Anti-Virus recommendations

[The Mekon]

Having searched this forum, I know this has been done in the past, but the most informative threads are over two years old, so -

What anti-virus software is recommended? I am not running anything at present and I recently have had one person tell me my laptop is infected, another that my memory stick is.

Previous posts recommended Nod32 and Avast.

What is new in this area? - I do not mind paying, in fact I prefer to buy in shop so I have the base program on disk.

All suggestions welcome, I am not very computer savvy.

[Nifty]

I use Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free and it doesn't slow things down as much as some others. And it works! It has saved me twice.
I also use Malwarebytes Antimalware. It's free also.

cheers
Nev

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I'd also recommend MSE and MWBAM.

You should run a software firewall also, and there are several available free. A popular one is Zonealarm.

Cheers

[asimov]

I've tried nearly all of them & it's Avast that I'd recommend.

[Sarge]

Avast and Spybot. Works for me! Both freeware
:D:D
Rod

[OzRob]

I used to use Avast but I have gone off the free stuff after hearing from people about problems. Now I use Trend Micro. You can get a 3 user licence on eBay quite cheap ($25 - $30). At least it was available a couple of months ago when I bought my new version. You can definately do much better than the retail price.

[supernova1965]

I will add my recommendation for MSE and Malware Bytes with Spybot thrown in for good measure

[vindictive666]

hi

i use eset nod32 plus you can ask for a disk 32bit or 64bit depending what version of windows you are using


http://www.eset.com/


also i am using spybot, superantispyware,

had trouble with all the free ones avast avg ect ect

hope this helps

regards john

[The Mekon]

Thanks to all who posted.

I am trying out the freeware Avast, if that proves OK, I will pay the $30 for the pro version.

[supernova1965]

I wouldn't pay for the pro version the free version is great and the paid version is really for business use. That's what their blurb says there is no difference really that I can see except that they want business to pay for it.

[AdrianF]

I use AVG and have for the last..... Well yonks. Works for me. Started with AVGFree.

Adrian

[Nifty]

The reason I chose MSE is that surely Microsoft must know their own software much better than anyone else and how to ook after it!

Also I got fed up with some of the others who insisted on taking money from my credit card even though I had cancelled the subscription.

Apart from the fact that MBAM can sometimes find things the others can't, it has a wonderful little thing called File Assassin which enables you to delete files that refuse to be deleted by other means.

Do you really need a different firewall than the one provided by Win7?
Does it have any weaknesses?

cheers
Nev

[DavidU]

I like AVG, been using it for years on all the computers.

[Kal]

I have used Avast! for several years now without a problem and installed it onto some of my aunts/uncles/cousins pc's when they complained of problems. No complaints at all, infact my uncle was so happy with the product he ended up buying the pro version.

If your PC is already infected I would recommend attempting to fix it first with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) software. It is the best software I have found so far for removing infections.

My only other recommendation if you have infection problems is to make sure you keep all your software, including windows, up to date at all times, and of course, never open suspicious emails, and never use limewire type programs. If there is one common denominator to the infected PC's that I have cleaned over the years, it would have to be that limewire was installed on every one of them.

[The Mekon]

up to date at all times, and of course, never open suspicious emails, and never use limewire type programs. If there is one common denominator to the infected PC's that I have cleaned over the years, it would have to be that limewire was installed on every one of them.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Andrew, But just what is "limewire" ? can you elaborate?

John

[bartman]

Same Same. Since I had a puter connected to the net ( close to early 2000's) and heard of AVG ....I used it and never had a problem. [knock on wood]:bashcomp:
I also run SBSaD once in a while.
The main thing is to ( as said or inferred before) ....use your nouse and dont click on anything you don't recognise, are unsure of, looks/sounds dodgy, has a claim of improving anything ( from fixing your computer to your reproductive parts) and files from 'dodgy ' countries....

HTH
Bartman

[Screwdriverone]

+1 for AVG Free, I have it on all my home PC's and it is brilliant.

John B, Limewire is a download / file sharing program that turns your computer into a sort of file sharer/download tool for movies and games and other things (not technically legal or copyright responsible) which is a notoriusly unsecure program and environment for your computer to be in.

Avoid it, is my suggestion...

Cheers

Chris

[asimov]

Yep, Limewire sucks. You won't know the song or the movie is infected until the download is completed.

[RAJAH235]

I used AVG free for years but found the newer versions to be buggy.
Switched to Avast & no more problems.
As for any Windows firewall??????
Nope. Do not use them.
As soon as I got the new WIN7 HP on the PC & this XP Pro, 2nd hand laptop, I installed Comodo free firewall.
I also use SUPERAntispyware & Spyware Blaster. (Javacool.)

Regs, L..

[ZeroID]

Still using AVG free. Have done for about 10 years now. No Problems that I have found.
Malware bytes is also my friend although I haven't needed it for some time. Turn on a firewall !! Anything is better than nothing.
I work in a big corporate network environment and co-manage the firewall and virus filters. We block over 10,000 hack/spam/ virus. trojan etc attempts a day, Believe me when I tell you they are out there and out to get you !

