Which Antivirus do you use at present?

[Thermaltke]

aahhhh, zone alarm?????? eh? #@1|@{}

 

[Quadophile]

AntiVir on my home desktop and Norton (bundled) on my IBM Laptop

I was using AVG before on my home desktop but due to update problems I had to switch and after some research settled on AntiVir which is working fine. My system has not been infected in a very long time, infact I cannot even remember when was the last time it happened. I religiously update antivirus on a regular basis, say almost twice a week.

 

[BigJay]

I would greatly appreciate the one voter that is using Kaspersky (KAV) if you wouldn't mind give a quick opinion of how it's doing.

Well me old china, I've been using KAV for about 3 months now, and have been really pleased with the results.
Used to run Norton and did for many years, but the last (2004) seemed to cause nothing but trouble for me, so after a bit of forum hopping, found KAV.
It runs very happily in the background, updates it's self daily, and found stuff on it's first scan that Norton had let get past.
If it lets me down, I'll let you know.

 

[muckshifter]

Thanks for that BJ ... I'm trying it out on the workshop system ... very pleased so for too.

 

[Joe_Pineapples]

IMO antivirus software is absolutely unnecessary as a preventative on a power users's PC - you know your processes, you know your performance and you can tell when you're infected. When I am, if I can't manually remove the virus, then I'll use McAfee Stinger, a free standalone .exe virus killer, available here:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger

Stinger is updates frequently, and conveniently fits on a floppy disc. On any commercial or multi user setup however, I agree that preventative AV is invaluable.

I'm a Systems Admin for local government, and I use Sophos Anti Virus at the moment on educational networks. You can imagine the volumne of crap I have to clean off PC's regularly, and Sophos does a good job. There's no hidden 'extras' leeching your resources, and no superfluous advertising.
I've been really impressed with Sophos' support, and the Enterprise Manager / SAVadmin MMC plug in is a wonderful tool for network AV deployment.

I see no advantage in using several active AV packages at the same time, you'll just end up struggling to use your own pc for the lack of resources.

FYI, since I stopped using KazaA at home, I've had a total of 0 virii. That was 2 years ago. The best AV you can get is common sense when using your PC.

 

[muckshifter]

Hmmm, I don't know if you’re a total idiot or you're just living with your head in the clouds.

With over 50,000 known viruses you’re going to use Stinger? I'm not advocating Stinger is no good; it is a good program at what it does. But using it instead of a proper AV program is nuts.

You work for a local government ... pray tell us which one so we can best avoid any systems you manage.

I agree on one point ... one should never "run" two, or more, AV programmes on one system ... however, popping over to the likes of HouseCall for an 'on-line' scan never hurt anybody.

Sophos Anti Virus ... 26 passes 11 fails

compare that to ...
Norton ... 26 passes 6 fails

KAV ... 24 passes 13 fails

McAfee ... 18 passes 17 fails

Avast ... 10 passes 19 fails

AVG ... 6 passes 20 fails

I'll stick to running Norton and the usual supported programs such as Ad-aware & SpywareBlaster.

I continue to 'evaluate' my security and will no way compromise it by not running a Firewall or AV program together.

As stated elsewhere in this Forum ... we never get a 'silly' question but boy, do we see some silly answers. Yours takes the biscuit and first prize.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Aye, agree with Mucks on this one. Rarely have I seen such an arrogant and nonsensical point of view.

You like playing Russian Roulette then Mr Pineapples?

I'll agree with some degree of common sense being used in the fight against viruses, don't use Kazza or visit dodgy sites might be two rather obvious pieces of advice.

I'm behind a hardware and a software firewall and also use AntiVir. This AV program does not hog resources. I really have no idea whether it does it's job well or not but all I know is I haven't had a virus on both my machines in almost two years.

Visit any computer Forum, do a search, and you'll find countless examples of people using Broadband who do a fresh install of their OS and become infected before they've even had a chance to install their AV software.

No AV? Common sense? Sheer folly.

 

[Joe_Pineapples]

Before I defend my (albeit opinionated) point of view, I'd like to thank Mucks for a freindly welcome to pcreview.

As I stated in my earlier post, systems I manage at work have to be protected 100% of the time, and for that the local authority has chosen Sohpos. I have been given the chance to evaluate it on several networks and it does the job well. I was asked 'Which antivirus do you use at present?' and I replied with an answer.

On any commercial or multi user setup however, I agree that preventative AV is invaluable.

As you can see, I do not let my opinion of how to handle my home computer affect the ones I have to administrate at work. I think you're being a little unfair, or not reading my post properly when you question my professionalism on that one Mucks.

You seem to be confusing the issue of Anti Virus software (which I arrogantly presumed was the focus of this topic) with firewall and Spyware removal products - I made no comment about these. I agree that Adaware and Spybot are invaluable tools, at the moment I have much more difficulty in dealing with Spyware and Malware than I do Virii.

At work I'm lucky enough to be behind the protection of various chunky cisco firewalls inside a secure LAN operated by Local gov., and at home I use a NAT firewall. Simply the fact that I do not have a public IP address takes away most of the vulnerabilities suffered by typical home users, even those running inferior software-based firewalls, many of which can be easily circumnavigated or even shut down by Virii.
Perhaps I missed one of the main points in keeping a (windows) PC secure - regular updates. Not using IE goes a long way.

