ZoneAlarm or AVG?

[webster72n]

Which program is better suited for Vista, free ZoneAlarm or AVG, or is there
a better one yet?

Harry.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Which program is better suited for Vista, free ZoneAlarm or AVG, or is there
a better one yet?

ZoneAlarm is a personal firewall, and AVG is an Anti-virus. They do
different things, so can't be directly compared.

Personally, I wouldn't use either of them. I recommend the built-in
Vista firewall rather than any third-party one like ZoneAlarm. And for
an anti-virus, I recommend NOD32 if you willing to spend the price. If
not, and you want a free anti-virus, I recommend either Avast or
Avira.

And over and above an anti-virus and firewall, you also need two or
more anti-spyware programs. I recommend that you install MalwareBytes
and at least one other from the following list:

SuperAntispyware
Spyware Blaster
Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware.

 

[Duane Hebert]

ZoneAlarm is a personal firewall, and AVG is an Anti-virus. They do
different things, so can't be directly compared.

Personally, I wouldn't use either of them. I recommend the built-in
Vista firewall rather than any third-party one like ZoneAlarm. And for
an anti-virus, I recommend NOD32 if you willing to spend the price. If
not, and you want a free anti-virus, I recommend either Avast or
Avira.

And over and above an anti-virus and firewall, you also need two or
more anti-spyware programs. I recommend that you install MalwareBytes
and at least one other from the following list:

AVG comes with Spyware and the paid version does real time cleaning of
the spyware. Works well here.

Most AV software has trial version for
their non free products though. Best to test for yourself as they seem to
have
different results based on different hardware and expectations.

I agree though about the firewall - the
built in one works fine for me on both my XP and Vista machines.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

They are two separate applications. Zone Alarm is a firewall and AVG is an
Anti Virus application.

Vista has its own built in firewall, so Zone Alarm isn't necessary. I use
the Windows built in firewall.

AVG is a good free anti virus application and one that I actually like.
Another free one is Avast, although Avast doesn't have such a user friendly
interface.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Clark]

ZoneAlarm is a personal firewall, and AVG is an Anti-virus. They do
different things, so can't be directly compared.

Personally, I wouldn't use either of them. I recommend the built-in
Vista firewall rather than any third-party one like ZoneAlarm. And for
an anti-virus, I recommend NOD32 if you willing to spend the price. If
not, and you want a free anti-virus, I recommend either Avast or
Avira.

And over and above an anti-virus and firewall, you also need two or
more anti-spyware programs. I recommend that you install MalwareBytes
and at least one other from the following list:

SuperAntispyware
Spyware Blaster
Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware.

ZoneAlarm has an Anti-Virus with Firewall included. They are also in
Beta for a 64 bit version.

Clark

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

ZoneAlarm has an Anti-Virus with Firewall included.

Yes, but when someone uses the name "ZoneAlarm" without specifying its
anti-virus product, they almost always mean the firewall product, and
that's what I assume the OP meant.

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

ZoneAlarm has an Anti-Virus with Firewall included. They are also in

Beta for a 64 bit version.

I think programs that TRY to be something else that they are never do
a good job. So I recommend using the program for what it is good at!

ZonaAlarm is a Firewall! They now want a share of the A/V market.

Avast, AVG etc ARE A/V programs but TRY to add Spyware scanners.

Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware ARE spyware scanners.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Ken, the OP stated the 'free' version therefore, as you rightly assessed, he
would be talking about the firewall.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken, the OP stated the 'free' version therefore, as you rightly assessed, he
would be talking about the firewall.

Thanks, John. So my assumption was right, even though I didn't notice
the word "free."

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Yes, Ken your assumption was right.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..