Anti-virus software

[jsainz1]

Can anyone recommend an anti-virus software. I had a computer guy look at my computer and he told me Norton Anti-virus was more pain than its worth.
HELP!!!! Thank you

 

[Tranquility]

I have Norton SystemWorks 2004. Norton is excellent and robust but it is really bloated, it can really make your PC's performance plummet if it isn't powerful enough to handle it. An excellent substitute is Trend Micro's PC-Cillin or if you don't want to pay for an antivirus you can get AVG or avast.

 

[beefy]

Avg Free link (personal use)

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

AntiVir link (free also for personal use)

http://www.free-av.com/oben.htm

 

[Triple6]

AVG is really good. Trend however is not.

 

[Tranquility]

Here is a good roundup for antivirus software and security suites.

BTW did you guys know Microsoft is developing its own AV product?
Read it about it here.

 

[GrumpyHermit]

Less important than which AV you get is that you spend the time to learn how to use it, and commit yourself to updating it regularly and doing a scan routine. Many people here like AVG because it is free, it is a good choice.

I have used Trend Micro PC-Cillin myself within the last month, and found it to be effective and unobtrusive. It comes with both AV and firewall for $49.95. Triple6, what problems did you have with it that you can't recommend it?

The AV I currently use is eTrust EZ Armor by Computer Associates. I get it free courtesy of Roadrunner, but it is priced at $49.95. It has AV, firewall and antispam features. I have been very happy with it, just the other day it caught two trojans that an online RPG gamesite tried to download onto my computer.

 

[Triple6]

Its poorly laid out in my opinion and have seen it let by or fail to remove several well known viruses. Also when it gets disabled its hard to tell that its not working, especially by end consumers.

I believe Norton has the highest rate of virus detection, AVG apparently has a fairly low rate of detection of the big names in AV. One thing that I do like about Norton, even though its a resource hog and it highlights even the smallest problems with your O/S with errors during its install or use, is that it almost always complains that somethings wrong. Meaning if there's something wrong the users going to find out pretty quick.

 

[GrumpyHermit]

Thanks!

 

[MysticEyes]

Depending on who does the testing and how, various AV products get different marks. In the latest Consumer Report's testing Trend PCCillin was their top choice.

 

[Triple6]

While in another review I read Norton 2004 took the award and AVG was fairly disappointing.

 

[maswad]

Avast Anti Virus free
www.avast.com

 

[I Fix 4 U]

i'm disappointed with avg after all the hype about it, i downloaded it and basically all it did was say it couldnt be healed and sent it to the virus vault.
mcafee is pay and its cleaned everything, even while downloading a doubled zipped virus.

any good free ones that will do what mcafee did b/c if so we all wanna know.

 

[Triple6]

Whats wrong with it being quarantined? Most good antiviruses quarantine files for backup - its a good feature. Not all files can be fixed(healed), in which case the file has to be deleted. If its an important file you don't necessarily want it permantently deleted. Some files can't be fixed because they are only the virus so they have to be delete and the virus vault allows to keep a copy just in case.

McAfee generally gets poor reviews. Norton and Trend usually get the best reviews.

 

[I Fix 4 U]

reviews are biased, they speak of the retail mcafee, i'm using vso and it runs quietly in the bg and when i get a virus it heals it (3/4) and other ones go to quarantine. It will even detect double zipped viruses while downloading. on the contrary retail mcafee sux.

Avast! was better than avg but it was wierd and lacking in things. i'm going to try out anti-vir soon.

ty for feedback.

ps in avg its good but in winxp it keeps detecting viruses as a logon but i have scanned so many times. i cannot view what its doing doring scan and it only gives me one option for everthing- move to the vault. thats why i dont like it. in mcafee vso it lists it like in ad-aware and lets me decide after.

 

[=Phant0M=]

I reccomend BitDefender Pro V8. It is very picky about letting things through and letting things run. It has a very stable firewall and very good spam protection for email progs. I got it free with my custom computer but i think it costs somethin like $50-$70 depending on what you need. They have a 30 day free trial on their products and even have a free full version w/ bare minimum options.