I finally got an internet connection at home after 3 years without one. Anyone know what the best/cheapest anti-virus/spy ware program is out there?
Anti Virus Software
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Anti Virus Software AVG. AVGFree.com.
Another vote for AVG:
http://www.grisoft.com
I have two licenses and I have been very happy, no viruses. The GUI is (graphically) horrible looking but who cares, the product works!
Single license, 2 years / $38.95 = cheap, not free. Renewal for another two years is 50% off, last time I paid 19.95.
http://www.grisoft.com
I have two licenses and I have been very happy, no viruses. The GUI is (graphically) horrible looking but who cares, the product works!
Single license, 2 years / $38.95 = cheap, not free. Renewal for another two years is 50% off, last time I paid 19.95.
I use AVG.
The best solution, though is to be very careful.
For every file I download which I consider to be in the slightest bit suspicious, I will use AVG on it through the shortcut menu.
Saves a lot of time that I would have wasted had that program been run :)
The best solution, though is to be very careful.
For every file I download which I consider to be in the slightest bit suspicious, I will use AVG on it through the shortcut menu.
Saves a lot of time that I would have wasted had that program been run :)
AVG here, too.
Avast
This is no time to be talking like a pirate....
Well, Norton Internet Security 2006 isn't free, but in my opinion it's the best. The firewall seems pretty rock-solid. The antivirus works well, and Symantec will release multiple updates per day if necessary, as opposed to a few years ago when updates were done weekly.
NIS has a reputation of a resource hog. Well, NIS 2005 certainly was; a mid-year update (NIS 2005 AntiSpyware Edition) fixed a lot of those problems.
Once you look at what NIS does, it's resource requirements seem more sane. You get antivirus, firewall, antispam, ad blocking, pop-up blocking, personal information protection (eg. if your creditcard number [or bank account; whatever] is being sent cleartext for some reason).
There's nothing in the list above that can't be downloaded for free, but I've been down that path and my computer seemed slower than what id did with NIS.
As Mr. Picklesworth said, you've got to be careful, especially in this day of 0-Day exploits being released after Patch Tuesday. But it's possible for you to be doing nothing bad and still get infected by something. I still remember SirCam and the havoc it wreacked here...
NIS has a reputation of a resource hog. Well, NIS 2005 certainly was; a mid-year update (NIS 2005 AntiSpyware Edition) fixed a lot of those problems.
Once you look at what NIS does, it's resource requirements seem more sane. You get antivirus, firewall, antispam, ad blocking, pop-up blocking, personal information protection (eg. if your creditcard number [or bank account; whatever] is being sent cleartext for some reason).
There's nothing in the list above that can't be downloaded for free, but I've been down that path and my computer seemed slower than what id did with NIS.
As Mr. Picklesworth said, you've got to be careful, especially in this day of 0-Day exploits being released after Patch Tuesday. But it's possible for you to be doing nothing bad and still get infected by something. I still remember SirCam and the havoc it wreacked here...
Housecall
(Trend Micro) Remote scan
(Trend Micro) Remote scan
Well, Norton Internet Security 2006 isn't free, but in my opinion it's the best. The firewall seems pretty rock-solid. The antivirus works well, and Symantec will release multiple updates per day if necessary, as opposed to a few years ago when updates were done weekly.
Shame they can't get around to releasing one to fix all the problems with CCApp not shutting down properly. If I had a pound for every time I've had someone asking me how to fix that, I'd be a rich man. And 2006 is, for some inexplicable reason, the worst version yet for shutdown problems with CCApp. I've used Norton for years, and managed to put up with it's quirks, but even I had to throw it in the bin ( giving up nine months of updates I'd paid for ) this time.
My vote goes for Avast! (my experience with AVG was a BSOD on boot)... just watch out for the web 'protection', if you have trouble accessing your modem's config etc pages remember to turn the bugger off =]
Avast.
www.avast.com
FREE and updates regularly... You register by email AND they don't SPAM your email!!! I love it...
You will also need a good firewall. I have used ZONEalarm and Kerio...
You can go to www.snapfiles.com and see all the free ones screenies and read ratings...
FREE and updates regularly... You register by email AND they don't SPAM your email!!! I love it...
You will also need a good firewall. I have used ZONEalarm and Kerio...
You can go to www.snapfiles.com and see all the free ones screenies and read ratings...
AVG all the way...
I've used both AVG and Avast, and like Avast much better.
AVG - doesn't hog your system and most importantly, it works :)
Ahh, but Housecall isnt even on your system, so it definatly hogs less, and cannot be corrupted. And you dont have to worry about updates, cos each time it runs is an update.
And its free. (But a good firewall is MORE important than a good virus cheaker) (Zonealarm for me)
And its free. (But a good firewall is MORE important than a good virus cheaker) (Zonealarm for me)
Most firewalls (called "desktop" or "personal" firewalls) contain bugs and therefore your system is more unsafe then without them. The chaos computer club in Germany released a video showing that sometimes a personal firewall even helps hackers to get on your system.
Use just the Windows SP2 firewall, a good AntiVirus and a hardware firewall (router). And don't visit those warez sites, then all should be fine :) (never had a virus, trojan, etc. on my system)
Use just the Windows SP2 firewall, a good AntiVirus and a hardware firewall (router). And don't visit those warez sites, then all should be fine :) (never had a virus, trojan, etc. on my system)
Which version of Avast are you guys using? The free home edition one? Is it any good? I currently use Norton Anti Virus
but it has been known to cause problems I hear.
Jason.
but it has been known to cause problems I hear.
Jason.
Well, Norton Internet Security 2006 isn't free, but in my opinion it's the best.
You are wrong. I used AVG before but Avast is better and more CPU friendly !
Spend £26 and get F-Secure. It's the only one I've tried so far that hasn't got any shortcomings. AVG doesn't catch everything, Norton is a complete swine when you need to change firewall settings and Panda is broken (crashes a lot if you leech off usenet).
Teamed with the occasional install of AdAware, CCleaner and SpyBot to do a full system scan and nothing else beats it.
Teamed with the occasional install of AdAware, CCleaner and SpyBot to do a full system scan and nothing else beats it.
QuickSilva, I wouldn't recommend anything more recent than Norton 2003. If you are using a later version, switch to Avast! =] Yes, the free version. It does what it says on the box.
I had F-Secure free with my ADSL line, I completely strangeled my CPU, not recommended !
wedoe: I had F-Secure use 100% of my CPU at one point, because it was sscanning through a particularly large zip file - which it managed to find a trojan in, so I didn't mind ;)
The rest of the time, I really don't notice it's there (unlike Norton products, which are way too invasive and resource hungry).
I've also got a trial of Ewido anti-spyware installed at the moment, which seems to be pretty good (it scans WinNT ADS - alternate data streams, attached to regular files and folders).
The rest of the time, I really don't notice it's there (unlike Norton products, which are way too invasive and resource hungry).
I've also got a trial of Ewido anti-spyware installed at the moment, which seems to be pretty good (it scans WinNT ADS - alternate data streams, attached to regular files and folders).
I use AVG personal edition at home but this review gives best score for BitDefender and price in not bad at all.. mayby someday I buy one.
http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
Just got the Avast and seems to work fine