Operating systems are the interface between hardware and end user. This software are under attack from malicious programs, so we need anti-malware application to make those operating systems save. However, most people use many anti-malwares to be protected, but they did not know when they install this application what this application can do inside their devices. In this paper, we conduct a test on an anti-malwares and investigate its effects inside the operating system. We exploit virtual box to create virtual machine and use windows XP as a target operating system with three anti-viruses: Kaspersky, AVG and Norton. We examine differences that happen after installing these anti-viruses (we mainly focus on files kernel, processes, sockets and registry keys).

windows XP operating system, anti-viruses, filter drivers, malwares.

Mohammed A. Shehab, Wegdan A. Hussien.Operating System’s Changes When Installing an Anti-virus Application. International Journal of Advanced Computer Research. 2014;4(14):389-395.