A couple of months ago there was a good thread on here about all sorts of free software, and a couple of anti-virus programs were mentioned. My subscription for Computer Associates' antivirus suite just ran out, and I figure I'll give these other free guys a shot, if anybody can happen to remember the names.

I use AVG anti-virus free edition and I'm quite happy.

I use commercial software, but I hear AVG is pretty good.

 

Note for noobs like me, you need anti-spyware as well as anti-virus. I just watched a program about rogue-dialling, where some sort of hacking occurs and your computer starts dialling premium rate numbers without your knowledge. You get charged a huge sum, and your phone service provider then turns up and takes the cash! Fething genius fraud, where some two bit monkey gets a multi-million pound company to enforce it's fraud!

I use commercial software, but I hear AVG is pretty good.

 

Note for noobs like me, you need anti-spyware as well as anti-virus. I just watched a program about rogue-dialling, where some sort of hacking occurs and your computer starts dialling premium rate numbers without your knowledge. You get charged a huge sum, and your phone service provider then turns up and takes the cash! Fething genius fraud, where some two bit monkey gets a multi-million pound company to enforce it's fraud!

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There was a huge frenzy in my country about that issue, although the anti-dialling software took care of it , but huge amounts of money were 'stolen' by hackers...

Only have to fear dialers if you have dial-up (no cable, DSL etc.)

 

But there are plenty of other nasty spyware programs (keyloggers anyone?)

Yeah, my anti-spyware stuff's good for another six months.

 

So let's say I didn't care about free or commercial...what's the best antivirus out there? I was using Kaspersky, and it seemed like something of a system hog.

Actually, I think Kaspersky only uses a lot of resources when it's active, ie. scanning the entire system. It's among the safests bets out there though.

 

If you want an antivirus that's really good for gamers, use NOD32. It doesnt win every test like Kaspersky does, but it's very small, very easy to unload from memory if need be and it's extremely fast and efficient when scanning. It probably uses the least resources of all the antivirus I've tested over the years. It's what I use now (girlfriend has Kaspersky).

Actually, I think Kaspersky only uses a lot of resources when it's active, ie. scanning the entire system. It's among the safests bets out there though.

 

If you want an antivirus that's really good for gamers, use NOD32. It doesnt win every test like Kaspersky does, but it's very small, very easy to unload from memory if need be and it's extremely fast and efficient when scanning. It probably uses the least resources of all the antivirus I've tested over the years. It's what I use now (girlfriend has Kaspersky).

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Figures that you'd reply ten minutes after I decided to bite the bullet and re-up my subscription to CA's eTrust.

 

I liked Kaspersky when I had it, but it seemed too slow for me. Of course, that was on my old machine, whereas eTrust blazes through scans on my new one...probably should've taken that into account.

 

C'est la vie.

Symantec anti-virus, extremely light on resources and unlimited updates.

Kaspersky

Symantec anti-virus, extremely light on resources and unlimited updates.

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I find Symantec tends to mess around in the Windows services a little too much for my liking. I have used it a lot (was the site licence for IBM when I worked there, for example) and it ALWAYS gets the viruses that have infected a system, no doubt, but I don't like the fact that there are more products mushrooming out of the initial beachhead AV program.

 

I do like the Norton Personal Firewall application, though: it seems to be more intuitive to use than the last time I used ZoneAlarm, for example.

 

Be careful of some of the free AVs, as they may not update fast / well enough to catch some of the early threats.

 

Personally, I think Sophos is the best BAR NONE, but I don't think they do an end-user product. (Their server product is straight from Back Rogers, though.)

I saw an ad for a site set up by leading cretins to explain the basics if anyone is interested.

 

http://www.getsafeonline.org/

 

I know no-one will use it, but I thought it made an interesting statement about government advice that no-one would.

I have McAfee security center w/ personal firewall. That thing stops everything, uhh except for spyware and adware. For that stuff I use Microsoft AntiSpyware along with Spybot-Search and destroy. One program catches stuff that the other misses, but they are free and get rid of the stuff.

Edited November 13, 200520 yr by Akhan225

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I use Microsoft AntiSpyware ...

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... which only allows spyware from certified business partners and bona fide paid-up advertisers ...

Yes i use Mcaffe security center also. I also use Lavasoft Ad-Aware to get rid of spyware.

I never get viruses or adware, because I never download dodgy software or go to dodgy sites.

I have antivirus, but it is silent for like 3 years.