Antivirus for Windows 2003/2008 Server - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 03:05:48 am
content: I'm after an antivirus package (preferably free) which will run on Windows Server 2003/2008. I have a paid licence for Kaspersky however it refuses to install on server operating systems (presumably to force those users to pay for the far more expensive "business" versions).I was contemplating Avira Server Security however according to the Wikipedia article:Avira periodically "cleans out" the virus definition files, by replacing specific signatures with generic ones, resulting in a general increase in performance and scanning speed.The catch is, I host a lot of old (obsolete) software and driver files for everything from Commodore 64's, original MacOS to DOS and early Windows. I need whatever antivirus program to specifically scan for old viruses not seen "in the wild" for quite some time as well as the new stuff. Scanning speed is not important to me, I don't mind slower performance for more thorough results.So to sum up, I'm after recommendations which suit the following:- Runs on Windows 2003/2008 Server- Antivirus only (no bullshit "internet security" bloatware)- Detects old and new virus signatures- Free or low-costDoes such a thing exist?

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 03:18:08 am
content: Clamav

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 03:58:49 am
content: Quote from: AlxDroidDev on February 15, 2016, 03:18:08 amNeeds to also have real-time scanning. The Windows version doesn't appear to.

author: iceisfun
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 05:45:41 am
content: ClamAV and scripting are your friends, unless you just have a big file dump then you should be able to scan stuff through automation.

author: XOIIO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 11:01:04 am
content: Hmm, real time protection will be tricky for free, I use avast on all my computers except my servers, malwarebytes works pretty good on those but the free version doesn't offer real time scanning, however the premium version is only $31 per year, which is pretty good and does offer real time.It also runs on windows server 2008 r2 just fine, which is good since I don't want to pay several hundred dollars for the rack mount servers I play with as a hobby. (two right now, two more later on when I have the money for rails).https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/Definitely annoying how so many things detect a server OS and clam up, teamviewer recently changed things, and I guess now it's considered "business use" which would be a shitload of money for remote desktop, so I switched over to VNC, but it's a lot less convenient.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 11:28:19 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on February 15, 2016, 03:05:48 amI believe you can edit the registry to make it think it's running on e.g. Windows XP or Vista. At the moment Google isn't turning up anything but a lot of gamers several years ago used 2003 and had to make such changes to get a lot of their software working.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 11:51:50 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on February 15, 2016, 03:58:49 amhttp://blog.clamav.net/2011/02/realtime-protection-with-clamav-on.html

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2016, 12:34:40 pm
content: If someone manages to infect my machines, I'll buy them a beer with all the money and paranoia I saved by not paying for an antivirus.Of course I avoid clicking on the "Click here to claim your prize" linksOr trying to get to websites by typing the address in "Search" and come to think of it, search from the address bar is turned off as well.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 16, 2016, 07:01:20 pm
content: Quote from: AlxDroidDev on February 15, 2016, 11:51:50 amI'll give it a go -- Although what's all this "cloud" business!?Quote from: DimitriP on February 15, 2016, 12:34:40 pmI'm not too worried about others but I download quite a few torrents (and I've even found 'legitimate' downloads on occasions being packaged with crapware, especially newer versions of applications I currently use). No matter how careful you are you should have AV regardless of operating system. I've been in the IT industry now for over 16 years and I've been caught out once or twice before. I treateveryexternal file as hostile unless I can prove otherwise. If need be, that means running it up in a virtual environment to see what happens.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 17, 2016, 07:45:49 am
content: I've decided to trial F-Prot (yes, the one that was around in the 1990's). They've since been bought by a company in Iceland called Cyren, however they still offer F-Prot antivirus and for a decent price too. The 'home' version comes with 5 licences for USD$29/year and the corporate version (which runs on server operating systems) starts at USD$50/year for a 10 user licence.I've installed the home version on a Windows XP machine. The interface is very basic but it's no-bullshit and seems to do what it's supposed to do. Although there is no "virus encyclopedia" that I can find, it does give neat little stats on the number of virus signatures it can detect (see attached).The home version does real-time scanning and offers some basic e-mail attachment scanning (for Outlook) and Internet security (for Internet Explorer) right out of the box. I haven't installed the corporate trial yet, but I would assume it offers more features. So far, not bad, if all you're after is a lightweight, non-intrusive file scanner.I think aside from the interface, the price is very competitive, even if they don't offer updates as quickly as the bigger companies (I don't know if they do or don't yet). But antivirus to me is just a first defence mechanism. I'm yet to see any package which protects against user stupidity, negligence or outright malicious behaviour (none of which apply in my case).

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 17, 2016, 01:55:02 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on February 15, 2016, 03:05:48 amyou could try running the installer in a comparability mode, this can sometimes get around windows version checks, i have also tweaked .msi files to circumvent restrictions like this, i used to use Windows 2003 Server as my 'desktop' OS and this issue cropped up a few times