine. Several folks have problems getting the financial details straightened out.
Additional review "results":

1newsonlineincome.com

• First site I visited

2. PC World Fair: scored 2 out of 5

• +Decent phishing protection.
• +Includes tune-up, disk cleanup.
• +Well-designed user interface.
• +Speedy scan.
• -Poor scores in our malware protection test and malicious URL blocking test.
• -No results from test labs we follow.
• -Marked many dangerous downloads as safe.
• -Expensive.

3. Best AV Pro.org

• The Mac edition isn’t perfect and needs fixing...
• Unlike most of the rivals, this product can only be used on up to 6 devices...
• Web Shield only works with Firefox and Chrome...

[Xairbusdriver]

"guce" Are you talking about guce advertizing?!

a website that users get redirected to if they have ad-blocking app installed on their browsers

I assume you found the link to remove it?

[Sooz]

Thanks Jim, and thanks for the humor too! I always enjoy your humor...and your help, too!

As for guce, I did a Google search.  In my head, I pronounce it "gooch" which can mean a couple of different things in Italian (male perineum...really? how about just "perineum" and not gender specific!?).

Maybe the guce people thought others would think of Gucci when they see guce...and boy, would they be mistaken!

How I Dood It (channeling my inner Red Skelton):
After many frustrating tries of this or that, I finally cleared the cache, cleared the history, and cleared something else, and that did it!  I have no clue how the guce thing got onto my yahoo login website. That's what generated my ask about the TotalAV security tool.

I guess I'll just forget about that TotalAV security tool, as it sounds like more than I want to deal with, and it has the word "tool" in the name! ha ha oh I crack myself up!!!

Off topic:
Here's what I've been attempting to do--grow micro greens! One of my cyberpals and I are trying to be kitchen farmers together. We've both had bad luck with our first two batches of pea seeds--the first batch turned smooshy and stinky! 

We tried again...the second batch turned mostly smooshy and stinky, but I saved a few, as you will see in the photo, and re-did them in fresh special coir ("micro green dirt").  They are growing! They aren't a crop or anything, but they are saying HELLO!  My fellow micro green pal did the drawings.

My foray into trying to make macarons (not macaroons) ended with me and DH eating the product -- but no photos b/c they were ugly. They seemed like a lot of work for not even photogenic results, so I don't plan to make them again. Only one or two had little macaron "feet." Mostly they ended up like marshmallow meringue cookies--and not very good. 

Later tonight or tomorrow I'll post about the voice to text stuff.

Thanks!!!!!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

The peas look like they are doing better than the ruler! You do know there is a faster way to get a yard stick, right? But I think those are grown in regular dirt like you might have in your yard. That one might be better called a "coir" stick?

Are they supposed to be planted so shallow?! Do they grow the noses, eyes and mouths at maturity? Only farming I ever did was as a teenager on a gladiola farm!!! But the owner did eat a couple of the bulbs. There was no salt around so I passed on the delicacy...

[beacher]

Hey guys, I tried it for a week and found that it kept throwing me pop-ups, and warning me that the "free trial" was about to expire.  It just got in the way, and I got rid of it; just not worth the bother!

[Sooz]

Thanks, beacher! I appreciate your ringing in here! Hope you're doing well. 

Jim, maybe I'm trying to grow a yardstick sloooowly, ha ha!  Actually, here's a photo from last night... tall one wants to be tall when you compare it to the photo where I'm trying to grow my ruler into a yardstick!   

The micro greens can be planted very shallowly in dirt or a growing medium, like coconut coir.  Once they start growing and go from the first two teeny tiny leaves, their next (four) leaves are called true leaves, and from that, they are no longer micro greens, but are called baby greens, I think. My fellow kitchen farmer gal did the art work on her seeds.

Also below is a photo of her micro greens - she started a couple weeks before I did, but we both had the smooshy-stinky issues with the heirloom peas.

I didn't know gladiola bulbs were edible, with or without salt! I wonder if you can sauté them with a little garlic and olive oil -- oh wait, then you wouldn't get flowers. Best to sauté onions to have as a lovely side dish, or atop a good juicy burger, I guess.

More later! The garden calls!
Smiles,
Sooz

[jwboyd]

My own experience with TotalAV was similar to beacher's. I trashed it. ClamXAV works for me.

[Paddy]

Malwarebytes (free) or Avast (free) - have used them both and both work well. Also use them on the PCs at the historical society. I don't keep AV software running at all times on my Macs though - it tends to cause more problems than it's worth, IMHO. That's why Malwarebytes is nice - it runs when I tell it to run.

ClamAVX is not free any more, nor does it get anywhere near as good reviews as it used to. Sophos is another freebie that gets good reviews.

In terms of reviews - look for sites that don't have "Ad" in Google, and stick to the ones that DON'T get kickbacks via affiliate links. Usually they disclose the affiliate links.

[jchuzi]

Another choice is VirusBarrier Scanner and it's free.

[Highmac]

A useful thread - thanks all... 


The UK bank we use has been encouraging (pushing) Malwarebytes but I did what I always do with software suggestions from banks and suchlike; assume it's aimed at Windows users and ignore it. However, I'll take a closer look since it has the double advantage of being recommended by a "reliable source" AND it's free.
 
Yes - I am a Scot 

[Sooz]

Thanks, everyone!!!!! I sure do appreciate everyone ringing in here with info!
Smiles,
Sooz
P.S. Highmac, I do enjoy hearing bagpipes! Do you play? I don't know any real Scots IRL.

[Highmac]

I don’t but my neighbour does. He is English and plays in a pipe band - in full kilted regalia