ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

[Vlad Dobrich]

On Thursday, Oct 31 upon accessing the ChessTalk site I received a screen warning from my virus protection program McAfee -
Whoa, you don't want to go there!
Well I went there anyway and see no problem.
McAfee, it seems wants to be exceptionally visible in the month preceding the contract renewal date. And guess what. They sent me an email saying that my contract has been renewed automatically even though I did not authorise a renewal. Furthermore, they automatically charged $39.99 to my MasterCard since they had my number recorded at the time of the original purchase.
Apperently, I am not the only victim of this McAfee policy - others have posted on-line with a similar problem.
So if you subscribe to McAfee you can be comforted that they will protect you from computer viruses - McAfee does not want competition! They want to be the only virus in your computer. They will deduct cash from your credit card once a year, every year, forever.
You can cancel your subscription by going to their website and then navigating a complex menu of options - then one option will direct you to a different one - and on and on til you give up.
I solved the problem with a phone call to their client support number after having resolved to be put on hold for however long it took. I got an email back saying a full refund was on its way. Lets hope so.

[John Lukezich]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

The same happened to me with Norton's. . I called my credit company and they contacted Nortons who quickly refunded the money on my crdit card.

[John Upper]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

FWIF, I try to avoid M$ products as much as possible, but their Security Essentials is free and outscores McAfee and Norton on anti-virus tests sites.

I used AVG for years, but switched to MSSE and it works.

And it hasn't caused a false positive for this site either.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

The same happened to me with Norton's. . I called my credit company and they contacted Nortons who quickly refunded the money on my crdit card.

When I renewed over a year ago I noticed they would continue to charge me. So logged in and changed my setting. An email came informing me I had elected to cancel the automatic renewal service.

They sent me nag email to try to get me to renew when that ran out a year later. However, I bought a new copy for much less and installed that. The nag emails still came but the did not automatically renew my copy.

[Roger Patterson]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

On Thursday, Oct 31 upon accessing the ChessTalk site I received a screen warning from my virus protection program McAfee -
Whoa, you don't want to go there!
Well I went there anyway and see no problem.
McAfee, it seems wants to be exceptionally visible in the month preceding the contract renewal date. And guess what. They sent me an email saying that my contract has been renewed automatically even though I did not authorise a renewal. Furthermore, they automatically charged $39.99 to my MasterCard since they had my number recorded at the time of the original purchase.
Apperently, I am not the only victim of this McAfee policy - others have posted on-line with a similar problem.
So if you subscribe to McAfee you can be comforted that they will protect you from computer viruses - McAfee does not want competition! They want to be the only virus in your computer. They will deduct cash from your credit card once a year, every year, forever.
You can cancel your subscription by going to their website and then navigating a complex menu of options - then one option will direct you to a different one - and on and on til you give up.
I solved the problem with a phone call to their client support number after having resolved to be put on hold for however long it took. I got an email back saying a full refund was on its way. Lets hope so.

when you originally bought it, somewhere in the fine print was a statement that you were automatically enrolled in the automatic renewal program. To stop it, you have to log on to your account and change the setting. I noticed that when I renewed manually recently, that they automatically changed the setting again so you need to check each time you renew.

[Garland Best]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

Agreed. I used to use Norton, my wife's computer was perinstalled with Avast, my parents had McAfee. After moving us all to Microsoft security essentials I haven't looked back.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

Agreed. I used to use Norton, my wife's computer was perinstalled with Avast, my parents had McAfee. After moving us all to Microsoft security essentials I haven't looked back.

I have Trend on one of my computers. It seems to work OK.

[Keven Eyre]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

I used to use AVG but it seemed to cause some damage on its own. Like others here, I switched to the free Microsoft security essentials and it has seemed to work very well. I also use NoScript with Firefox and that seems pretty good too.

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

A while back, I was nearly destroyed by the UPS virus that got through MacAfee and Defender. I am now a bit fan of Kaspersky.

[Andrew Hoyer]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

The 90's and 2000's called. They want their viruses and operating systems back.

Let's all do the smart thing and choose operating systems that are not prone to massive security holes, or more costly software to protect against dangers that the operating system should already do.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

Further to Andrew's post: I have a dual boot notebook PC and with my Linux OS ... I have no need for anti-virus anything. Problem solved.

[Christopher Mallon]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

Let's all do the smart thing and choose operating systems that are not prone to massive security holes, or more costly software to protect against dangers that the operating system should already do.

There's no such thing. The only reason that Windows has been the primary (at times almost exclusive) target for viruses is because there is a high enough percentage of users using it to make it viable. If enough people start using another system, the virus-makers will as well - see Mac OS.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

The 90's and 2000's called. They want their viruses and operating systems back.

Let's all do the smart thing and choose operating systems that are not prone to massive security holes, or more costly software to protect against dangers that the operating system should already do.

The largest problem is that most Windows users run using an admin account, rather than setting up a limited-rights account for ordinary day-to-day use. Unfortunately, Windows does not make it simple to set up that arrangement and far too many people just run as admin.

Unix or Linux users tend to be more likely to be aware of the dangers of running as root (admin) BUT the proliferation of simplistic out of the box distros like Ubuntu may cause a similar problem if people are not on the ball.

Having and using an antivirus solution on Windows (or Linux or MAC if available) is better than doing nothing - for people who don't understand the security landscape.

Simply switching to MAC or Linux does not guarantee anything.

[Andrew Hoyer]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

The only reason that Windows has been the primary (at times almost exclusive) target for viruses is because there is a high enough percentage of users using it to make it viable. If enough people start using another system, the virus-makers will as well - see Mac OS.

Christopher, look around next time you're in a coffee shop, library, or wherever. Mac OS is becoming very popular, and yet, there is no imminent threat of a flood of viruses. It's not the popularity, it's the vulnerability.

The largest problem is that most Windows users run using an admin account, rather than setting up a limited-rights account for ordinary day-to-day use. Unfortunately, Windows does not make it simple to set up that arrangement and far too many people just run as admin.

Kerry states the actual reason Windows is so prone to these problems.

Simply switching to MAC or Linux does not guarantee anything.

It certainly doesn't, but it raises the bar by default to a level that your average user should not be constantly in fear of the latest sniffle their computer will pick up, or have to pay monthly or yearly fees for software to protect against it.


And just to make sure nobody thinks I'm just spouting off pro-Mac propaganda, I want to be clear that I am speaking from long-term hands-on experience:

Years using Mac OS for business and personal use: 5+
Number of virus, malware, or spyware issues: 0

[Dan Hunter]

Re: ChessTalk deemed a virus danger

Last time I had my local "expert" sort out my old computer, I asked him about the whole Maz vs Windows security thing. He said that that Mac was indeed much more robust - something to do with a much tighter register that is next to impossible to crack - and that is all I bothered to understand! I got the impression that even if Mac "took over the world", viruses would still be much rarer......