I am looking for new antivirus protection for my PC. I have Norton, but it is expired and to get it again will cost like 50$. That is a little more than I want to spend on downloaded software.
What are your experiences with anti-virus software? Which one do you love and or hate? Help me decide what brand I should get.
Huge fan of AVG. Both the free and paid versions.
Another vote for AVG (free version in my case).
Or, the Fix-It Utilities (from VCom) has anti-virus protection as part of the tools. If I remember correctly, it has Trend Microsystems providing the backend for that part.
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I forgot to mention that I have Windows 98 as my OS.
I don’t mean to be an ass but the best anti-virus protection is common sense. Don’t do filesharing and don’t download any email attachments unless you’re absolutely certain what they are.
I will look over AVG, thanks Daizy & Nightsong.
I do not file share or download music, etc… and I only dl stuff from people I trust.
I do however have a cable modem connection and my computer is almost always on, so I have a firewall and spyware software. I had antivirus software, but the account expired and I don’t want to pay Norton 50 bucks to download the new software accuont (or whatever it is called). So I was just looking for suggestions for what other people use/have used and what they think is good or bad.
Sometime while just browsing on the internet, crap (cookies etc) shows up in my computer that I just don’t want in there. I do not feel that I am doing something stupid or am a stupid person for wanting virus protection on my computer. Common sense has its place, but is wanting to protect my files so darn bad? :rolleyes:
As long as you’re aware that for us Internet savvy types, having anti-virus software is usually overkill. Of course, there’s always a chance of something getting through. Not a very big chance but it’s there.
McAfee has worked well for me - it’s not expensive, it works simply, and it has picked up on numerous browser hijacks in addition to viruses.
That is very condescending attitude you have. Don’t assume that I am unaware, un-savvy or a young child when it comes to internet useage. What I am/was asking for was no different than “comparison shopping” for antivirus software. If you do not feel antivirus software is necessary, then fine don’t use it. I wan’t to use it, so do not belittle my choice to do so.
Thanks, Ill look at that one too 
Don’t sweat his remark, dawg. He probably was just joking.
Your question is good, but it’s also made the rounds more times than Courtney Love. The bottomline? There is no consensus at SDMB. Norton opponents say it’s a resource hog–especially when the entire SystemWorks is loaded. McAfee opponents say it isn’t as effective as Norton. AVG skeptics, such as myself, wonder why my properly configured AVG software never detects ANYTHING, especially when my former McAfee system frequently detected suspicious malware.
While some say that running two AV programs is a bad idea, others quibble with that.
I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that sharp differences of opinion exist. You might rely on what the PC magazines say, but I suspect the review staff’s objectivity takes a back seat to advertising considerations.
To underscore your implied point, some of us home-business types have no choice but to download files, open attachments, and operate in a Windoze environment. Telling us to forego virus protection is risky in the extreme.
No cite, but there was a UK magazine did a huge test of just about every AV program available…on a pure security level, Norton IIRC came out on top, with McAfee close behind. The free versions were nowhere to be seen compared to commercial products.
Thanks Carnac, I searched for a similar thread but did not find one (obviously did not look hard enough :::is it under here??::: :o).
I have been reading the PC sites (ZD, PCworld etc) and there were a couple that were a few top suggested AVsoftware programs, but I just thought I would ask around the SD to see what others used and so forth. I guess there can’t really ever be a 100% concensus on which AV to use since everyone has their own computing needs 
Email isn’t the only way to get viruses; several machines which don’t have email in my office were recently infected by a virus that copies itself around networks, just looking for Windows shared folders - as far as we are able to tell, it came into the business through a machine that has internet access (again with no email) but no firewall.
though this is probably what you mean. i’ll just like to spell it out for others that that is exactly how an email virus spreads, by using an infected person’s address book.
for example, a brand new email virus that isn’t yet detectable by an antivirus shield requires only a single person in that chain of trusted friends we have to accidentally open an email attachment named ‘Kate Beckinsale.com’ to start the ball rolling. thus the second person who receives the attachment from his trusted friend will open and therefore spread it too, thinking it’s from a trusted source and passed the antivirus shield.
the above is really just fyi, since there isn’t much one can do short of not opening any vulnerable attachments at all.
No, I wasn’t. Nor was I excluding LV.
True, worms like Sobig can spread without using email clients. Even if nobody within your organization downloaded it onto that computer, a good firewall probably would have kept it out.
One can also beware of subject lines, especially those that say “Re: XXXX” when XXXX is something that wasn’t sent to them in the first place.
I use NOD32 (www.nod32.com). It’s fast, effective, and unobtrusive. Relatively cheap, too.
It always come out on or near the top in the real-world tests that Virus Bulletin (www.virusbtn.com) runs.
I think it can even be prevented by properly setting up shares with passwords for full access
Take a look at Trend Micro ( el linko ) they have good stuff and 2 years for $29.00 is a good deal. They also have an online scan that is OK too. There is a 30 day trial from F-Prot if you want to give them a try. No experience with it but I have heard they are good.
Daizy was right on, the free edition of AVG is even better than common sense. Feel free to go wild.
I agree with you Jeff that you shoulnd’t stop opening the suspicious E-mail attachments.
blah…
I mean you shouldn’t stop using caution with the E-mail attachments/downloads just because you have software protection running.
You should right-click on each download before opening the file for the first time, and click on “Scan with AVG.”