Problem with calibre-parallel.exe - Calibre or Avast???

[Baz Praz]

I've been using Calibre for several years now without any problems - UNTIL RECENTLY.

Since the installation of v2.56 64bit - everytime that I start Calibre, Avast analyses calibre-parallel.exe.

I installed v2.57 64bit and got the same problems.

If I click on a book to read it - I get the message "calibre-parallel: calibre-parallel.exe - Application Error"
&
The instruction at *** referenced memory at *** The memory could not be written.

A similar problem arises if I try to add a book - Avast analyses calibre-parallel.exe and calibre produces the following message:-

calibre, version 2.57.0
ERROR: Errors while adding: Failed to add any books, click "Show details" for more information
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Failed to add the book: *** ***
F:\***.epub
With error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\add.py", line 371, in add_book
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: u'G:\\Swap & Temp\\calibre_525c8i\\emzx0h_add_books\\0.cdata'


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Failed to add the book: *** ***
F:\***.epub
With error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\add.py", line 371, in add_book
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: u'G:\\Swap & Temp\\calibre_525c8i\\emzx0h_add_books\\1.cdata'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I've tried uninstalling -including removal all remaining folders - and reinstalling from scratch with no improvement.

PLEASE - can anybody suggest what I can try next?

Baz

[eschwartz]

Try excluding the calibre Program Files directory from Avast's scanning.

[Baz Praz]

Hi eschwartz

Thanks for the suggestion - unfortunately, it didn't make any difference.

Baz

[kovidgoyal]

Uninstall avast

[Baz Praz]

Hi kovidgoyal

I know which of the two (Calibre and Avast) I prefer to keep - CALIBRE!

Before I switch from Avast - are there any other Internet Security packages that I need to avoid?

Very best regards

Baz

[kovidgoyal]

I usually just recommend people use the anti-virus that comes builtin with windows, from Microsoft. There is no need to spend extra money ona third party solution.

[Baz Praz]

Many thanks for your advice.

Baz

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Uninstall avast

I know this is an old thread.... I found it by searching on Avast. There was a program update available today (17.1.2286) and it (falsely, I hope) tripped on calibre-parallel. It 'found' idp.generic.

Also, your advice to rely on the free windows antivirus is risky. There are much better options (and free such as avast and avg.)

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by NSILMike

I know this is an old thread.... I found it by searching on Avast. There was a program update available today (17.1.2286) and it (falsely, I hope) tripped on calibre-parallel. It 'found' idp.generic.

See ==>> My antivirus program claims calibre is a virus/trojan?

Have you raised a support ticket with Avast?

Originally Posted by NSILMike

Also, your advice to rely on the free windows antivirus is risky. There are much better options (and free such as avast and avg.)

I disinfect a dozen or more PCs a year. The majority of which are supposedly protected by the likes of avg, avast, trend micro, symantec etc, quite often the annual subscription version, but very few are supposedly protected by MSE.

I don't claim for a moment that this proves mse is 'less risky' than the others.

Instead, I suggest that mse users are less likely to click hither and thither, especially on email attachments which is where the worst of the malware comes from. In part at least, because they are not misled into a false sense of security by the often extravagant claims of the AV vendors.

The best AV is AC - Abundant Caution.

There was a time when I would say the best firewall was air - until WiFi came along

BR

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

See ==>> My antivirus program claims calibre is a virus/trojan?

Have you raised a support ticket with Avast?
Mike-> Yes.


I disinfect a dozen or more PCs a year. The majority of which are supposedly protected by the likes of avg, avast, trend micro, symantec etc, quite often the annual subscription version, but very few are supposedly protected by MSE.
Mike->There are objective testing services. MSE used to be pretty good but now is no better than average. I'd suggest folks read the reviews in things like PC Magazine and make their own decision.

I don't claim for a moment that this proves mse is 'less risky' than the others.

Instead, I suggest that mse users are less likely to click hither and thither, especially on email attachments which is where the worst of the malware comes from. In part at least, because they are not misled into a false sense of security by the often extravagant claims of the AV vendors.

The best AV is AC - Abundant Caution.

There was a time when I would say the best firewall was air - until WiFi came along

BR

Often the best firewall is a router...

[kovidgoyal]

Third party antivirus software is often the biggest security hole in windows. This is because it consists of large bodies of unaduited code, with very poor engineering prcatices running with elevated privileges that does insane things like injecting itself into other programs.
Just google for window antivirus security holes and see the long history of security bugs in antivirus programs, many of them far worse than the viruses they are supposed to be protecting you from.

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Third party antivirus software is often the biggest security hole in windows. This is because it consists of large bodies of unaduited code, with very poor engineering prcatices running with elevated privileges that does insane things like injecting itself into other programs.
Just google for window antivirus security holes and see the long history of security bugs in antivirus programs, many of them far worse than the viruses they are supposed to be protecting you from.

In the USA, at least, there are several highly respected independent 3rd party labs that evaluate antivirus software. Those I'm aware of include Virus Bulletin, Simon Edwards Labs, AV-Test Institute, and AV-Comparatives.

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by NSILMike

In the USA, at least, there are several highly respected independent 3rd party labs that evaluate antivirus software. Those I'm aware of include Virus Bulletin, Simon Edwards Labs, AV-Test Institute, and AV-Comparatives.

As far as I know those simply check how effective they are at detecting known viruses. They never see the source code to check how well it is written.

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by itimpi

As far as I know those simply check how effective they are at detecting known viruses. They never see the source code to check how well it is written.

No, they also do heuristics and behavior tests. But, we don't need to debate this. If someone is satisfied with MSE, good for them. My only point was that MSE is regularly beaten by a few paid and free alternatives. If you're satisfied with MSE, stick with it.

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by NSILMike

I know this is an old thread.... I found it by searching on Avast. There was a program update available today (17.1.2286) and it (falsely, I hope) tripped on calibre-parallel. It 'found' idp.generic.

Also, your advice to rely on the free windows antivirus is risky. There are much better options (and free such as avast and avg.)

Happening again, with the new version of Calibre (2.80 and the 64-bit version.)

I'm quite comfortable adding this to the Avast exclusions (Malwarebytes makes no similar detection) so am posting this so Kovid can consider why 2 updates in a row generate this false positive. It may be possible to correct....