antivirus recomendation

[blb]

Hi
Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows xp,
broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it has been
suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am also looking with a
tight budget in mind.
Thank You !

 

[Mick Murphy]

Avast is a very good Anti-virus; and the free version is very good.
I also included some good Anti-spyware/ malware Programs to give you a good,
all round security package.

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Avast Anti-Virus is XP and Vista compatible (32bit and 64bit Versions),
FREE, auto-updating, and a low resources user of your computer.
And, only have 1(one) Anti-Virus installed / running on your computer at any
one time..
Conflicts may occur if you have more than 1(one).

http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html

Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6 is a very good, FREE Anti-Spyware Program.
Download, install, update, and immunize your System with it.
Then SCAN with it.
Update it, and scan your System once a fortnight.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

SpywareBlaster 4.1 is a non-intrusive, FREE Anti-Spyware Program (no
scanning by you!).
SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of many so-called spyware, adware
and malware programs by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX
controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage
Update it once a fortnight.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Malwarebytes is as the name says, a Malware Remover!
For the Free version scroll down their page to either download from
Download.com, or Major Geeks.com

Download, install, and update.

 

[WindPipe]

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

- WindPipe

 

[nass]

Hi
Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows xp,
broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it has been
suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am also looking with a
tight budget in mind.
Thank You !

You will get a lot of info and a lot of opinions here as it is n't an easy
subject. It looks like Left and right again!

First off, what you pay is what you get? The better Protect method is the
users themsleves and the way they practice safe Hex. You need to educate
yourself and others you are responsible for to limit the risk of getting
infected.
Microsoft Security At Home - Help Prevent Identity Theft, Spyware ...
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.mspx

Microsoft Recommends Taking 3 Easy Steps to Help Keep Your PC Secure
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/security/protect/alert.mspx
how to practice safe hex
http://www.washington.edu/computing/virus.html
HTH,
nass

 

[Jim]

Hi
Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows xp,
broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it has been
suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am also looking with a
tight budget in mind.
Thank You !

Avast a/v ( free ) -audio and visual warnings .

 

[Twayne]

Hi

Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows
xp, broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it has
been suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am also
looking with a tight budget in mind.
Thank You !

Avast and AVG are good; some will dispute that but it's my own
experience. Avira is a newcomer and pretty good but I didn't like their
periodic ads so uninstalled it; it's aimed at making you buy it, but it
does seem to be decent.

The words "been suggested" and "may be slowing" are pretty relative
terms; YOU have to decide whether it is or not since it's your machine.
You can tell by running a few benchmark tests, disconnect from the
'net, turn off Norton AV protection, and see if it's any faster. If
not, forget it. For your benchmark measurements, use your most intensive
programs running all at once and do everything in the same order each
time. Restart after turning off Norton of course, then do the second
benchmark.
Always beware of "suggestions" about your own machine; you are the
only one knows that it's doing. In some cases Norton can slow things
down, especially if it defaulted improperly and checks every byte that
moves, copies, gets created or deleted on the machine, cup speed is
under a GHz, not enough RAM (esp 256/512 machines) and/or improperly
managed machines. Not to mention malware possibilities. I use NAV on
XP Pro/SP2+, 2.7GHz Pentium 4 and a Gig of RAM with three physical hard
drives and I never know it's there or see any impact of it. It also IMO
probably should not recommended for the very inexperienced users with no
concept of what's going on under the hood.
It's never a good idea to troubleshoot "problems" if/when you áren't
experiencing any.

HTH

Twayne

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows xp,
broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it has been
suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am also looking with a
tight budget in mind.

My view, and that of many of us here, is that Norton is the worst
choice available.

The best anti-virus is NOD32, but there is a charge for using it. If
the charge is a problem, I recommend the freeware Avast! instead.

 

[Twayne]

Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows
xp, broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it
has been suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am
also looking with a tight budget in mind.

My view, and that of many of us here, is that Norton is the worst
choice available.

The best anti-virus is NOD32, but there is a charge for using it. If
the charge is a problem, I recommend the freeware Avast! instead.[/QUOTE]

Avast is decent. NOD32 also if a pay-for is OK. As for "most of us
here", what you mean is, "most of the vocals here" because in the
overall you are not the majority IMO. You're welcome to your opinions
of course unless and until you begin to force them on people, just as I
am.

Don't forget to clean your registry,

Twayne

 

[WindPipe]

Avast is decent. NOD32 also if a pay-for is OK.

Is that your opinion too?

As for "most of us here", what you mean is, "most of the vocals here" because in
the overall you are not the majority IMO.

Check out the brain on bread...!

You're welcome to your opinions

Exacltly what was asked for in the first place, thanks for approving.

of course unless and until you begin to force them on people, just as I am.

No, not after your next line you are not, you don't even come close for polite
consideration.

Don't forget to clean your registry, Really!

