Category: Security

Updates for Windows 10 have proved to be more problematic than usual recently. The KB4512941 update was found to cause high CPU usage, and then some users started to experience weird orange screenshots.

Now the KB4515384​​​​​ cumulative update that was supposed to address the high CPU usage issue is breaking the SearchUI.exe associated with Windows Desktop Search. On top of this, some users are complaining about problems with the Start menu.

The good news is that while there isn’t a fix available yet, Microsoft has acknowledged the issues and is working to get them sorted out. The pair of problems has been added to the list of “Known issues and notifications” for Windows 10 version 1903.
If after installing the September 2019 update the Start menu and search aren’t working, you can try this workaround to mitigate the problem until it’s fixed.

It happened again.

On September 10, Microsoft began the rollout of the update KB4515384 to devices running the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) to address several issues, including the high CPU usage due to a problem with SearchUI.exe service. However, even though processors don’t seem to spike anymore, the update now appears to be causing other complications with the Start menu and search functionalities.

According to several complaints from users seen here, here, and here on Reddit, immediately after installing cumulative update KB4515384 — which bumps the version to build 18362.356 — the patch breaks the Start menu and Windows Search in the taskbar. Some users report that when typing in the Start menu nothing will appear, the menu will not open, or they get a “Critical Error, Your Start menu isn’t working. We’ll try to fix it the next time you sign in” message.

How to fix Start menu and search by uninstalling update KB4515384
The easiest method to mitigate the issue breaking the Start menu and search on Windows 10 is to remove the update from your computer.

To uninstall update KB4515384 from Windows 10, use these steps:

Open Settings.

Quick tip: Because the Start menu and Windows Search will be broken, you’ll need to use alternative methods to open the Settings app, including right-clicking the Start button and selecting the Settings option, or using the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut.

1. Click on Update & Security.

2. Click on Windows Update.
3. Click the View update history option.
4. Click the Uninstall updates option.
5. Select the “Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4515384)” item.
6. Click the Uninstall button.
7. Click the Yes button.
8. Click the Restart Now button.

Update KB4512578 for Windows 10 version 1809
Microsoft has also announced KB4512578 in the Windows support site, and it’s referred as “September 10, 2019—KB4512578 (OS Build 17763.737)” If you’re already running the Windows 10 October 2019 Update on your device, this update will address these issues:

Provides protections against a new subclass of speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities, known as Microarchitectural Data Sampling, for 32-Bit (x86) versions of Windows.

Security updates to Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Authentication, Windows Cryptography, the Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows Kernel, Windows Virtualization, and Windows Server.

Download September 2019 update for Windows 10

These updates are available immediately, they’ll download and install automatically, but you can always force the update from Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and clicking the Check for updates button. You can find more details about the most

Bitdefender’s 2020 lineup has it all, from a basic free version to a super-premium package that includes unlimited VPN service and priority tech support.

Even the cheapest paid Bitdefender program has a hardened browser, ransomware protection and easy customization. The Bitdefender malware engine scanned our computer in record time without slowing down the system much. With five versions and several unlimited plans, Bitdefender offers lots of choices for every Windows user.

Bitdefender Total Security 2019 is a top-of-the-range security suite which includes just about everything you need to protect Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.

Installing the Windows build, for instance, gets you antivirus, a firewall, spam filter, malicious website blocking, online banking protection, parental controls, a limited VPN, a password manager, file encryption, secure file deletion, PC clean-up and optimization, and more.

BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition for US$0 per month
The versions for other platforms aren’t as powerful, but still deliver all the functionality you might expect. For example, the Android app filters dangerous websites, locks apps, includes privacy tools and anti-theft features, and usage can be monitored and secured remotely via Bitdefender’s parental controls.

Total Security 2020 also comes with the Hotspot Shield-powered ‘Bitdefender VPN’. The free edition doesn’t allow you to choose your location and only gives you 200MB of data per device per day (around 6GB a month), making it suitable only for email and very light browsing. For comparison, Windscribe’s excellent free VPN plan gives you 10GB of data a month, so no annoying daily limits, and gives you more than 10 locations to choose from.

New for 2020: Parental Controls

Bitdefender’s new Parental Controls are by far the most interesting part of the new security suite. As part of Total Security 2020 you get the usual controls such as the ability to set time limits on screen time. These are accumulated across devices where Bitdefender is present. This can include Mac and Windows PCs, as well as mobile. The parental controls can also block certain types of websites, as well as restrict access to certain programs, apps, and games.

On top of the usual controls, Bitdefender is offering Parental Control Premium for $45 per year. This new add-on features anti-predatory monitoring. Using artificial intelligence, Bitdefender scans your child’s communications over IM, text messaging apps, and social to flag concerning activity.

