Anti-virus/spyware - which one?

[crewmeal]

Having been a computer buff for a number of years I now find myself going through a minefield of antvirus software. I used to use one called virobot which found problems that norton didn't. When having problems with my new laptop I was told to use one called avpersonal which to give credit picked up problems that the virobot didn't. I now can't use avpersonal because it wont download updates and just 'hangs'. I got rid of that and was duly invited to use 'windows onecare live' beta version. Hopefully that will work. I have never used macafee as 'experts' say it doesn't pick up ALL virus's. So what do i do? which is the best?
As for spyware its the same problem - I now use Microsoft antispyware so thus keeping it all in the family!!
The problems with my laptop relate to the ATI graphics card which keeps freezing and crashing. An 'expert' said it was the anti-virus and spyware I was using that caused the problems. Here we go again - going round in circles

[Tone]

MS Antispyware is absolute rubbish, test it for yourself. Do a scan with the MS product and then follow it with a scan using Ad-Aware, the results are amazing.

[frostbite]

For anti-spyware, I don't think you can beat the free Avast - gets updated on an almost daily basis and inspects everything running without fuss or delay. Get it at http://www.avast.com

[Conan the Librarian]

Interesting isn't it? Only a year ago, Spyware/Adware/Malware was a subject fit for only Geeks. The most important thing in my book is not which prog to run (Though I use MS and am happy with not only it, but the host of tools it brings with it) but that you are aware of the problem.

That same awareness will lead to a thought bubble when you browse certain net areas and that in itself is the biggest enhancement to the safety of your PC. When reaching that state of enlightenment, hit it with everything you can. Only proviso, is that running more than one program, can give rise to spurious alerts, as prog A has quarantined a few suspect bits and prog B reports same quarantine as being almost 100% spyware.

Think about it

Conan

[737TG]

I use AVG free antivirus which also screens email. Spampal is superb for spam filtering and I run 'Spybot - search and destroy' and 'CCleaner' occasionally.
All free and NO problems!

Cheers!

[Jinkster]

I use McAfee antivirus and Zone Alarms firewall and ant-spyware!

[tso310]

Spybot should also be used with Spyware Blaster and this will give you excellant protection. Both are free and have been updated to compliment each other. AD-Aware is also a good freebie and does a different job to the other 2. For anti virus I use ZoneAlarm and I would also recommend McAfee. Norton is well behind these two.

[P.Pilcher]

Well, I seem to have no problems with Avast for virus protection which also integrates itself into Outlook and prevents any trace of those dreaded infected e-mails from being opened. I paid for Adaware SE plus together with Adwatch and the combination of these seems to prevent any spyware from entering my machines. Regular runs of the excellent Spybot utility rarely, if ever find anything untoward. - Or am I just not browsing the "naughty" sites?

P.P.

[superpilut]

I use a AVG free and Bitdefender combo.
This since a while back a new worm came out, which took a couple days to be recognised by AVG. Bitdefender Internet Security features as well a Spam filter and Firewall.
Normally every program has weaknesses; that's why I use 2. Anyway, AVG doesn't have any impact on th performance of the PC, so its no penalty.
Avoid Norton, since that one is honestly overrated.
Good luck on your choice!

[Mac the Knife]

Originally Posted by Tone

MS Antispyware is absolute rubbish.......

MS Antispyware is actually pretty good, probably because MS didn't write it themselves, but bought it from Giant Software. It offers a degree of real-time protection that goes beyond Adaware (Adaware isn't designed for this).

AVG is to my mind one of the best AV apps around, even the free version is pretty good - I'm slowly replacing Norton with AVG full on the MS systems I oversee.

I do run Adaware and Spybot weekly though (along with HiJack This and Rootkit Revealer and a few other things) - just call me paranoid.

[Tone]

OK Mac - so why, when I do a scan with MS, does it find absolutely nothing to report but Ad-Aware and SpyBot find plenty? Anyone else get the same results or is it me?

[willby]

Like Frosbite and P. Pilcher I use Avast and find it very good.
Willby

[Blacksheep]

I now can't use avpersonal because it wont download updates and just 'hangs'.

I was using Avg Free then it stopped downloading updates - I just kept getting a "server timed-out" message. I wondered if it was an intruder that disabled the anti-virus programme. I haven't connected that notebook to the internet since. The upside is that I definitely won't download any nasties, the downside is I don't get my regular MS XL updates.

I used to use Norton but they got funny as renewal time approached. Their constant unwanted 'pop-up' reminders annoyed me so much I uninstalled it and won't go there again. We use Symantec at work but in the meantime, while I make my mind up, I'll give Avast a go before connecting back to the internet for XL updates.

[frostbite]

IIRC, Norton & Symantec are out of the same stable.

[huckleberry58]

I use Kaspersky, it's russian.

[colmac747]

The package i use was integrated with the deal on my system.
Seems a good 'un: http://www.pandasoftware.com/

[IO540]

The reality of AV software is that a lot of people have problems with a lot of it, with all kinds of weird effects on certain application programs, or aspects of Windoze operation.

Norton/Symantec works most of the time, and really messes up the PC for some people. As does McAfee.

I now use Kaspersky everywhere - it works best. The Personal Pro is the one to go for; the Personal only has no options for excluding folders from being scanned. It's an excellent clean program which does what it should.

Russian programmers are the best today Forget America - the best people they had went off surfing 10 years ago.

[hobie]

Norton/Symantec works most of the time, and really messes up the PC for some people. As does McAfee.

What does that mean? ....

[IO540]

AV software, to be effective, has to hook into various places deep inside Windoze. Some of these hooks are going to be undocumented and not authorised by Micro$oft.

I give you one example: typical AV software checks every Word doc you open, for (typically macro) viruses. A problem with Norton AV, for years, used to be that if the document was password protected, the AV s/w would wait for you to enter the pwd (otherwise it could not check the document) but the box where you entered the pwd was covered up by something else which the AV s/w put up, something like "checking document for viruses". So you got a deadlock... AV s/w is known for all kinds of weird stuff like that.

It's getting better as the years go by, and as almost everybody moves over to XP and M$ Office (and very little else).

I got fed up with these quirks. Life is too short, unless you get paid for doing this So far, Kaspersky has been fine.

And yes, on one occassion I had to reformat the whole hard drive, after the damn thing totally trashed it... that was Norton I think.

[hobie]

A problem with Norton AV, for years, used to be that if the document was password protected, the AV s/w would wait for you to enter the pwd (otherwise it could not check the document) but the box where you entered the pwd was covered up by something else which the AV s/w put up, something like "checking document for viruses". So you got a deadlock

Well I have to confess I've never run into that one before in the many years I've been viewing NAV/NIS or similar installations, but it certainly sounds like an easy fix would have been possible .....