AntiVirus Software

[BirdDog]

I need Antivirus , malware etc software.  What are you running.  Do you like it?  My Computer is new. 
I'm running norton right now.   

[Chalenge]

Norton IS a virus in a lot of ways... ESET NOD32. 

[batch]

there are many great alternatives both free and paid....... the BEST recommendation  is any OTHER than McAfee or Norton

[TilDeath]

Norton IS a virus in a lot of ways... ESET NOD32. 

x2

[ink]

im using Threatfire, free and works good!

[BirdDog]

x2 ?

[guncrasher]

x2 ?

means he recommends the same thing.  I had mccaffey but way too many processes that came with it were slowing my computer switched to nod32 and seems to go ok.  only complain is that its kindda hard to figure out to set it up.  and by that I mean it sets up itself with the recommended settings and I have to trust it, which seems weird coming from mccaffey where it was a little more user friendly.

semp

[Chalenge]

Wow! You learned how to setup AH and you think EST is hard? 

[Masherbrum]

ESET Smart Security 4.   My parents bought an HP a couple weeks ago with 8GB of RAM on a good deal.   They asked, my pop sprung for the 2 year subscription of ESET Smart Security 4 suite as well.   

[Ghosth]

Yes, lose Norton or Mcaffee

Yes, get threatfire! I've run with just threatfire for almost 2 years now with no problems.

For cheap, you might try AVG, but your getting what your paying for. Better than nothing though.

For the price from all I've heard nod32 is the best.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Believe it or not, Microsoft security essentials has fared well in recent AV comparisons. It's free so definately an option to keep in mind.

http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1137

[BaldEagl]

I've used McAfee for years.  I continue to use it now because I get it free from Comcast and have it installed on three computers.

You can tweak McAfee a lot to get it to run smoothly on any machine.  One thing I do is to turn off the auto-updaters and update manually twice a week.  I also turn off the reporting function as I'm sure they already have lots of people sending reports.  Those seem to be the most obnoxious features.

I used to always leave everything in McAfee turned off in my gaming rig when I played AH but recently had to do a reinstall and left everything set in it's default settings (except auto-update and auto-report).  I logged into AH.  The firewall let me right in and having everything turned on didn't affect my game performance or frame rates one bit.

I'm running pretty much default settings on all three machines now at all times and even my 650Mhz PIII laptop doesn't seem to get bogged down by McAfee.

Like I said, I've been using it for years and they seem to be getting better.  The new versions are much better that those of ten or even five years ago as far a resource useage.

[EDIT]  I've also tried AVG and Avast.  I hated Avast... it was a resource hog.  AVG works well but but seems a bit lightwieght.

[gyrene81]

McAffee stinks...especially the security suite...not very secure. Though you might be able to "pare it down" a bit all you're doing is opening the holes by doing so. Norton is just as bad with the exception that the 360 version tends to be more virus like in it's activity than some viruses. Trend Micro is only slightly better but still a background resource hog...and can cause problems with games.

From experience...download and install DOT (domain of trust) for whatever browser you are using, that will help steer you clear of known bad websites. It's not 100% but if you surf the web a lot you can avoid most of the infected websites. If you don't mind paying for an anti-virus, Nod32 is probably the best thing going right now for a lightweight anti-virus solution that is highly effective. If you want "freeware", Avira Antivir or Avast...either one is very effective and highly lightweight. I've switched to Avira Antivir for now...tested against some rather nasty viruses (they can shut down Norton and McAffee) and it stops them cold...tried one known infected Chinese website and it stopped the auto installer. Avast was pretty good but it was still pretty bulky compared to Nod32 or Avira.

[Denholm]

I think the only security software you need is ESET Smart Security 4, PCTools Spyware Doctor (Don't turn on active security for Spyware Doctor), and AVG Anti-Rootkit Free. I've used them all and combined they have removed every infection I've ever encountered (Confirmed with additional scans from different software).

[Getback]

Norton IS a virus in a lot of ways... ESET NOD32. 

Ditto: You may find you won't need any spyware removers.