Twit

Now to provide some assistance to the original Poster;

blb, look at http://www.av-comparatives.org/ do only a slight more bit of
research, the three main contraints you need to consider is you want to purchase
AV software;

Price + System Resource Usage + Detection Rate\Success, for free software look at;
System Resource Usage + Detection Rate\Success

Ken above gave some good advice relative to these constraints. AVAST is good, and
NOD32 is one of the best when it comes to paying for it.

- WindPipe

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi
Can anyone suggest what is the best antivirus for a home pc, windows xp,
broadband internet? I have Norton internet security - and it has been
suggested that it may be slowing down my computer. I am also looking with a
tight budget in mind.
Thank You !

You'll get nearly as many differing opinions as you will responses.

I'll start by saying that I don't think any security "suite" is a
good choice. It'd be better to use smaller, less-resource-draining
stand-alone products. And, having had personal experience with
Verizon's business practices, I certainly wouldn't trust anything they
offer. Even if the product/service itself is fine, there'll be hidden
costs and "unadvertised" conditions and limitations associated with it.

I had used, and recommended, Norton Antivirus and then Norton
Internet Security, for many years, on Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP,
all without any significant problems. I had used McAfee prior to that.
But it's been several years since I've been tempted to try McAfee
products. Their quality seemed to take a steep nose-dive after they were
acquired by Network Associates.

However, when my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton
Internet Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially
higher than the preceding year's subscription), I decided to try less
expensive solutions. I downloaded and installed the free version of
GriSoft's AVG (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ). It proved
to be easily installed, easy to use, and quite effective. Additionally,
I was pleasantly surprised to see a small but very noticeable
improvement in my PC's performance, once I'd replaced the Symantec
product. Another free (for personal use) anti-virus product is AVAST! 4
Home Edition (http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html), which is what
I've used without problems on both WinXP Pro and Vista Business.

For a recent comparison of anti-virus products:

Retrospective / ProActive Test
http://www.av-comparatives.org/


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[M.I.5¾]

Why ask here? This has absolutely nothing to do with the OS and is
nothing but pure subjective preference on your part. Go out on the
web and get all the opinions and information you want by yourself.

IOW, Ask elsewhere

Your question should be asked in a general newsgroup.

As this is a general newsgroup a much better plan would be to ignore our
resident ****wit.

 

[blb]

Thank you all so much for all of your help !!!!! I have looked into all, and
am thinking of going with Avast - is actually #4 on CNET. Anyway - now comes
another all be it silly question...... do I have to remove Norton before I
download AVAST??
sorrry ! and thank you all again !

 

[Ray Parrish]

No, but you need to uninstall it before you install Avast. Downloading
is different than installing.

Later, Ray Parrish

 

[jim]

I like AVG Free 8.0.175.Its Much less complicated than Avast I
think.Have tried Avast several time's But ?.Only yesterday was the
latest. Have been using a Version of AVG for several years,& have found
it OK. Jim

 

[blb]

do I do this in the control panel - add/remove programs?
Thanks !!

 

[Ray Parrish]

Yeah, that's normally how you uninstall a program. I've heard that
Norton stuff is hard to remove and you may need to go to their web site
and get their removal tool to insure it is completely removed.

Later, Ray Parrish

 

[blb]

THANKS !! once I remove the program from control panel, how will I know if I
will need a removal tool or not?
thanks again

 

[gram pappy]

Yes but Norton is like a Pit Bull, it will not let go easy.
First I would go to Norton Homepage and download their
Removal Tool to the desktop or somewhere you can find it.

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?OpenDocument

Go off-line close all applications then go to control panel/
Add/Remove programs select Norton Internet Security/Remove.

Then run the Norton Removal Tool to remove any leftover crud.

If you have no other Firewall go to control panel select Windows
Firewall before back online...

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you all so much for all of your help !!!!! I have looked into all, and
am thinking of going with Avast - is actually #4 on CNET. Anyway - now comes
another all be it silly question...... do I have to remove Norton before I
download AVAST??
sorrry ! and thank you all again !

Yes. Running two anti-virus programs at once is a poor idea. They will
likely interfere with each other.



In my view, the best is NOD32. But considering your tight budget,
Avast, which is also excellent, may be a better choice for you, since
it's free.

 

[Anthony Buckland]

Yes but Norton is like a Pit Bull, it will not let go easy.
First I would go to Norton Homepage and download their
Removal Tool to the desktop or somewhere you can find it.

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?OpenDocument

Go off-line close all applications then go to control panel/
Add/Remove programs select Norton Internet Security/Remove.

Then run the Norton Removal Tool to remove any leftover crud.

If you have no other Firewall go to control panel select Windows
Firewall before back online...

I used the Norton removal procedure some years ago and it worked just fine.
I had less luck removing McAfee, but that became a moot point when
I moved from Win98 to WinXP and the installation process magically
removed the last traces (don't know how, but, given a free lunch, I eat it).

I wouldn't touch either company with a three-metre pole any more.
McAfee drained a lot of performance from my then-new first 1GHz
machine, and Norton had its own undesirable side effects.

I use Zone Alarm 7.0.483 now. Release 8.something is getting a
lot of bad press, so I'm avoiding it. Others' mileage re Zone Alarm
differs, sometimes quite loudly.