CSI Help

What is Prevx CSI?

Prevx CSI is a great new way to check your PC for active spyware, virus, rootkit, trojan, bot and millions of other complex and malicious infections. It is simple to use and very fast, with most checks taking less than two minutes.

If I already have security product do I need Prevx CSI?

Absolutely. All security products fail to catch infections from time to time. When this happens, personal confidential information may be stolen, your computer may be turned into a zombie computer to attack others, or you may lose critical information from the side effects of malicious software. Prevx CSI lets you check for active infections that put you, your PC and your personal and confidential information at risk. Prevx CSI will not only find active infections, but it also contains an intelligent scanner which looks for malicious components that other antivirus programs have missed which are sitting dormant on your computer.

How long does it take to run Prevx CSI?

Prevx CSI takes about two minutes to check your PC for active spyware, virus, trojan bot, rootkit and millions of other nasty infections.

I am not technical - is Prevx CSI hard to run?

No, Prevx CSI is very easy to use and requires absolutely no technical expertise. You can easily set Prevx CSI to run an automatic, daily scan, free of charge to ensure that your computer is staying clean. Prevx CSI automatically makes decisions about malicious programs, unlike some other antivirus and antirootkit programs, so that you don't have to research what, for instance, "Unknown Page With Executable Code" means - CSI will automatically check with our community database and analyze all suspicious code to get either a Bad or Good determination on files.

What sort of infections might Prevx CSI find?

Prevx CSI examines your PC looking for active infections and dormant infections, including spyware infections that steal passwords or monitor credit card details entered into webpages, malicious programs which automatically run whenever you perform a certain action like open a web page or document or turn on your computer, and hidden stealth programs called Rootkits which prevent normal programs from seeing their files. Prevx CSI does not, however, focus on minor risks such as cookies as these are not considered real infections and are usually the by-product of a larger infection. Prevx CSI concentrates on threats that are important to you and does not try and "scare" users into thinking their computer is "infected" with thousands of cookies. Our community database provides intelligent decisions for all potential viruses - dramatically decreasing the number of false positives and exponentially increasing our detection scores as every time another person downloads Prevx CSI, they help every other person running Prevx CSI by teaching our software how to detect even more viruses.

Will Prevx CSI Affect My Security Software?

No, not at all. Prevx CSI has been designed to work alongside virtually all other security products. We have performed thorough testing and have not encountered any major issues with Prevx CSI and the 'on access' protection of other major security products.

Is Prevx CSI going to slow down my PC?

No. Unlike most other security products, Prevx CSI takes only a minute or so to run. When Prevx CSI is not scanning, it takes up a nearly unnoticeable amount of memory and virtually no CPU usage.

What if my PC is infected?

Prevx CSI will clearly tell you if there malicious infections living on your computer. Should your PC be infected then you have a number of choices. The quickest and easiest way to remove active infections is to purchase a Prevx CSI Cleanup license. This will allow you to cleanup any infections that Prevx CSI might find for up to one year. As Prevx CSI works along with your existing security solution, this other added layer of protection is invaluable! We also strongly suggest that you encourage your friends and colleagues to check their PCs for infection with Prevx CSI to make sure you have not passed any infections onto them through Instant Messaging or email contact.

Should I run Prevx CSI frequently?

Yes, Prevx CSI is designed to run as often as you wish. Most people use the standard settings which will check your PC every day and only alert you if it finds an infection. With this feature, Prevx CSI provides an extra layer of protection on top of that provided by you existing security programs. If your PC is clean it won't disturb you and will continue to run silently in the background. But, if your PC is infected, it will notify you as soon as the scan finishes.

How can Prevx CSI check my PC so quickly when my existing security product takes hours?

Prevx CSI works in a very different way to most other security products. Prevx CSI can perform a check for active spyware, virus, trojan, bot, rootkit and other infections in about a minute. Most other security product scans take between 30 minutes and 3 hours. So why the difference? Prevx CSI looks specifically for programs which are actively running or may become active. By limiting its focus to the most vulnerable places on your computer, it is able to find a vast majority of infections in a very short amount of time. When Prevx CSI scans your PC it builds a mini-database of forensic data for each file it wishes to check. This data is then sent to our Prevx Automated Malware Research Center where it is thoroughly checked and analyzed by our massively powerful servers. Because we are performing a very extensive analysis on our servers, we take most of the load off of your PC. The result is a scan that is fast, always up to date and much more effective than conventional approaches.

How do I run Prevx CSI?

You can download Prevx CSI from our web site at http://www.prevx.com/freescan.asp. You should then select the options to Run the program when your browser asks you. You will also need to read and acknowledge our terms and conditions of use which include details of the information that will be sent to our servers for analysis.

Why is Prevx CSI free to use?

Prevx CSI is free to use as a powerful scanner to check your PC for active infection by spyware, viruses, trojans, bots and millions of other infections. We have decided to make it free because we feel it is important to minimize the number of infected computers worldwide. Currently, we have found that more than 1 in 6 computers is infected with malicious software. Many of these computers are actually running security software and would not have known that they are infected if they didn't run a scan with Prevx CSI. With Prevx CSI you never need to pay unless you wish to use Prevx CSI to clean up an infection that your existing security product(s) have missed.

Why Do I Need To Pay For Cleanup?

Malicious software is complicated and it integrates itself deeply into your computer. Our dedicated team has spent a number of years researching the best ways to combat malicious infections and clean them from your system. Many current antivirus solutions only clean parts of infections, which can easily cause recurrence. Prevx CSI has advanced modules which are able to not only clean standard malicious software, but also advanced spyware and rootkit infections that usually either require manual disinfection or operating system reinstallation. You only need to pay for a cleanup license for Prevx CSI if you wish to use it's in built clean up features. We offer a 12 month license for this purpose allowing you to access cleanup as many times as you need on a single PC during that time.

How big is Prevx CSI?

Prevx CSI is extremely small - the download is just 650 kilobytes. Prevx CSI also consumes very few resources in your computer and limits its memory usage by utilizing a highly optimized scan engine.

What is a rootkit?

A rootkit is an infectious piece of software which, once on your PC, will hide itself from the user and system. This means that once infected, it may be completely invisible. They often go undetected for months as most security software does not have an integrated Rootkit Detection System. Rootkits can monitor anything you do and most record information and forward it onto other computers across the internet, possibly leaking confidential data and causing identity theft.

What is a BOT?

A bot is an infection which uses your PC to perform tasks given to it by a 3rd party. For example, many bot infections are used to attack web sites, so, if your PC has a bot infection it could, without your knowledge, be part of an attack on a web site you have never heard of. Bots can also be used to store, forward or monitor information on behalf of their criminal authors.

What is Spyware?

Spyware is a type of infection specifically designed to monitor and gather information without the user being expressely aware.

What is a Trojan?

A Trojan is a type of infection that attempts to mislead the user into thinking it is something else. It may be a free piece of software whose true intention is to infect the unsuspecting user's PC.

What is a Virus?

A virus or worm is a type of infection that can passed from one PC to another via a usb stick, via a network, via the internet, via instant messaging or via email. It may also add its code to existing programs, causing it to run every time that program is run, causing it to infect even more programs and eventually compromising your entire system.

Can I use Prevx CSI alongside Prevx 2.0?

Yes, you can use Prevx CSI alongside any security product(s) including Prevx1 and Prevx 2.0.