Anti-virus

[Zoom05]

Hey, can someone recommend a good free antivirus program I can download? They don't support my free AVG anymore apparently.

[Enigma]

Moved to the correct forum and as for a free virus scanner.... mmm... i get mine free through works deal with the manufacturer so no can help there. I sure someone here has a family member or friend that works for a company that makes an anti-virus program

[Halo]

Try "avast!", you'll need to register for a key but it's free and it lasts fourteen months.

[A Pirate]

im assuming its the key that stops you getting another free AVG if you can find it delete it using a windows key register program. ive done this 2 or 3 times and all good.

[gtc]

Why bother with a freebie. The regular majors are cheap enough. Heck I paid all of $39 for McAfee and it's regularly updated. I wouldn't be without it.

[cookster670]

Kind of agree with GTC. Although I've heard good things about AVG (or should I say haven't heard anything bad)....i just think with pc and internet security, it's not worth the risk with free, less featured software.

if you get hit with a virus or trojan or hacker....whatever..the cost in time and potential $$$ is far more than the cost of some software.

having said that, i get it free from work as well...but I use symantec client security and it's always served me well.

[Palo Verde]

peeps I got a OEM Trend Micro for $30 bugs whilst strolling at Miranda mall, it was the little computer stand outside Priceline called BBC computer and they have oem's AV software, a bargain cos a trend Micro costs over $135 if bought at Hardly normal, I needed it to put in my Asus Atom 901 or that pesky XP keeps bubbling 'you are at risk'

[Enigma]

i just use symantec anitivurs corp never expires and updates daily

[Dark Authority]

I use Symantec antivirus corp as well. It never expires, and uses very little resources.Its fantantic. I got mine through unsw. If you would like it, shout me a PM. and i'll send it via email

[Enigma]

or you could just get a torrent version

[Skeem]

Norton is worth the bucks you pay, and its not that much anyway.

The new versions are lighter and doesnt lag your computer.

[cookster670]

yeah..never had problems with norton or symantec client security (spyware and f/w as well)

but i have had expericne with Symantec something or other...(can't remember the name) and it was a DOG. The PC which I had just built for a friend was lightning fast was unusable. (10 mins to start up, 3 mins to open an email..etc). Anyway, i turned off the symantec product, and it was fine. I think that product has been replaced now though.

[jmac]

I use Avast!, had norton - slowed everything down.
If you are going to pay trend micro is okay...
Bitdefender is worth the money though.

I also use an old version of sygate from when it used to be free for my firewall... works much better that zone alarm or the built in crap that over prompts with bigger AVs

[Enigma]

norton is slow if your using a non corporate or old old version the newer versions (as long as its antivirus only) are much lighter on the cpu and system resources

[JLo]

I used to use Norton on my old PC and it made the thing soooo slow.
Once I took it off the speed diff was huge.

I just bought a laptop and it came free with a 90 day trial version of Norton which doesn't seem
to be slowing the system down too much.

I also used NOD32 on my old computer which was pretty good.
A friend told me that in the IT world NOD32 is the bomb.

[Hoss]

HI ALL

I'm running AVG Free version n is still being updated.
Go into the home site?

also have SuperAntiSpyware witch updates as well n is freeware

I also run registry cleaners as well
Advanced Windows 2 freeware as well

Hoss
E G M

[jvanzeeland]

As a systems administrator, my reccommendation : Don't touch nortons with a bargepole. They had a good product once upon a time, but the last 5 years or so they've been absolutely atrocious. Greater complexity = bigger and more frequent problems. Just awful IMO. For many users nortons is a far bigger problem than the viruses they don't get because they're responsible users.

McAffee = not much better than Nortons. Much the same reasons.

PC-Cillin = buggy as. There's one problem they have where you send an email with an attachment and it sends OK, but your email software doesn't get the message that it sent ok, so it sends all over again. And again, and again, and again...that's popped up several times over the last 12 months.

E-trust (similar/same engine to PC-Cillin last time I looked) - meh - it works most times I've used it. I still have some servers using it because I couldn't be bothered replacing it yet. When it goes, it'll be replaced with :

AVG = big thumbs up. AVG Free - Download antivirus and antispyware software for Windows XP and Vista for the home use version, go the commercial versions AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security - Real-time protection against viruses, spyware and malicious websites if you want or need more. Can't tell you how many times I've seen AVG pick stuff up that nortons didn't know was there. Simple and very effective. Commercial AVG has 2 year licenses, so cost is well down on Symantec (which frequently has serious issues when it comes time to upgrade/renew subscription). Won't slow your machine down, as long as you turn off the startup scan. If you want to do a daily full scan of every file on your machine, do it manually or schedule it for after hours and leave the system on overnight.

Yes, I'm an AVG dealer. We became an AVG dealer because we assessed a variety of products and were sick and tired of dealing with the problems that Norton's so very frequently develops.

We don't reccommend registry cleaners because most end users end up breaking their machine with them. Be careful with these if you use them.

Don't run multiple AV products. They will fight with each other and compete for resources.
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Originally Posted by Zoom05

Hey, can someone recommend a good free antivirus program I can download? They don't support my free AVG anymore apparently.

uninstall the current version (presumably 7.5), restart then install the current v8. Covers virus and malware, no firewall.

How much benefit you would get from the commercial versions with a firewall is debatable. With no third party firewall installed, most broadband users already have two firewalls : A NAT firewall built into your internet modem/router, and the built-in windows firewall.

A responsible user has no pressing need to install a third party firewall.
High risk usage? Yes, then you need something more.

Many people can't configure them properly; Say yes to everything (or just once at the wrong moment) and you might as well not have a firewall in the first place.

[gtc]

Have been using McAfee on single PCs since 1998. I have never had any issues with it.

It's been trapping crap all of that time. I've never had a virus.

I rate it

[Hoss]

HI ALL

I also keep the cookies catches as clean as possible, i know people who never clean their registry or cookies out. Just looking for trouble that n usually find it.

What is a few minutes compared to weeks of trouble or rebuild?


Hoss
E G M

[jvanzeeland]

Originally Posted by gtc

Have been using McAfee on single PCs since 1998. I have never had any issues with it.

It's been trapping crap all of that time. I've never had a virus.

I rate it

There's plenty of people who don't have a problem with NAV, either. Bear in mind that I'm commenting on the # of issues I see as a sysop and not as an end-user.

If I installed NAV on a network of PC's I'm willing to bet I'd see 10x as many problems as I would with AVG network edition.

Haven't assessed McAffee for quite awhile, used to use it in domain networks without many issues, mostly I dislike the direction they've taken with it, which is similar to NAV - Massive increases in complexity, which inevitably leads to more significant issues.

Don't have much recent hands on experience with it other than one machine I currently have in my workshop with McAffee that is trouble, and I'll likely have to remove McAffee before I'll be able to fix it.

Back in 1998 McAffee was the best around. Even as late as 01/02 it was one of the best. Not long after that they pushed too hard with complexity.

It's the complexity that I object to, not whether it can do the job or not. I would say it is a cut above norton's that's for sure, but I wouldn't rate it much higher due to the complexity.

NOD32 does the job where I've seen it. Don't like it much for it's interface, but it does take a simpler approach that works well, similar to AVG's approach.

I'm of course badly biased, because now that I work with AVG wherever possible I enjoy not having to deal with broken and annoyingly complex antivirus software.