What do people think is the best anti-virus around now?

[szh]

I have been using Symantec for many years, (just installed bitdefender on one machine though) and figure it is time to look at the competition and see what they are up to!

Z

[Yimbie]

I personally think Symantec is the best for me. I've only tried one other program (McAfee) which is fine, but I know that Symantec has a good reputation and I've never had any issues with their programs

- Yimbie

[krazydriver]

I use Avast.

1. It's Free.2. It works better then the paid copy of avg i have at work3. It's not very resource intensive so it works awesome with gaming.4. The bootscan feature, bust the viruses before you actually boot to windows.

Norton is too much of a resource hog IMO.I had McAfee on my laptop when i bought it.... but i didn't like it very much.AVG is alright if you let it do the daily updates, although Avast catches stuff avg won't.

[240Knightrider]

I use AVG and so does all my customers.

Its free, and im my opinion is more user friendly than all the rest.

Symantec and Mcafee are not the best for home use...they are better for corporations.

Also...avg will catch things avast wont. They all catch things the others wont. Thats why, unfortunately, you have to have more than just an anti virus program to protect you.

[jwnoodle]

I use AVG and so does all my customers.

Its free, and im my opinion is more user friendly than all the rest.

Symantec and Mcafee are not the best for home use...they are better for corporations.

Also...avg will catch things avast wont. They all catch things the others wont. Thats why, unfortunately, you have to have more than just an anti virus program to protect you.

I love AVG, I also use AVG anti spyware as well.

[teddy]

mehh. AVG is just ok. Detection rates aren't the best, but I know many people like it because it's free, and anything is better than Symantec.

If you're looking for a better freeware program, use AOL Active Virus Shield. It's actually Kaspersky's Anti-Virus program that aol bought and distributes. It even says powered by kaspersky.

As far as anti-virus you have to pay for, Kaspersky's and nod32 are going to be at the top. Both send out multiple updates per day, and nod32 has the lowest cpu utilization of any AV program.

Edit: Son of a *****! AOL discontinued the AVS, which must have happened recently, and replaced it with McAfee trash.

[Uberck]

no antivirus is the cure, they use way too many resources and do more harm then you think. just keep your os up to date and get a more secure browser like firefox and i highly recommend connecting online through a router firewall instead of directly to your modem. oh and if your at a website looking at p0rn and it asks you to install a "codec" i think your commen sense should kick in

[szh]

no antivirus is the cure, they use way too many resources and do more harm then you think. just keep your os up to date and get a more secure browser like firefox and i highly recommend connecting online through a router firewall instead of directly to your modem.

I have a simple DSL router with a NAT firewall. I could install another real/decent firewall behind it. What do you all recommend looking at?

oh and if your at a website looking at p0rn and it asks you to install a "codec" i think your commen sense should kick in

Of course!

I do not usually have a problem with sites (I manage cookies very carefully too) ... it is e-mail and documents that people send me (work-related activity) that sometimes contain viruses that could put me in trouble.

Z

[Uberck]

err dsl router eh? i've never owned a dsl router be4. if you had cable i would recommend a linksys router w/ v4 or up. some guys release some firmware for the v4 and up to increase clock speed and tune every single setting on the router, not to mention a bad a$$ interface and kicka$$ firewall

[GEO]

I use my "bought" version of Norton 2006 with a 100 year subscription....

[s13redtaz]

i run Avast in conjunction with AVG and no problemsI had Kaspersky and it worked great until i had to renew a subscription.

[s13redtaz]

err dsl router eh? i've never owned a dsl router be4. if you had cable i would recommend a linksys router w/ v4 or up. some guys release some firmware for the v4 and up to increase clock speed and tune every single setting on the router, not to mention a bad a$$ interface and kicka$$ firewall

ontop of that. if you really wanna lock things down, run a virtual copy of server 2k3 on windows virtual pc ( OS ontop of OS) and configure it as an ISA server. nothing will get in.

[Uberck]

s13 you can't be serious you don't need a virtual pc in a personal enviornment. unless he's got have of india constantly hammering his ip w/ bogus icmp packets

[f1seb]

What about bitdefender anybody like that one? I need a virus scanner that can unpack files and scan the contents. Also would want one where it would prevent those pop up monsters from installing. I know Kaspersky does the unpacking but that thing is sooo expensive. Any alternatives?

