[Cg13]

Hi there, I would like to ask opinions for anyone who visit this thread
What is the best antivirus for you? and if you dont mind please state WHY you said so, thank you so much

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Cg13,

Free AV is good - AVG and avast!. None is even better.

I am now primarily using a Linux Live CD as my exclusive environment - I have made updates to it and have written several scripts to apply when I boot up from the Live CD in the AM, and to save my browsing bookmarks, history and Firefox add-ons that may change during a session when I shutdown the system.

I have a very restrictive set of firewall rules (in Linux you need to apply the rules to iptables or you only have the firewall capability without the firewall being activated) that drop any packets that are not specifically requested.

I have chkrootkit and rkhunter to search for rootkits.

Since I am on a 56k dialup account with my ISP - I am not a very good target for any malware.

The best security feature of my setup is that my hard drives are not mounted . I do have 1GB of RAM that builds an in memory file system. If any malware were to get through, at most it would install itself in memory, and when I turn the power off at system shutdown, it would not survive - as it would on a conventionally installed operating system which has their hard drives mounted during user sessions. If I needed to further shield my hard drives during a session, I have the Linux commands to spin (power) down the disks (which would also save power - i.e. use less electricity than to keep them spinning).

I don't pay for AV, AS, AT, HIPS or the Linux operating system.

I have been doing this for two years since last June now when at that time my WinXP Pro SP2 stb'd. I have full access to the data on the WinXP disk when I want it.

-- Tom

P.S. In my WinXP days, I preferred to go to the AV testing sites to see the results of the dozen or so top AVs. I would recommend ESET NOD32 since besides signatures it is also heuristic in its capabilities which is a better defense against zero-day attacks. I think the name of the web site was av-comparatives.org . Go to the Comparatives link in the left-hand panel to get the latest links to online test results and reports. Do read the web site for more information.

-- Tom

[Cg13]

Thank you very much for your input Tom, I know AVG its good in Linux system, however I am using windows vista, and as far as I concerned I fix alot of computer that infected with viruses, trojans and malwares and they all using AVG, so in my eyes it might be AVG doesnt really good when coming to windows vista or windows xp.

However about ESET NOD32, I have used that before in my client computer (vista ultimate) and it didnt show up quite good expectation, malware still can get inside the computer and I need to clean up the registry and deleted some viruses manually as NOD ESET32 didnt recognize it as a viruses (Note: antivirus has been updated frequently)

Thank you very much for your opinions Tom, much appreciated

[Rich-M]

Nod32 best around these days and probably best because it repels virus and spyware instead of letting everything in and then combating them like Avg and Avast.

[Cg13]

NOD32 repels virus and spyware?... are you sure about that Rich-M? because as I said, there is one time I repaired a pc with NOD32 antivirus in it, there are still lot of viruses in there.. because I dont want to waste alot of time I just format the pc though..

[telecom69]

I have no problems at all using AVG in XP Home, its never given me any problems at all in the last 8 years of using it,I think thats reason enough ...for me it works great and Im thankful to AVG for providing it ....

[Saki]

Are the free versions of AVG and avast! or whatever you use as good as the various paid versions? Is there any real reason to pay for your anti-virus setup?

ETA: Forgot to ask, what's the best firewall, in your opinion? I've heard that using two at once causes problems, so what do you recommend?

[telecom69]

One of the things you dont get in the free version of AVG is tech support but that is taken care of in their forums quite adequately,apart from that I dont know of any difference,I dont see why you need to pay when AVG free works as good as it does..

Personally I use Sygate free firewall,its done ok for me over the last 8 years ....you can get that here if you want to try it out http://www.simtel.net/product.downlo...s.php?id=53687 you will always get lots of opinions on this subject,at the end of the day its what you feel comfortable with,try out all the free ones by doing a google search and see what you think ...

[AleciaBrent]

As of now though, my vote goes with NOD32. Extremely lightweight.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by Cg13

NOD32 repels virus and spyware?... are you sure about that Rich-M? because as I said, there is one time I repaired a pc with NOD32 antivirus in it, there are still lot of viruses in there.. because I dont want to waste alot of time I just format the pc though..

Yes I am quite sure as I have recently tested quite a number of antivrius and spyware programs. Now you have to be using the new 3.0 Nod 32 with "Threatsense" for that to be true.
When I ran some tests recently infecting myself with Antivirus2008, I not only had to disable Nod32, I had to uninstall it to get infected with Antivirus 2008. With Avg 8.0 it came right in and then Avg did battle with it but failed to remove the whole thing where I had to use Malwarebytes and Superantispyware to complete the war! same was true with Avast and Avira. I was actually surprised.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by telecom69

One of the things you dont get in the free version of AVG is tech support but that is taken care of in their forums quite adequately,apart from that I dont know of any difference,I dont see why you need to pay when AVG free works as good as it does..

Personally I use Sygate free firewall,its done ok for me over the last 8 years ....you can get that here if you want to try it out http://www.simtel.net/product.downlo...s.php?id=53687 you will always get lots of opinions on this subject,at the end of the day its what you feel comfortable with,try out all the free ones by doing a google search and see what you think ...

The last firewall I would be using now is Sygate as it was bought by Symantec and discontinued over 3 years ago so it has had 0 tech support and that could be quite disastrous for your system.

[sleepingbeauty]

i used norton antivirus, it is good but it make my computer slow

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by sleepingbeauty

i used norton antivirus, it is good but it make my computer slow

By majority opinion it is not good and it does make your computer slow...

[Cg13]

talking about lightweight I heard Kaspersky antivirus also lightweight and good, what do you think guys?

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by Cg13

talking about lightweight I heard Kaspersky antivirus also lightwight and good, what do you think guys?

It's a great antivirus but is anything but "lightweight". It is noticeably there,and has an endless scan.