Even though the content of communications are not shared with parents, the company does upload text conversations to the cloud where they are analyzed for signs such as intent to harm and imbalance of power. Photos, however, always remain on the originating device and do not end up on Bitdefender’s cloud or on the parent’s device.

The big concern here is whether parents feel comfortable using this technology to monitor their children. A full-time monitor for all the communications of your child may not seem like a good idea, but for a child at risk of bullying it may be appropriate. Ultimately, it’s a question that parents must answer for themselves.

In addition to the new privacy extensions and parental controls, Bitdefender also added a microphone monitor that alerts you when apps want to use your mic.

Antivirus protection

Bitdefender’s malware detection starts with a scanner that hunts for known threats, supplemented by a heuristic monitor that looks for behavioral signs of an infection.

Potential new dangerous threats get uploaded to Bitdefender’s servers for a fix. Malware-definition updates are sent several times a day to 500 million systems running Bitdefender software. If having items collected from your computer seems a little creepy, you can opt out. You’ll still get all the security updates.

Performance

We checked results on the usual testing platforms. In A-V Test’s 0-day, web, and email threats test, Bitdefender Internet Security 23 scored 100 percent in May and 98.8 percent in June. Internet Security 23 is the lower-tier suite from Total Security using the same detection engine. Bitdefender released its new product in July, but we expect the latest versions to have similar results to its predecessor. In AV-Test’s widespread and prevalent malware test using nearly 2,500 samples Bitdefender scored 100 percent in May and June.

AV-Comparatives tested Bitdefender from February through May 2019 in its real-world protection test. From 752 test cases, Bitdefender blocked 99.9 percent of threats and had two false positives.

For our in-house performance test, after a full scan with Bitdefender running, the test PC scored 2,459 on the PCMark 8 work conventional test. That’s about the same as the 2,461 we saw without Bitdefender installed.

For our second test, where the PC encodes a 4GB MKV HD video file to the Android tablet preset, it took nearly one hour and 16 minutes. That’s about the same score as we saw when Bitdefender wasn’t installed.

Overall, Bitdefender shouldn’t impact performance too much.

Bitdefender is as good as it was last time around, and if you’re interested in the parental controls, the new system offers a potential solution for those needs.

How does data recovery work?

When you delete a file or format a drive, the data actually remains where it was. Your PC’s file system stops keeping track of it—the directory entry is simply marked “deleted”, and will eventually be overwritten as new files are added. Recovery apps find your lost files by scanning:

A quick scan checks the directory structure to see if there is still some information about recently deleted files. If there is, they can quickly recover the files, including the file name and location.
A deep scan checks your drive for data left by files that are no longer tracked by the file system, and identifies common document formats, like Word, PDF, or JPG. It may be able to restore some or all of the file, but the name and location will be lost.

How effective is the software?

How many recoverable files can an app locate? How successful is it at actually recovering the data? The only way to really find out is to thoroughly and consistently test each app. That’s a lot of work, so I didn’t do it all myself. I took these tests into account when writing this Windows data recovery software review:

Reviews Active@ UNDELETE

Designed to recover accidentally erased files, Active@ UNDELETE proves itself to be excellent at what it does. We found the interface convenient. You simply scan a disk for deleted files, locate the ones you want to restore, then drag and drop them into the bottom window. You can choose between a quick scan to recover recently deleted files or a deep scan for restoring files from a formatted disk or a deleted partition. We were pleased with the results of our deep scan, as Active@ UNDELETE combed our 20GB hard drive in 10 minutes and resurrected several supposedly irrecoverable files. The program is capable of recovering disk arrays and can create disk images to save data on disks in danger of crashing. We think Active@ UNDELETE is a smart safeguard for both home use as well as more professional applications.

Features of Portable Active UNDELETE Ultimate 16.0

1 Powerful data recovery application
2. Simple and a wizard-based environment
3. Recovery the lost data from the hard disks and disk images
4. Manage the partitions and create disk images
5. Scan and restore the accidentally deleted files
6. Creating virtual RAID arrays and recover lost files
7. Supports all the file systems including FAT, NTFS, HFS and UFS etc.
8. Displays all the available wizards to get a quick start
9. Provides two modes Easy and Expert Data Recovery
10. Partition Management feature and Restore Deleted Partitions
11. Modify the geometry and restore the partitions
12. Supports all the file formats for recovery
13. Numerous other powerful features

 

IObit Malware Fighter Pro review

IObit Malware Fighter is a free antivirus solution and that’s about it for the positives. It offers poor protection, isn’t very user-friendly and upgrading to the paid plan is just a plain bad idea. Read our full IObit review for the details.

Main Window

IObit Malware Fighter PRO’s main window features minty green buttons on a charcoal gray background. It’s attractive, almost elegant, but looks aren’t everything.

