Hi,

A while back, I worked on someone's PC, and did nothing to it but do virus and spyware scans. I carry McAfee's Stinger standalone program with me on a USB drive and I used this on her PC. It found nothing.

This person had AVG on the PC as well, but I did not run it, as I have never used it before and because of this, didn't want to mess with it! This person has called back saying that I almost crashed her computer, made numerous spyware infect her system, and made her AVG stop updating and even running at all.

The AVG support crew told her that AVG can't be running when another virus scanner is running, as this will give false positives, and generally wreak havoc. I did remove some minor spyware using Spybot, but I fail to see how I caused this person's problems.

My question (at last!) is whether the AVG techs are correct--did I screw up by using Stinger? Thanks in advance to anyone who can reply.

The AVG techs are correct in that you never want two real-time virus scanners running at the same time. For example, you would not want to install AVG Free and Avast Free AV and have them both running at the same time.

McAfee's Stinger is a stand alone file scanner.

I used to run AVG free, and often used the Stinger as a backup - A second opinion.
I never had a problem at all.
I have also used the Stinger on other systems running AVG - and other AV products - and had no problems.

I assume that your copy of Stinger was downloaded directly from McAfee website, and that your own system is "clean" of infections.

It is highly unlikely that simply running Stinger on her system caused all the damage she indicated.

It is possible that something on your USB drive is infected with malware, or that the spyware scanner you are using itself installed spyware on her system. It is also possible that if something on your system or USB drive is infected, that your copy of Stinger may also be comprimised. When was the last time you scanned your USB drive?

You also indicated that her system was not running AVG when you looked at it. I'm not sure if you mean the main program, or the scanning services themselves. It is also entirely possible her system was already infected, and consquently infected your USB drive when you connected it.

Hi,

Thanks for responding. Every other time I use my USB drive on someone else's computer (especially people with a lot of malware), I scan it for viruses and spyware. I also use it on my own system and have never (never!) had spyware or viruses. I assumed that my USB drive was clean that day, as I always assume it is.

I also meant that I wasn't scanning the system with AVG at the time. I did, however, shut down its background scanning for the time being (it was so long ago, I don't remember how). I stopped it from running in the system tray.

Lastly, I do get Stinger directly from McAfee's website, and all updates as well.

Thanks for your time!