Floppybootstomp - I did say power users when I said that preventative AV was unnecessary; I'm not advocating this to the masses. Most people out there don't even know how to look through their processes, let alone know which ones they should be running.

I wasn't lying for the sake of supporting my opinion when I said I havn't had a virus on my home PC in 2 years. I have a machine in my De Militarised Zone, and that's had a few, but that's deliberate - it's in my interests to know which virii are about, how they work and more importantly how to remove them.

I was asked my opinion and I gave it, I didn't realise I was going to be insulted for having one. I don't think I'll bother in future.

 

[floppybootstomp]

IMO antivirus software is absolutely unnecessary as a preventative on a power users's PC - you know your processes, you know your performance and you can tell when you're infected.

I'd be interested to hear your definition of 'Power User'.

I'm a Systems Admin for local government,

So you're a Civil Servant then?

I see no advantage in using several active AV packages at the same time, you'll just end up struggling to use your own pc for the lack of resources.

Agreed.

My friend, there are ways and means to introduce oneself. It's usual, although by no means compulsory, to introduce onself when joining a Forum, before giving it the big 'I am'.

It's called diplomacy.

I DO welcome your point of view and I would also like to take this oppurtunity to welcome you to PC Review. Perhaps my response to your post was something of a knee jerk reaction, maybe not.

Back to 'Power User'. I'm assuming you mean somebody who at least half way knows what they're doing. I might humbly suggest I fall into that category. Sure, I know when I'm infected, sure, I know how to get rid of a virus, but why give yourself all that agro?

It just seems foolish to me, I'd rather have a peaceful computing life, thank you.

And, for what it's worth, I used to work for the GLC, then ILEA and then Lambeth Council. So I'm an ex Civil Servant. Can't say I miss all that at all. What was that Union I was forced to join? Ah yes, Unison, so I was on strike with the kitchen staff and the dustmen, er, sorry, garbage disposal engineers

 

[Joe_Pineapples]

Sorry if i seemed to be trying to 'throw my weight', i was only trying to make the point that I have to be responsible for more than just my own box, so I can't afford to be too far wrong, cos I actually care about what I do. To your point about being a civil servant: I'm not proud of it, i'm well aware it's pretty low profile, but it sure beats the building site. 'Specially this time of year.

I guess I mean 'someone who knows what theyre doing' when I say 'power user', although there is the obvious 'power users' group in Windows which has certain administrative priveliges, which I really can't be bothered to go into here. I didn't really mean that interpretation though.
I quite like the top suggestion when you google for it:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:Power+user
Still, I apologise for being vague.

It just seems foolish to me, I'd rather have a peaceful computing life, thank you.

I appreciate your view, and I can sympathise, but I'm boring and I actively take an interest in this stuff. I'm trying to learn about the ways that Virii work, and the different types that are prevalent 'in the wild'. I'm not arrogant enough to presume that I'm above virus protection or anything. I thought I could contribute, thats all. I really am sorry for doing.

Thanks for the welcome, btw FBS. It just seems unfortunate that the attitude around here seems to be 'shoot first, make introductions later'

A belated 'Hi' to all, and as it's Xmas, peace and goodwill to all men (and women). Even those who use Norton.

 

[ChristopherP]

evenin...

when you say "Syntax error", do you mean you forgot a full stop??

 

[Joe_Pineapples]

Yup. lol

 

[crazylegs]

Hi everyone......

I use zonealarm security suite aided and abetted by adaware to clear up any malware, spyware.

Zonealarm suits me fine it's got real time virus protection and also built in firewall, a popup stopper, and e-mail virus filter plus various other protective blockers such as a junk e-mail stopper, I.D lock, ad blocking and cookie control, and an instant messenger security feature, i'm also able to control which programs connect to the internet and when, so i have a very good level of control over whats coming in and out of my pc.

That coupled with adaware has seen my system virus free for the last 9 months and i will be renewing my subscription to zonelabs in 3 months time.

All in all well happy with this product.

It's also available as a free 15 day trial..........

 

[UnReAl]

Hi i am using Nod32 anti virus and windows firewall plus a router firewall,i was using norton but had a few problems with it. so i am back using nod for now

 

[smithe]

I use avg cos it’s free and im poor
Spybot S&D for spyware
Windows SP2 firewall
Microsoft antispyware
Ad-ware
Spyware Blaster
MRU scanner

These programs together secure my pc, spywareblaster blocks bad activex scripts and popup webpages, MRU deletes all recent programs opened and all usage logs, Microsoft antispyware and avg have resident shields that prevent spyware and viruses ever running, and the sp2 firewall is great. Forget the rest there obsolete.

Ok, yes probs bit paranoid bout security

 

[HarryOatcake]

Avg.

I have never seen a bad review of AVG.
Its always done for me, in fact I purchased the Pro Version.

Ditto, ZoneAlarm.

Harry

 

[psd99]

921 ppl voted!!!

not bad eh?

 

[joshT]

i'm supprised you didnt put "Synamatic" as i choice...
I find that is a very good anti virus software.

 

[Quadophile]

joshT,

Have you heard of Norton? I bet not

 

[1nteger]

Norton corporate edition...don't have to put key in and can constantly re-install on new systems