In this IObit Malware Fighter review, we’ll talk about our experience after taking the program for a test run in the real world, using hands-on tests and lab results to gauge its performance. We’ll look at the pricing, features, user-friendliness, support and protection before rendering our verdict.

At first glance, it appears to be a good antivirus, but the deeper we dug the more problems we uncovered. If you’re willing to put up with little to no support and bare-minimum protection, at least it won’t cost you anything.

San Francisco-based IObit is best known as a popular developer of PC maintenance utilities, including IObit Uninstaller, Advanced SystemCare and Driver Booster.

IObit Malware Fighter Pro is the lead product in the company’s security range, and has what looks like a capable feature set. It boasts both the IObit and Bitdefender antivirus engines, anti-ransomware capabilities, URL blocking, webcam protection, and more.

A very limited free build allows you to get a basic idea of how the package works. But we do mean basic – the free version doesn’t include the Bitdefender engine, has minimal real-time protection, can’t prevent ransomware attacks during the boot process, and apparently can’t even ‘detect malicious processes running in RAM’. Which sounds like a fairly fundamental issue, to us.

IObit doesn’t mention a trial on the main Malware Fighter page, but we found one available here. You must hand over your payment details, but won’t be billed for 30 days, and can cancel at any time if you’re unhappy.

IObit also offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, although the small print contains a lot of potential gotchas. The company says you won’t get a refund if you’ve failed to read the product description, for instance, or have ‘suddenly changed your mind.’ It appears you can’t just ask for your money back – you’re going to have to persuade IObit that you’ve a good enough reason to escape its financial clutches.

Features-

IObit Malware Fighter offers basic antivirus protection, manual scans and online protection. Quick scans and full system scans have to be started manually, while custom scans and automatic scan scheduling require an upgrade to the paid version.

The website claims it has ransomware protection but requires an upgrade to the paid version to access it. It also claims to offer phishing protection, which it calls “network guard.” Once again, these features are advertised, but not clearly shown to only be available in the paid version.

It scans for threats when running unknown files and includes protection against malware at start-up. It also offers protection from malware running in system memory. While memory protection is good, it will slow down your system.

The browser protection is the most complete feature. It has download protection and adware protection to keep those annoying ads from popping up on your screen. It also includes protection from malicious plugins and toolbars.

Setup

Installing most antivirus packages is as easy as downloading and running the installer, and waiting a few seconds. Even the greenest of newbies can do it. However, it seems that IObit isn’t convinced of this, and after ordering the trial build it suggested we call a toll-free US number where a ‘certified technician’ would securely connect to our PC and remotely activate the software. Is this really supposed to be easier?

Why would IObit even begin to think this was a good idea? Reading the small print explained what was going on. During the remote connection, IObit explained, ‘at your request, we will diagnose your PC for other hard-to-identify problems. And paid service will be offered when needed.’ It’s just upselling for the company’s remote support service.

If you’d rather not get involved with IObit’s over-the-top marketing, wait a few seconds and an email should arrive with a download link and license code.

Setup was straightforward. We checked the files and folders and found executables from IObit and Bitdefender, all correctly digitally signed, with no obvious issues.

In a previous review we found that Malware Fighter’s processes were poorly protected, and could be completely disabled by malware. There are still some issues, in that its user processes can be closed, even from something as simple as a batch file. But its core service couldn’t be stopped, and we weren’t able to change its Registry settings or delete key IObit files. Protection remained active and the IObit processes were running again after a reboot.

Protection

IObit Malware Fighter Pro had average detection results in our tests, but some unexpected false positives – including a TaskKill file which is a standard component of Windows – let the package down.

Our tests are too small-scale to give a definitive picture of antivirus accuracy, so normally we would check how a product is reviewed by the major testing labs. Unfortunately, that’s not possible here as IObit isn’t covered by any of them.

We do know that Malware Fighter Pro includes the excellent Bitdefender engine, which is a definite plus. But it’s not implemented in the same way as the original, and doesn’t include the same level of real-time protection, so it’s unlikely you’ll get the same degree of malware-blocking effectiveness as with Bitdefender’s own products.

Adding IObit’s own engine may help protect you from even more threats, but we’re unconvinced. It mostly raised false alarms for us.

With no information available from other sources, we decided to try an additional test of our own. We’ve developed a custom ransomware simulator which spiders through a specific folder tree on our test system, finding and encrypting potentially thousands of media and document files. Would Malware Fighter be able to protect against a threat it had never seen before?

The good news was that if we turned on IObit’s generic Ransomware Shield (which is disabled by default), this displayed a warning when our simulator tried to access its first file. We were able to block it, and didn’t lose a single file.