Anti virus

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've been running Norton anti-virus for the last couple of years - but the subscription has just run out and £30 (ye gods, that's 1½hrs flying for us microlight pilots) to renew seems only one step removed from daylight robbery. Plus I've been getting the increasing feeling that Norton uses up monstrous amounts of processing power and is causing the PC to run at about half the speed it should.


So, my personal decision has been to give up on Norton and switch to something called Panda Internet Security (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000Y7DU6/qid=1103558948/ref=pd_ka_0/026-8394031-5006057) which when I browsed around the net seemed to get as-good or better reviews as Norton, as well as (after shopping around a bit) being £13 including postage.

But, out of curiosity (and hopefully to confirm or deny that I made a good decision) what is everybody else's view on the good, bad and ugly (and particularly value for money) of anti-virus software these days?

G

[ohitsmonday]

Genghis

I've been using AVG - free edition for several years. Does the job admirably. Available at www.grisoft.com

[E-Liam]

Hi Ghengis,

Well that's a stroke of luck.. I've just finished my latest essay about two minutes ago on Security. :D

It can be found on post 7(ish) of this (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156240) thread. :ok: :)

Cheers

Liam

[Windle Poons]

I must agree with ohitsmonday about AVG. I too have used the free version for several years and never had an infection. With the recent purchase of a new system I also bought the professional version of AVG. It cost less than $35 (great with the current exchange rate) for a single PC license that is valid for two years. The free version uses the same detection files, but there are added facilities that I wanted, the main one being the auto-update as soon you go on line. The free version will only update if you're online at a certain time, and I don't leave my PC on and connected.

I run AVG Pro, Ad-Aware SE Pro (with AdWatch) and SpywareBlaster.

As an aside, a colleague was running the latest version of Norton with the latest update, but was still having trouble with what he thought was "just three trojans." I recommended AVG which he then installed, and told me it had found 132 trojans that Norton had been 'missing'.

Good luck and safe surfing.

A great Xmas and New Year to you all.

WP.

[jimgriff]

Big test in one of the main computer mags in UK this month on Anti Virus stuff

NAV=Good
AVG= Best
Panda = Crap


But what the hell do I know. I just read it all:cool:

[SeldomFixit]

This has to be one of the biggest conundrums associated with computing. The short answer has to be, there is no one solution. Good, better, best, crap all figure in some small way with whichever AV suite you choose.
I had a problem several years ago that whatever I was using quite happily at the time ( and what I imagined to be, quite securely ) simply failed to find. I downloaded AVG and "bingo ", found, fixed and forgotten. At that time AVG free had a time limitation that although you could go through the revolving door and re-up it, ceased to be available for some reason.
So, after deciding that a fully paid up and updated AV suite would HAVE to be better, I spent the next several years blissfully happy and smugly secure until I had a suspicion yesterday that all was not well. True to the form on this forum ( and a huge thanks to BOAC/Mr O'Grady and Liam ) the information and assistance proved it to be so and whereas Norton/Housecall/Spybot/AdAware/sypwareguard/Adawarespy all failed to find my 4 infections, EWIDO, installed and run at Mr O'Grady's suggestion was the duck's guts.
Will I keep Nortons ? you bet ( it's paid for :ok: ) - Will I keep using EWIDO ? you bet . Will I keep every other piece of good/better/best/crap solution I've previously had so mucg faith in ? you bet. Until my next infection, which like day following night ( or is that night following day ) is only a crappy site visit away.
Every file EWIDO found was some sort of keylogger. This is scary stuff when you think how on-line dependant we've become.
Love to sit and chat but I've got about 15 passwords to change.
Thanks again ALL for the never ending assistance so freely given on this forum.

[Fat Dog]

Check out NOD32 - http://www.nod32uk.com/

I've been using it for a bit now. Supposed to be one of the best around. Not as user friendly as NAV etc though.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

AVG and Avast seem to be the two most popular freeware AVs around.

