If a Trojan or other malware balks the installation of your selected security suite or interferes with its operation, vendors will help you out in various ways. Many offer remote-controlled direct assistance, though you'll often have to exhaust less-intensive support solutions first. With Comodo Internet Security Complete 2013 ($39.99 per year direct for three licenses), remote-control support is the first line of defense, not the last resort. Comodo's GeekBuddy service offers unlimited assistance for any PC problems, security-related or otherwise. GeekBuddy definitely helped in my malware cleanup test, but I hit a rough spot with support on one system.

The basic antivirus and firewall components are the same as what you get with the free Comodo Internet Security Premium (2013). The addition of GeekBuddy isn't the only game-changer, though. Once you've run an initial full scan to clear out any existing malware, you can activate the Virus-Free Guarantee. If your PC gets infected after you've properly installed Comodo and run a full scan, they'll cover up to $500 in repair costs.

But wait! There's more! In addition, you can get reimbursement for expenses and lost wages if your identity is compromised while Comodo is supposed to be protecting you. Specifically, they'll reimburse for up to $15,000 in expenses and $500 per week lost income, up to four weeks. You'll want to read the terms and conditions, of course. This is definitely an uncommon offer.

GeekBuddy to the Rescue

When I ran into trouble installing or running the free Comodo suite for my earlier review, I emailed tech support and asked for advice. In every case, the first recommendation was to run a scan with Comodo Cleaning Essentials, and in almost every case that solved the problem. One holdout needed quite a bit of back-and-forth with tech support, but we got the job done.

Testing the for-pay suite, I contacted GeekBuddy any time a problem arose. If the program had installed at least partially, I launched the supplied GeekBuddy application. If not, I logged in through the GeekBuddy website and entered my license number.

Malware on one test system makes it unusable except in Safe Mode, and Comodo won't install in Safe Mode. The GeekBuddy technician solved the problem by digging through the system to find and eliminate the offending program. It took a while, but the job got done.

On another system, Comodo repeatedly hung while attempting a full scan. This one took more work on the part of the tech and on my part; in some cases I had to take care of tasks like rebooting into Safe Mode. Another system completed the scan but hung during the cleanup phase; fixing that took a little longer.

Malware on two systems tries to protect itself by blocking access to many security websites. The malicious techniques used are different, but the effect is the same—on both systems, Comodo would not activate or update. I spent hours and hours with the technicians on these, long enough to go through two shift changes at GeekBuddy central. In the end, they did manage to fix both systems.

With help from the GeekBuddy technicians, I got Comodo installed on these five systems, but it took hours and hours. Installing the free suite without GeekBuddy help, I got those same systems working in much less time just by launching Comodo Cleaning Essentials. On the other hand, as you'll see below, hand-on diagnosis let the technicians wipe out more malware samples and more traces than Comodo alone.