Ok so my moms PC (Running XP) Is randomly crashing, while doing Facebook and even just general web searching. It is getting worse. I tried doing a virus scan, after about 10 times of it crashing mid scan, it got through a quick scan. I tried many times to do a full system scan, and it crashes everytime. USUALLY right when I start the scan. The PC is running really slow as well. Is there a virus scanner that I can run in a Fedora Live Enviroment? Or do you have any other suggestions?

NOTE: I am using Norton 360 now, on that PC. Because my mom wants "the best" and we had 3 free licenses from a friend.

I am considering trying to download avast. and do a boot scan, but. Can I run avast while keeping norton installed? It was a pain to get it working right the first time, so I dont want to uninstall.

MalwareByes Anti-Malware (MBAM). Google it; save it to a flashdrive for future use.
Run Windows in safe mode without networking and try the full scan there with MBAM. good luck

Yes Problem is, I already used the trial version if I remember right. May have been my moms laptop, not her desktop. I wish they had a free version that lasted forever instead of just 30 days.

Boot up Fedora, install clamav, (there is Kcalmav or some other frontend, install that as well) scan your windows partition(s). Be sure that after you install clamav to update the virus signatures. Works like a charm.

Also try microsoft's spyware removal tool.

Yea. I have never used the microsoft spyware removal tool... but I will try calmav. Thanks ahelper.

According to some people's opinion, your computer might actually have two viruses right now: The virus you got, as well as Norton itself.

hehehe

Norton didn't save me at all in the past.

Yes I know, but according to some peoples opinion (My mentor) Norton is the best.

I'm getting under the impression that your mentor is only good for the computer parts (As his irrational abhorrence of linux, and loving of uselessness proves)

Norton is good at looking like the best, and has had a good name in the past -- He used to be high up with Microsoft, but left and made stuff to combat it's issues (like all that antivirus software) ... However, within the last 5 to 10 years or so, Norton has become very fishy. The software actually does stuff that a lot of spyware does -- installing little invisible things and tracking things on your computer without telling you ... it's just iffy, and lots of people will agree. Stay the heck away from Norton! It will not even uninstall properly without a special tool (look for a Norton Uninstaller made by someone other than Norton).

If you want really good software, I recommend WebRoot or Symantec. MalwareBytes is good too. Having multiple internet security or spyware/malware programs [of the same type] on your computer will cause them to fight with eachother; so Get Norton off your computer (also because it does act like both a virus and spyware).

In my opinion your best shot is really MBAM (MalwareByes Anti-Malware), like joshie75 previously said. I use the pro version of this software that brings you firewall included, super fast scans and a whole bunch of extras and my computer is perfectly clean with this tool.

Everybody has their opinions on what software is best. Personally, I use avast! or AVG. I, personally, hate large brand-names, especially with anti-malware tools providing protection not much improved from what free software can provide. Anyway, the suggestion of clamav is a good one, if you were to ask me.

I've had great success with ComboFix, but I've heard people's experiences with that program can vary. It's never failed me when I needed to get rid of something really nasty, and only once did I need to repair windows after using it(and that was when my brother had a rootkit in his TCP/IP stack). If all else fails, you could give that a shot.

That's just a one-time removal tool though for when things get messy. Think of it like a high dose of Penicillin for your computer. For regular real-time protection I've been satisfied with the free version of Avast! which many techies swear by.

Avast! is great. AVG used to be pretty good, but now it's pretty naggy. I also usually keep CCleaner, Spybot S&D, and the Sysinternals tools kicking around.

I have had huge amounts of success with Avast! and even Microsoft Security Essentials. Super AntiSpyware has helped rid computers of trojans and more when the anti-virus programs failed to grab at them

I have to agree that Nortons is a horrible software bundle. The last 2 computers I had to clean both had Nortons on them and it declared the machine as clean, when MSE and SAS found multiple infections. Also, using a USB to IDE/SATA cable to use a different computer to scan with helps. Those cables only cost $20 on newegg.

Only if the scanning system has autorun completely disabled.

Yea. I used anti malware bytes. And it found 4 adware. I removed them. It got done and it crashed right away. Rebooted. crashed again. only did a quick scan, tried full scan and the PC kept crashign and would not finish it. So I took it into my friend (Yes the LInux NAZI, but he knows what he is doing). He will take a look at it. and fix it free of charge.

Actually if someone is very careful, it's possible to browse the web without getting infected, even if you don't have any anti-virus installed, even on Windows. You just have to avoid file sharing sites, links sections on outdated websites or clicking suspicious links. However there is always that small little chance that one of your favorite site gets hacked one day and that malware gets uploaded to its server, surprising you on one of your daily visits.

If it wasn't for the links section issue on certain sites and possible unluckiness, I would not even have an anti-virus installed, right now.

Everyone should have AutoRun completely disabled anyway. Surely anyone can press Win-E after inserting a flash drive to open it rather than relying on AutoRun to open it for you, especially given the additional peace-of-mind you get. Those USB to IDE/SATA adapters are great for a whole range of things, including cloning hard drives if you upgrade to a larger hard drive or to an SSD from a fixed drive and rescuing files if a laptop dies but its drive still works.

Yea I need to get one of those cables.