Other than AVG; for some reason I can’t get the free version to update, and given that difficulty am not about to plop down any money for the pay version.
What’s happening when you try to update?
One piece of software I DON’T reccomend is Kaspersky. It was a pain in the arse when I had it on my computer. AVG free ticks all the boxes and everyone and their uncle seem to use it.
Viruses are terrible because they interrupt your computer work, and take time to fight with, and sometimes they try to get money out of you.
Or, wait, no, that’s anti-virus software I’m describing, isn’t it?
God dammit, this whole antivirus thing is just a nightmare.
Well, nobody ever got fired for buying Norton or McAffee. Though, I keep wondering if something else would have been less annoying…
I work in IT and I used to use AVG but then AVAST came out with what I firmly believe is the best anti-virus solution around for home computers. Did I mention it is free? They don’t even try to hide the free version. Download AVAST and be done with it.
Work for me and I’ll fire you for buying Norton. It’s harder to get removed from a system than actual viruses are, it takes an astoundingly large percentage of your system resources, and it’s only moderately good at what it does. I don’t know much about McAffee; it would never occur to me to pay for something where equivalent or better applications are available free.
Avast is a common answer, but so is AVG – I agree, tell us what’s failing, and we’ll try to help you fix it.
Or, and I realize I’ll get flamed into the Pit for this; don’t install ANYTHING, and be careful about what you do online. Seriously, I can’t understand how people with more than a few years of experience with computers can still be getting viruses in this day and age: don’t download questionable software, don’t install peer-to-peer file sharing systems, don’t turn on HTML access in your e-mail, don’t open email attachments ever, and keep your Windows updates up to date. (Or use a Mac or Linux, but that seems a touch extreme). This of course only works if you have control over everything and everyone that uses your machine.
This is what I did with my previous computer. Six years and I never had a virus. Mind you, it was Windows 98 ME, and if I recall, that version didn’t have the browser or a Web server or anything like that heavily integrated by default into the OS, so there were fewer security holes and less chance of malicious code executing than there is today. At least, that’s what I used to tell myself. Maybe I was foolish and just got lucky all those years.
My current computer has Norton, and it’s slow to boot, but I don’t really care. And I don’t do anything that requires serious performance. At work we use some heavy-duty corporate affair whose name escapes me.
Not a flame, just a couple of comments…
-You can’t always exercise control over everything - especially if your computer is part of a local network.
-Keeping Windows up to date will only protect you from vulnerabilities for which a patch has been released
-Your list of Don’ts is verging on ‘Just don’t use the computer, at all’ - there are lots of quite legitimate and worthy activities that people do on their computers that unfortunately, expose them to a risk of virus attack - instant messaging and social networking, for example.
You can isolate yourself from a significant portion of the risk by just being careful, but the belt-and-braces approach of installing an AV program is a sensible precaution - if only because virus and malware authors are constantly trying to find new ways in.
I’ve had this happen a few times - I think it was just that a previous update went wrong and broke the update engine. Uninstalling and reinstalling from scratch always fixed it, in my experience.
I chucked out AVG and got avast. It updates properly, and is even less intrusive. I also like the MacAffee site advisor plug in. That one will warn you if you visit sites that are known to cause trouble.
Another vote for Avast! here. I’ve been using it for the past 2 years and have never once had a problem with it.
Here’s a related question: do I need to get antivirus software? I just bought a new Dell computer running Windows XP, and I connect to the internet through DSL. I use Firefox or Opera to browse, and use webmail rather than an email client. I don’t do IM or filesharing.
Also, is it true, as someone once told me, that the router acts as a firewall?
I used to have McAfee on my machine at home. It comes with my Comcast account (still does). At work we use Norton. I removed McAfee and cleaned the system before installing AVG. I no longer have computer slowdowns and unexplained issues. Runs like a top. With a spare machine at work, I removed Norton and cleaned the system before installing AVG. I no longer have computer slowdowns and unexplained issues. Runs like a top.
In both cases, I always seem to find each machine kept finding viruses and other crap. Now I don’t. So either AVG is much better than McAfee/Norton, McAfee/Norton are virus magnets, or both.
It says the server is not available. I have gone thru every trouble-shooting routine I can find to in attempting to rectify this.
Disinfectant. The last antivirus I’ve found a reason to install on any Mac I’ve owned.
It depends on the router I think.
Going without AV protection is just too great of a risk. Considering the fact that the AV software recommended in this thread is free, I wouldn’t risk using a computer without it.
I would never go without spyware protection, however.
Definitely. It used to be that you could rely on not downloading exe’s, but now that the bad guys have perfected things like hacking legitimate sites and setting them up to push crap onto your PC , you either need to have some software to help you out, or nail your system down so tight you might as well be in 1996.
Classic example - the website of anti-virus company Trend Micro (the HouseCall people) was hacked to push malware onto visitors. Nice.
Personally I use Nod32, but pretty much any of the software mentioned in this thread should keep you safe. Norton and McAffee however do this in large part by slowing down your PC to the point where you switch it off and go read a book instead.
There are those who claim you can get by without one, if you’re careful (such as TimeWinder, upthread) - and clearly they’re not just blurting that out as uninformed opinion - it seems that their experience is that they really can avoid the risks by deliberate human action.
My personal opinion is that:
-Most people will find themselves exposed to some kind of risk, at some point, and not all of the risks are obvious ones where you can make a decision not to be infected when they arise.
-For many people, the risk is inherent in the kinds of things they use their computers for - IM, email, web browsing, filesharing and yes, porn (I understand it really is available on the internet, and that some people really do look at it).
-It may actually be the case that some people claiming they can humanly avoid malware, already have it, but just aren’t aware.
Most routers offer some kind of protection/firewalling, yes.
(incidentally, I’ve heard a lot of people describe their routers as a ‘hardware firewall’ - it isn’t - it’s software that runs on the router - it might be pretty good software, but it’s software, usually)
You’re right, and to the extent that Avast is both free and recommended, I’ll download it.
Your last sentence confused me, though. Does an antivirus program like Avast protect against spyware, or do you need something else?
We’ve started using AVG at work because the free version worked so well on my home computer. So far, the paid-for version is working just fine, and it was very economical – we got 10 licenses for about $230.
Oh, and that price is for TWO years, not just one.
It’s also available as a stand alone extension for Firefox.
RE the router as a firewall question, go here, scroll all the way down to episode 3 NAT Routers as Firewalls, and Steve Gibson (of the Gibson Research Corporation, pissing off Microsoft by constantly complaining about easily fixed security holes for years) will explain all.
CMC +fnord!