The highly regarded online Virus Bulletin conducts independent tests of AV products. More info and results here (http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?table)

Edit: Posted wrong link.

In summary the results are:

AVG: 6 passes/20 fails.

Avast: 10 passes/19 fails.

NOD32: 29 passes/3 fails.

I agree with FatDog, except I also find the user interface for NOD32 very intuitive.

My security suite comprises a hardware firewall with SPI, plus all ports stealthed by NAT/DMZ, NOD32, Ewido, PrevX, Adaware, Spybot S & D, Spywareblaster and an online audit subscription to Security Space (www.securityspace.com)

Call me paranoid but I've got a lot of valuable data to protect and I haven't been caught out yet!!

[nooluv]

Anybody know if Nav does actually use a lot of processing power?
How does it compare with AVG or other AV's in that respect?

Regards nooluv.......

[126,7]

AVG: 6 passes/20 fails.

Avast: 10 passes/19 fails.


Whoahh!! I use both of those and am getting a little nervous looking at those statistics. Loaded Antivir (http://www.antivir.de/en/index.html) on the wife's pc and that seems to be holding up ok. Haven't checked any test results though.

[Paterbrat]

Just caught and quaranteened, but not deleted a Java_bytverify.a virus with PC-Illin. Hopefully that means it cannot do it's stuff. Have been trying to find out more about it, apparently infects Explorer. Checked on Google and have taken some steps to undo some of the damage but any tips on what it does and wether AVG, just downloaded, will clear it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Avtrician]

Dont use explorer, use Mozilla (I'm using it now), or Firefox. At the moment, these browsers arent being targeted by virus writers.:ok:

[126,7]

Paterbrat
I had the same virus/trojan on my PC and AVG found it but didn't want or couldn't do anything with it. So I just uninstalled Java and voila, everything ok again.
Dont know where it comes from, but I never use IE anyway. Firefox rocks!

[Binoculars]

I've been using My e-Trust from Computer Associates for several years since they took over VET which I had previously been using.

Only once in that time has anything managed to sneak through. The files update automatically whenever there is something to download, I have it on two lappies as well as my desktop, and it costs about $A25 per year (10 quid) for almost absolute peace of mind.

BUT. Their service is a nightmare unless you upgrade. If anything goes wrong you are thrown off into the Knowledge- whatever-it-is and good luck. Just received a Vulnerability notice by email, which only affects W2000 upwards. Downloaded it anyway on to my 98SE desktop with no problems, but trying to get it on to my lappies? Fergeddaboudit!

If you have problems, click here. What's your username? Don't have one? (yes, I do) no problems, register here. I register again. Please help. Sorry don't know that user name. Goodbye.

Despite the fact that I've been delighted with it for years, the impossibility of getting a simple question answered means I'll probably be looking around for a new solution next renewal time.

[BOAC]

Like Bonos, I have been with CA for a while and found them pretty good, and worth £10 a year. Unlike Binos I have found downloading updates etc no problem.

[Binoculars]

Neither have I, BOAC, the downloads have always been a snack. Unfortunately, now that I have encountered my first problem (It stalls on terminating processes) I find I've nowhere to go. I suppose the answer will be somewhere... "I gotta keep searchin', searchin'...."

[400 Hertz]

You may find Kaspersky (http://www.kaspersky.com/downloads) may be what you might be after. Free 30 day trial and it came top of a recent PC Magazine test.

Make sure you take care if installing Norton Internet Security 2005 over XP SP 2 as it seems to not work very well. There are a number of issues, mainly to do with installation and blue screens of death.

[Ausatco]

Binos, have you thought about trying Trend Micro Internet Security 2004? It's available free to employees under our employer's corporate licence. I use it on PC and lappy, together with ZoneAlarm Pro, Spybot, AdAware SE, Pest Patrol, SpywareBlaster, Benign, Mailwasher Pro ...

Why is my machine so slow :{ :{ :{ :{

AA