[danielsun]

Yep, Limewire which I think is now Frostwire is a virus factory.

I have used AVG for many years but now use Avast along with Malwarebytes and Spybot Which I think between the three they do the job.
My mum got that dreaded "MS REMOVAL TOOL" Fake virus program which is just a virus itself and a total scam!!! It shuts everything down and you have to go into safe mode to get rid of it!

[asimov]

Hopefully antivirus programs have advanced a bit since I last used AVG & a few others. In the early days, AVG would allow the virus in & THEN warn you that you had a virus! That scenerio is no good for anyone, & I wanted something that ABORTED THE CONNECTION instantly if there was an incoming nasty. Avast was the only (free) one around 3 or 4 yrs ago that you could setup to do that. I've stuck with it ever since.

Edit: And I wouldn't be without Spybot S&D these days either. The Teatimer app. is great.

[Heath]

Eset Nod32 is a non obtrusive and effective antivirus. I use it for my business and at home. Not expensive and very good service from local support

[alistairsam]

I'd recommend McAfee. We use it for our enterprise of over 3000 nodes (enterprise version), we've trialled the home products and it was better than symantec and some others. their signatures are released much quicker.

http://promos.mcafee.com/en-au/lp/3products.aspx?cid=67304

else, look at kaspersky. i've not used it but have heard a lot of good things about it.
https://www.kasperskyanz.com.au/

also lookup antivirus reviews by cnet and others. reviews usually give a good idea.

[multiweb]

I'm a long time user of Symantec Norton products but I have to admit the latest versions since 2009 have been ridden with glitches and serious problems so I moved to Zonealarm Internet security. I've always used their firewall program and recently switched to their Internet Security program. So far so good.

[Tiotion]

I'm gonna be turned into Swiss cheese for this but I like Norton Internet suite on windows systems. It's not as intrusive as 360 in that it doesn't put it's fingers in everything on your computer. The ~$80 yearly fee is a bit of a pain but it's a small price in the grand scheme of things.
My sister was using free AV software and got infected by a virus that uploaded about a gig of data in an hour. Only found out because we hit our download limit in 3 days. So after that we switched.
Perhaps it's peice of mind placebo cos it's paid but yeh. Works for me

[SkyViking]

I've been using BitDefender for the last couple of years. It has worked brilliantly and is very unintrusive. I have never noticed any slowing down or hugging of resources, so I'm happy with it. I think it costs some 50 USD for a yearly license.

[xstream]

I used to use ESET Nod32 when I was running windoze but now use ESET Cybersecurity for Mac. Both have been faultless, more than worth their cost.

[scagman]

I use kaspersky on all my machines and find it works well.

John

[g__day]

I've gone with Avast Internet Security V6 for awhile now - seems to work fine!

Before that I used Zone Alarms Pro - twas okay but there was no 64 bit version for a long time - so Avast displaced it!

[Barrykgerdes]

I have AVG which seems to work OK. However I tried a program called stopzilla which appeared to be safe (backed up before I tried it). I ran it (took all night) and it found 91 assorted virii, worms, spyware, adware etc. Of course it would not remove them till I registered for payment.

I have a list of the programs it found and some of them are rather strange as they exist in some old DOS batch files (rabio search enhancer) that I know are only ASCII and I have looked at the hex code which has no problems. Others are obviously real and were not found by AVG in a full scan. However I tried to run one and AVG immediately told me what it was and moved it to the virus vault and would not run.

Another one is a virus called "comet system comet cursor spyware". It is a compiled version of a quickbasic program I wrote. The code is writen in ASCII (no virus there) and compiled with the qbasic compiler and does not appear to have any problems. There is no virus in any of the other programs I have written and compiled in qbasic. This program runs OK

Anyone with further information?

Barry

PS I did this testing after I had trouble with a friends computer infected with the "windows recovery" virus

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I hope I've got this right...

Zonealarm is a firewall, which is different to an anti-virus program, and really you must have both.

Malwarebytes is one of the best, but the freeware is an online anti-virus scanner, it swoops from the clouds and cleans your PC, then it zooms away and does not stay.

To get Malwarebytes to take up residence in your PC and watch out for nasties, you need the Pro version which is $25. This will be the best money you ever spent if you get a rootkit in your PC (I did - OMG). These dreadful things burrow right into Windows, into the OS core, send your passwords to East Berlin, and are a real trial to eradicate. Being a paying customer gets you first priority with their Tech Support, which is really expert.

Another good diagnostic scanner is DrWeb Cureit!

There are two leading sources of assistance if you get a really serious virus in the PC,

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/

On either of these (often the same experts there) you can open a thread and get advice. The number of different tools they bring to bear is amazing, and as mentioned, if you have paid (MBAM that is), it gets a same day or next day response.

Comb through these forums to get an idea of how best to armour your PC. It seems nowadays you may need not one, but two complementary anti-virus tools, although beware of spending unnecessarily.

Cheers