[szh]

Like I mentioned on my thread starting post, I put BitDefender on my work laptop and it seems to do pretty well. Very unobtrusive. But I do not know how well it is working per se, of course. So far, no problems whatsoever.

FWIW, I ended up buying a copy of BitDefender for my home system and my son's system (dual computer license for 2 years) ... Fry's was having a sale. Including rebate, the price was $3 (just the sales tax!). Can't beat that.

Z

[B-Boy DuB-L]

i use norton cuz i get it free but im gonna try avastohi use xoftspyse its for spyware its works greatalong with REGCURE

[captainluigi]

try the ''kaspersky''s. free trial like all of them. 1yr + with excellent detection. a bit more $ than some. maybe you do get whut ya pays for. (sometimes)

[redtop91]

I alternate between Panda, Norton, Mcafee, and AVG. From a protection standpoint, Norton is far above the rest but it is a total RAM hog, port Nazi and tends to lock your computer down. Kind of like a person running around on the battle field with a bomb suit on, you are very well protected, but not very useful...

[szh]

I use my "bought" version of Norton 2006 with a 100 year subscription....

I prefer to stay legal ... a "do unto others" philosophy.

Z

[Camry]

AVG, Avast, and NOD32. I've used all 3 and they're not RAM hogs like Norton. AVG along with SpybotSD and Ad-aware should be good.

[sstomek]

Free AVG Anti-Virus FTW! along with Microsoft Windows Defender(Free if you have a legit copy of windows). I don't see a reason for using 5 different anti virus/ anti spyware programs. In fact, I would recommend not doing it. I have seen various occasions where computers work funny or the internet stops working because of competing virus/spyware scanners.

Keep your computer up to date with the critical updates and use Mozilla Firefox for your web browser. Try to stay away from untrusted random p0rn sites. If your really feeling an urge and don't have any p0rn go to http://www.pornotube.com (its the Youtube for p0rn). p0rn sites, looking for software cracks on random internet sites, and using P2P software like Limewire or Bearshare will **** things up. Also try to stay away from shareware.

Use common sense and you should be clean. I don't even remember the last time I had a virus but I get enough of that stuff at work.

-Tomek

[Jookmasta]

ESnet or NOD32 is the way to go.............i think MSN paint is more of systems hog than that anti-virus software lol.

[n00b240]

I use Kaspersky, best AV and IS hands down, plus I dont have to keep it running in the background. Updates everyday, while scanning it doesnt hog resources.

Ever since getting Kaspersky I never need to run Ad aware/spybot search and destroy. Not even Hijackthis! The UI of AVG and NOD32 just arent for me

[PostalGuy]

I gotta agree with sstomek on this, AVG and Windows Defender, although I like to use ZoneAlarm firewall and occasionally run Spybot and Ad Aware just to be safe.

[LinkP]

Kaspersky and Sophos are about the best but I wouldn't turn my nose up at NOD32. Symantec and McAfee I sure as hell would though!

[eazye2000]

A little late on the reply with this one. But I personally use whatever the military gives us for free. Alot of us take important work home and finish it up on our home computers. So they make sure our home computers are safe. Yes, we do get laptops issued to us to use. But we don't always have enough.

Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Client 10.0.2.2001 as of right now.

Not sure what it is/does. But I haven't had a problem with any of my computers for about 7 years. And I use it on my gaming rig too with no ill effects on performance. Any thoughts on this?

[Camry]

Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Client 10.0.2.2001 as of right now.

Symantec is the best when it comes to antivirus... if you use their corporate edition. The regular one that the average consumer gets is total crap. And it's a hell of a ram hog.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Download Spybot Search and Destroy people. That **** works...picks up stuff Norton, Spy Sweeper, and Ad Aware SE can't.

Get it off of download.com

[JL-KA]

Wow nobody has mentioned the one I have. I'm running Trend Micro PC-cillin. I do a lot of internet shopping so security is a big deal for me and I very rarely have problems. When I do have a problem (virus, etc.) PC-cillin takes care of it immediately before any harm is done.

[Omegamerc]

NOD32 is really good, very small footprint.