AntiVirus recommendations?

[Todd Burch]

I have AVG free on my Windows machine. It's "ok". AVG free does nothing to stop or prevent a BHO (browser helper object) from installing itself. You have to upgrade to AVG pro to get BHO support.

Todd

[Matt Meiser]

I switched to AVG Free on all my home PCs about 2 years ago.

Every year Norton seemed to get more and more bloated. The final straw was when it wouldn't stay registered and they finally locked out my licenses. They accused me of violating the license even though I had purchased two licenses and had two machines. It took arguing with a supervisor at tech support to get them unlocked. My work PC has Norton--I forgot how slow it makes the machine until I got it. Ours has the Norton Systemworks junk on it too. The One Click Cleanup feature was deleting all my cookies every week until I told it not to. I couldn't find a way to tell it to exclude certain cookies. I heard we are evaluating alternatives and as our licenses expire, we'll be switching to something new.

I tried the CA Antivirus on one machine via their 1 year free trial offer. They started spamming me with ads several times a week--even when I unsubscribed they continued. At least I was able to train GMail to handle it as spam. Never again.

Where I used to work we switched from Norton to Trend which seemed to be pretty good. One of my customers (a very large pharma/chemical company) has used Trend for years as well and other than an issue with one specific piece of software (industrial HMI software--nothing anyone is going to be running on their home PC) it seems pretty good.

[Randy Klein]

I use Kaspersky. Low resource usage and fast and frequent definition updates.

I have used both Norton and McAffee. They are resource hogs.

[Frank Hagan]

I have experience with Norton and McAfee "suites", and used to like Norton (up until the last non-bloated version in 2003). The suites typically pair one good function, such as anti-virus, with several not-so-good implementations of the other functions (spyware protection, etc.) Norton got so hard to remove from the computers I was working on that I started wondering what the real virus was ...

I think its better to try and find the programs that work the best for your type of activity to cover you in terms of viruses, spyware, and hacker attempts. Anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewalls are the usual solutions.

I now use Avast! free anti-virus. Its a pretty complete anti-virus program, with options to scan email, remain resident, etc. I also use Windows Defender from MS, and Spybot Search-and-destroy for adware (both seem to get 100% of it, but neither one alone does). I have a router that I connect my PCs through, and use the hardware firewall in the router; that's a better solution IMO than using a software firewall.

This solution gives me much less overhead than using an all-in-one suite, and it works for me. I've had very good luck with Avast; my only infection came while protected by Norton, but it was a new variant that got me before the update protected me, which can happen with any program.

[Jim Becker]

and use the hardware firewall in the router; that's a better solution IMO than using a software firewall.

The hardware firewall does not protect you from outgoing activities, such as those caused by Trojan horses, spyware, etc. The hardware firewall only protects from probing from outside of your local network. Ideally, one should use both, IMHO.

[David G Baker]

Frank,
The reason I stopped using Norton is the same reason you gave. I have had good luck with ZoneAlarm Security Suite, the only problem I have had since installing it is when I down loaded IE7. IE7 caused me major problems.

[Dave Hale]

ZASS (Zone Alarm Security Suite) paid version for me. After the pains with Norton in '03 and dealing with McAfee at work, ZASS was essentially a non-event. I haven't had one virus, malware, etc since I got it. There was a period 6 months ago they had an issue with Outlook Express, but it was resolved in a couple of weeks. I think when I got it, it was top-rated from PC Magazine. It might be good for you to look at the reviews and see what's changed.

[Frank Hagan]

The hardware firewall does not protect you from outgoing activities, such as those caused by Trojan horses, spyware, etc. The hardware firewall only protects from probing from outside of your local network. Ideally, one should use both, IMHO.

Hmmm ... looks like I'll have to reconsider this part of my "arsenal". Windows Defender does do some of that ... requiring permission for any outgoing contact from the computer (Southwest Airlines "Ding" program, which pings their server for deals, is an example of one it thinks might be a trojan). But its probably not as complete as a 4 billion gigabyte software suite that also makes coffee in the morning.

I've about decided to move over to a Mac for my home computer next time because of the nonsense required to maintain a Windows computer. The only thing Microsoft could make that wouldn't suck would be a vacuum cleaner.

Either that, or go with a free version of Linux and play with the OS security on a lower-level.

[Jim Becker]

Windows Defender on Vista is reportedly more capable, but woefully inadequate on Win XP. (but better than nothing) ZoneAlarm gets my nod as a replacement.

[Frank Hagan]

Windows Defender on Vista is reportedly more capable, but woefully inadequate on Win XP. (but better than nothing) ZoneAlarm gets my nod as a replacement.

I had some kind of log or data file corruption problems with ZoneAlarm that would cause a general system slowdown, requiring re-installation periodically. It drove me nuts until I found out what it was. Windows Defender really isn't for the same thing ... but it has been good at finding spyware (its built on the old Giant code, I think). But I'll take a look at ZoneAlarm again.

[Jim W. White]

Mike,

I'm evaluating Microsoft Onecare on two PCs at home right now. With 2 months experience all I can say is that it seems to update definitions well and it's scheduling is pretty straight forward but it's extremely slow ...and generally unimpressive from a features/user interface standpoint. It was drop-dead cheap though, so I'm giving it a go for a while. ($10 at Costco after instant rebate with use on multiple systems!!)

I'm an X long-standing Norton user. I don't see myself ever going back to them. It's sad to see a software company go that far astray after being the industry leader for so many years.

Jim in Idaho

I found the information on this site very informative:

http://anti-virus-software-review.to...ky-review.html

based on they're information, I'lll probably go with the Kapersky software if/when the OneCall doesn't work out.