security software not compatible with Windows Seven ?

It’s likely to happen when a new MS OS comes out: everyone wants to talk about it and the press is full of articles with wrong statements written by people who only turn their PC on to launch IE, and they’re done when they close it, if they manage to ::slight_smile: I’ve heard some bs on TV as well, but here’s a part in an article of the Washington Post, worth reading:

Five Things You Should Know About Upgrading From XP to Windows 7 ......................... 5. . If you're running Windows XP I assume you have invested in some security software-- antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall, etc. Because of changes that Microsoft has made to protect the operating system kernel, those Windows XP-era security programs will most likely not work in Windows 7.

this seems to come from PC World, so that’s still worse as they’re supposed to know a few things about PCs…Truth is the kernel issue is rarely encountered, and only met with some HIPS on 64 bit versions of Vista and Seven, because of patchguard…that’s an old story. I don’t have the knowledge to go into details but there are workarounds and in the end software work and the protection is there. Patchguard was already foreseen as an obstacle back in 2007 when Vista came out, I remember posting about that…but in the end most stuff worked.
Found this on Comodo forums a little while ago, but I need a “translator”, as I have no idea what “callbacks”, “minifilters” etc… are.

2. PatchGuard doesn't prevent security software from working. Sandboxie hooks system calls by modifying the SSDT, and this is protected against by PatchGuard. The MS endorsed way to hook is to use the system supplied callbacks - minifilters, registry callbacks, process/thread callbacks. This way CIS can protect itself without having to do anything special.

Now obviously, CIS might not actually use the callbacks - I don’t know - but it seems like the most likely thing to do, because otherwise CIS would be vulnerable to all kinds of attacks.

OK this said all security software that I used on Vista 32 work on Seven/64…Avast 4, CIS…just heard Online armor didn’t run on Seven (there’s a beta that does now, but just on 32 bit atm), and may be a few other exceptions I haven’t heard of precisely.

Another good reason to follow the guide mentioned in the following link:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=19387.msg424466#msg424466

thought it was about a party or something ;D

Amazing how much one misses when one assumes… :slight_smile: ;D