What Anti-Virus to Use.

[jjjnettie]

We need to upgrade our Anti-virus software.
I noticed Norton advertising a "Internet Security" Package which claims to seek and rid any virus, worms etc. They also have the normal "Ant-Virus" package which is half the price of the Internet Security. Does anyone know what the difference is between the two? should not the cheaper program do the same job?
On the other hand, Nortons does use up a lot of system resources, which can really slow down a computer, especially an older one. Any suggestions for an alternative?
Thanks in Advance.

[ving]

I use NAV too, but if you want a good freebie try agv, it works really well. it gives free updates etc. thats what i'd get.

NAV has a incoming firewall build in.

[iceman]

AVG is a free one that lots of people use.

[ving]

oops, avg sorry :)
just had a lysdexic moment

[vindictive666]

i use vet

not free

i have been using for years no problems sofar :)


http://home2.ca.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayHom ePage&SiteID=capac&Locale=en_AU&Env=BASE

[Argonavis]

The best anti-virus software you can use is ubuntu as an operating system

http://www.ubuntu.com/

and firefox as a browser

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

but if you really want to stick with Windows and IE, then I find Adaware really good:

http://free-adaware-download.com/freeadaware/

[erick]

I pays me money and use Trend-Micro PC-cillin:-

http://shop.trendmicro.com/au/

It's worked well for some three years now.

They are offering me on-line renewal for three PCs for two years - AUD129 total. I'll take it up.

[Striker]

I use AVG 7.5 it's free.

I find it just as good as any paid virus protection and I have used most of them.

[rogerg]

I have only ever used Norton and eTrust. My experience has been that Norton is very 'heavy' on the system - uses more memory and makes a noticable impact on system performance. I haven't noticed any such effect with eTrust. So from my small sample space, I would suggest eTrust ezAntiVirus. They have a suit too, that includes firewall and all that stuff I think.

[drylander]

I use AVG 7.5 free for virus protection Sygate(free) for a firewall and Adaware(paid copy) for spyware and don't have a problem. With my new laptop Nortons internet suite came with a 3 month trail but I got rid of it not because it is crap as its not but it is bloatware extreme. I don't go to dodgy sites and am careful of downloads emails are with Agent so all is good in my world ....and I know them all here:lol:
Pete

[asimov]

Avast4 for me :) Never lets a thing through.

[cjmarsh81]

I was using Antivir until recently when they started to get too bloated. Now I use NOD32 and it isn't bad.

[Doug]

I now use AVG (which is actually not really free) and I also use Mailwasher which is free unless you want to pay for some advanced features. Since using these programs I have cut the amount of spam down from about 20/day to around 1/month or less. Virus infected Emails and any spam are detected and deleted/bounced at the server and never make the journey to my compter.:) I like the ability to bounce unwanted emails.

[GTB_an_Owl]

I believe AVG is, or soon won't be free

I am biased here as i have used and sold Nod32 for over 5 yrs now
nod32 hasn't missed a virus for as long as i can remember
the main reason i have used nod (as a professional) is its speed in doing scans - although i am getting paid for it , i hate sitting in front of a clients computer for half an hour or more waiting for a virus scan to finish

my second choice is VET - it is very thorough and does pick up a few more things than nod32 does on occasions - but it is the one i have to sit and wait for

i have found the combination of nod32 and spybot keeps mine and my clients machine in very good shape

as an aside - more than 50% of machines i have to fix problems on have Nortons installed on them - take that as you may but i have never been a fan of Nortons

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl]

Doug

bouncing emails is a waste of time (only clogs up the internet more) and may actually be playing into the hands of the spammers as you are only waving the welcome flag and saying "here i am - send me more"

as an email scanner i like "Spamihilator"
i have had mine active for over twelve months and it's scores about 99.5% of crap emails that come in now

[Doug]

Geof, I'm not exactly an expert on these things but I really can't see how a bounce is a welcome mat. The Message that is sent, and I have tried it on myself is :

If you get that back, and it has the paperclip attachment symbol too,why would you bother any further??

Cheers,
Doug

[AstroJunk]

Nope, still free and no plans not to be. Still the best for the home user and 7.5 available now!

(sorry if your sales go down, but home users should never have to pay!!!)

[GTB_an_Owl]

Mmmmm - sure i read or heard somewhere before xmas that thay were stopping the free version this year

as for the bouncing - often the mail you get is just a randomly generated exercise by the spammers that have no idea that you actually exist - if you reply to them (by bouncing) - its called a gotcha - and your name/address goes on the confirmed list (as i understand it to work)

[Doug]

Ahh yes I 4got. AVG is free, however as I wanted a few of the extra bells and wistles I went for the pro version and that has a limited trial time.
I have in the one package antivirus, anti spyware, anti phishing, firewall and whatever. It is the spy ware that cleans out the tracking cookies which I believe contribute to much spam.

sorry for the mislead,
Doug

[GTB_an_Owl]

and on the other hand - on the bouncing

most often the return address is false any way - so you are only putting useless traffic on the net

again i may have to get my hearing checked - but someone was claiming that 95% of traffic on the net was actually spam

lastly - i believe you get "what you pay for" and nothing but nothing is FREE

[GTB_an_Owl]

found off the net
AVG Antivirus is Still Free (Stop Worrying) (http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003108.html)





I received a note from a buddy on one of my lists. He was in a panic. "I just received a notification from AVG anti virus that as of January 2007 it will no longer be free."
Nope, that's not true. Grisoft's AVG just has a newer version. Support for all prior free versions will end in January, 2007.

[Dennis]

Hi JJJ

Norton Internet Security (NIS) = Norton Anti Virus (NAV) + Norton Firewall (NF).

NAV is designed to protect you from viruses.

NF provides the following additional functions:

Hides your computer from hackers.
Advanced phishing protection identifies and blocks fraudulent websites
Rootkit Protection finds and removes hidden threats in the operating system
Smart firewall blocks hackers and stops spyware transmitting unauthorized information
Intrusion Prevention automatically shields newly discovered security vulnerabilities
Network protection configures security settings when logged on at home, or on public networks


There is a cost though.

To keep up to date, you need to renew subscriptions every 12 months.
These applications can sometimes be resource hungry and make the system slow whilst they are performing resource intensive tasks, such as a full system scan for viruses, something which they recommend you do weekly.


Here is a link:

http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/features.jsp?pcid=is&pvid=nis2007

Cheers

Dennis

[Kal]

I work in IT (hp) own 3 computers (peaked at about 5 :P ) and have never bought any anti-virus program. Theres plenty of free programs out there that will do the job just as good.

I run a mix of AVG (http://free.grisoft.com) which has already been mentioned for my 32 bit windows and which is recognised as one of the best programs out there, and Avast! (http://www.avast.com/) for my 64 bit windows.