# What is the best computer anti-virus program? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379 "2001-10-29T22:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/1 "2001-10-29T22:06:30Z")
Which one should I get? Norton? PC-Illin? Others? Anyone got any input? ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/2 "2001-10-30T00:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Weirddave \* > [BWhat is the best computer anti-virus program?_\* I always find that when I’m feeling a bit under-the-weather a non-stop 150-game Free Cell marathon does the trick. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/3 "2001-10-30T00:11:19Z")
[AVG Antivirus](http://www.grisoft.com), mainly because you can’t beat the price. If you want to pay for it, Norton, PC-Cillin, or Sophos are all very good products. McAfee is the worst, since it’s more of a memory hog and doesn’t have a good method for updating. However, all antivirus software is about the same in the ability to protect your computer. Pick whatever you prefer. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/4 "2001-10-30T00:23:06Z")
Linux 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/5 "2001-10-30T00:36:48Z")
My McAfee picked some stuff up that my Norton didn’t, but consistently freezes my computer while updating (which it does at 11:30 every night). ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/6 "2001-10-30T01:43:41Z")
McAfee always seems to screw up computers. I ran McAfee for a day on this machine and unistalled it because my system kept crashing. Norton seems to be the AV program of choice for this kid as I had to disable McAfee on several machines at my clients office for the same reason. Norton is stable and seems to update on my machine about 2 times a week. My vote for Norton here. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/7 "2001-10-30T02:59:54Z")
McAfee 4.5.1 is ok, but the one time we were caught with a brand new virus, Norton had the update a day before McAfee. Norton’s suite thingie would lock my PC. I’d reccomend just Norton Antivirus. ---
**Author:** ![Tattva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@Tattva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tattva)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/8 "2001-10-30T03:22:20Z")
I like Norton. Updating virus dat files is really easy with live update. Mcafee caused instability on our computers at work, so we switched to norton. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/9 "2001-10-30T04:15:33Z")
I like [F-Prot](http://www.complex.is). It’s cheap and you can try it for 30 days to see if it fits your needs. Like most AVPs, F-Prot can run quirky on some machines. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/10 "2001-10-30T07:44:55Z")
I like eTrust EZ Antivirus from CA. There are no problems like McAfee and it seems to be ahead of Norton on the latest virus signature updates. [http://www2.my-etrust.com/](http://www2.my-etrust.com/) Just my two cents. Jack ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/11 "2001-10-30T08:03:35Z")
Here’s a vote **against** Innoculate - that thing is a real hog and has a tendency to take over the machine. Sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease… ---
**Author:** ![bender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9bd4f/32.png) [@bender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bender)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/12 "2001-10-30T08:34:52Z")
But to keep things moving, Norton’s for me, simple, easy to use. But I’m looking for it’s ability to auto-update (via scheduled tasks) the virus patterns. The manual (yep I’ve opened it) alludes to auto-update, but all I can find is the Live-Update once the app is launched Help, oh great wise ones ! PS. On Win98 and Norton System Works 2001 ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/13 "2001-10-30T11:29:04Z")
Personally I do not use any antivirus software, only the software I keep between my ears, but I believe it was PC Magazine (you might want to check their site) who did a comparison a few months ago and the one to come out on top was [Panda](http://www.pandasoftware.com/). The others either screwed up systems or missed viruses etc. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/14 "2001-10-30T11:37:49Z")
OOPS! it was [PC World](http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,55803,00.asp). Also check [This](http://www.pandasoftware.com/press/pcworld/194467.html). ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/15 "2001-10-30T15:01:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarrenS \* > \*\*Here’s a vote **against** Innoculate - that thing is a real hog and has a tendency to take over the machine. Sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease… \*\* I’ve never had that problem. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/16 "2001-10-30T16:03:11Z")
I got McAfee Office about a year ago. I got really pissed off last month when updates suddenly became no longer free. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/17 "2001-10-30T20:46:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slortar \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by DarrenS \* > > \*\*Here’s a vote **against** Innoculate - that thing is a real hog and has a tendency to take over the machine. Sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease… \*\* > > I’ve never had that problem. Cite? \*\* I am also interested as to where you got your info. We use Inoculate here and it works great. One thing it has over other AV programs is the ability to auto update the virus sigs on all the clients on your network at the same time. For individual workstations, any of them seem to be ok. I used Norton for months and it worked fine. I’ve also had no problems with McAfee, though norton was slightly easier to update. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/18 "2001-10-30T20:51:00Z")
I had McAfee (now Network Associates VirusScan) on my home PC and Norton AV on my work laptop. McAfee worked fine for about six months, then started crashing my PC. My best guess is that it was clashing with an updated version of ZoneAlarm I also had running. I haven’t had the same problem with Norton. Norton has never crashed my laptop, although it has sometimes flagged files that I’m not convinced were actually infected (the more up-to-date copy of McAfee hadn’t flagged them, and Norton labelled them as a generic infection – workmates suspected it was trying to play safe and flag an unknown file). ---
**Author:** ![phartizan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba8739/32.png) [@phartizan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phartizan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/19 "2001-10-30T23:15:05Z")
A lot of people have trouble with Mcaffee. I think it’s responsible for making Freecell impossible to play. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379/20 "2001-10-31T00:32:55Z")
Another Norton vote here… At work (5000+ computers) we used to use McAfee but the autoupdate was terrible and our email gateways used to hang daily. We have since switched to Norton AV Corporate, and now have happy techies as well as the ability to push the new updates to local AV servers who then push it to the clients. That being said, I still use McAfee at home because I paid for it before I knew better 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-computer-anti-virus-program/90379.md?page=2)