New antivirus

[Krusty]

First... Wow sector went off the deep end, no?

I'd like to apologize for that comment. I was rushed and chose my words poorly. Regardless of my opinion of Sector's reply, it wasn't deserving of that.

[guncrasher]

this is an old post that has been resurected.  just let it die guys  .

semp

[Tigger29]

First... Wow sector went off the deep end, no?

Second... Tigger: Personal experience. For many years growing up my family had Norton and Symantec on our systems. Many times we had to live with an annoying (but innocuous) virus that popped up messages because the AV couldn't get rid of it. Even later in recent years I knew the difference and moved away. Personal anecdote: My mother had 2 viruses that her up to date and modern copy of Norton couldn't quarantine, clean, remove, or do anything about. It would try and fail repeatedly. She called me in.  Simply shutting down Norton and installing AVG Free edition (even without internet updates) easily found, cleaned, and removed the viruses.

At her request I uninstalled Norton (as best I could at the time without a reformat) and she's avoided it since.

That's just one of several similar stories. I get tasked to reformat my family's PCs or just update certain things and upkeep, and over time I've moved them all to better AV software. They're all happier and better off. All have had some viruses at some point and more than once when I installed simple, basic, AVG Free edition it would find something hiding that Norton or Symantec couldn't even spot. They've also since learned the usefulness of spybot and adaware through my prodding.

So the evidence is plain to anybody that's used Symantec or Norton for 10 years or so like I have. The software doesn't cut the mustard. It's a massive bloatware that does next to nothing. They only stop the beginner AOL script kiddie viruses.

I was talking about Symantec AV Corporate Edition... the latest version before it became bloatware as well.  Using the Corporate version of the software, I have experienced the complete opposite of what you've encountered.  I've seen it catch things that other AV software didn't.  I can also tell you from experience that it uses the least amount of system resources and is probably the most lightweight AV solution I've seen to date (Mind you this is Version 10.1 of Symantec AV which is a lightweight corporate solution and NOT a complete package like Norton/Symantec consumer products which are worth slightly less than the free AOL disks that everyone used to hand out).

Regardless, both of our opinions are strictly anecdoctal and neither of us have any facts to support our cases.  I supposed I could probably dig up some statistics (for what they are worth) but the truth is that there is no one "bulletproof" solution like what the OP was asking for.  All we can hope for is that the OP read this thread and learned from it, especially the parts where an ounce of securing your computer and practicing safe browsing habits is worth a pound of any AV software solution.

[Melvin]

this is an old post that has been resurected.  just let it die guys  .

semp

Yeah, I was simply looking for some advice from the more tech savvy members of the community.

But since it's degraded into a pissing match, just forget it.

[Skuzzy]

Corporate versions of any anti-virus software is nowhere near the same as the consumer versions of the product.

McAfee has a very good reputation in the corporate world (good enough that Intel decided to buy them), but the consumer product is one of the worst there is.

The consumer products from Norton and McAfee are not any better than the viruses they are reported to protect your computer from.  I deal with the issues they create everyday.

[ACE]

Corporate versions of any anti-virus software is nowhere near the same as the consumer versions of the product.

McAfee has a very good reputation in the corporate world (good enough that Intel decided to buy them), but the consumer product is one of the worst there is.

The consumer products from Norton and McAfee are not any better than the viruses they are reported to protect your computer from.  I deal with the issues they create everyday.

What AV do HTC use?

[SectorNine50]

You do not own the CD key.  The only legal way to obtain a copy of a Microsoft operating system is to get it from Microsoft.

Interesting...

My understanding had been that you may use any Windows installation CD as long as you had obtained the key legally, used it on the same computer (if it has already been installed), and that the CD key was proof of this.

Went back and did some research, and you are allowed to make a copy of the disk.  I understood that initially as the CD you installed from didn't matter.  However, after more digging, it seems that the CD can be copied into an ISO only for personal use.  You may not give that ISO to anyone else, even if they have a legal CD key.

Sorry for my misunderstanding and I apologize for posting that.

I suppose you learn something new every day!

And just because your "experienced" co-workers say it's fine...  Doesn't always mean it's really fine...

[Melvin]

Gentlemen, after re-reading this thread I've come away with a wealth of knowledge.

I saved all of my essentials to an external drive and re-loaded XP to my HDD using my own key.

I've decided that the info contained herein will guide me on my AV dealing.

Thank you all for the input.

Now, if I could only figure  out how to organize my computer so that it would behave more efficiantly...

[outbreak]

Used to use AVG Free but after last year the free edition sucks, Upgraded to Internet Security 2011 by them, Never happier, With AVG, ZoneAlarm Pro, and a filter program (Kids) my computer still runs excellent and can run 99% of my programs with no lag or problems.

Anti-Virus: AVG Internet Security 2011 (Dont use AVG Firewall it does suck)
FireWall: ZoneAlarm Pro
Spyware: Spybot S&D, HiJackThis
Filter Software: BlueCoat K9 (Free and really configurable)

Oh btw been using AVG 7 years with no problems to date.

[VAMPIRE 2?]

Silat informed me of AVG a few years back and it free. is there something wrong with that? Ive had NO problems with it or my computer AND it's NOT a recourse hog.

www.free.avg.com  <--I think   

[Skuzzy]

Interesting...

My understanding had been that you may use any Windows installation CD as long as you had obtained the key legally, used it on the same computer (if it has already been installed), and that the CD key was proof of this.

Went back and did some research, and you are allowed to make a copy of the disk.  I understood that initially as the CD you installed from didn't matter.  However, after more digging, it seems that the CD can be copied into an ISO only for personal use.  You may not give that ISO to anyone else, even if they have a legal CD key.

Sorry for my misunderstanding and I apologize for posting that.

I suppose you learn something new every day!

And just because your "experienced" co-workers say it's fine...  Doesn't always mean it's really fine...

Yes, you may make a personal copy of the CD to use, but if the CD is destroyed, the only way to get another legal copy is through Microsoft (that is assuming Microsoft would actually give you another copy; they do not have to).

[Krusty]

Used to use AVG Free but after last year the free edition sucks,

I have to agree there. Last year or two it's been getting annoying and bigger, bloatier (I know, that's not a word), and more like nag-ware.

I moved to AVAST free edition after that and have been using it for a little while.

[Nutzoid]

I tried the free version of AVAST a few years ago, and it seemed to work fine. I did however think that it was a little on the heavy side of resource hogging. And even though it had the ability to have it's actions suspended, I still found it stealing some resources whenever I checked the task manager. I couldn't shut them down completely. I would look, and yep, there they would be, AV something or the other, still running. So after going without for a while, and doing my best to surf smart, I decided to go back to using another anti virus software. I went and purchased the Kaspersky product. It has some pretty good reviews and seems to work as advertised. I like the fact that I can  completely shut down all of it's functions when needed and start them back up just as easily. So far, I feel as if I've made a good choice.



Nutz

[Silat]

Returnil free
Sandboxie free

[ozrocker]

Avast. Been using it for almost a decade. Free, never have caught anything.



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