Happyoldgit Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I'm not renewing my Mcafee AVG subscription this year as I feel the service and support has dropped to a level that I no longer feel acceptable. I'd be interested in views on alternatives be they paid or freebies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Friends of mine have used AVG and Nod32 and always rated both highly. I've never used any antivirus in 15 years of computing and have never had a problem, but if you're going to have one I'd reccomend one of the above purely based on what have been all positive referalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I can recommend Avast! antivirus - free (really absolutely as in air) and has caught quite a few nasties. Recommendation based on 5 years use on 4 machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Mcafee AVG Huh? Those would be two separate products. The script is: AVG (Free edition) and ZoneAlarm Firewall (also free) AVG ZoneAlarm Use the cnet download links on both pages to get the free versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Avast is another one I've heard good things about. A good firewall is something I do reccomend, either software or hardware. Zonealarm was always a good software one that I used to use in the past before I went hardware Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Huh? Those would be two separate products. The script is: AVG (Free edition) and ZoneAlarm Firewall (also free) AVG ZoneAlarm Use the cnet download links on both pages to get the free versions. Aye, ignore the AVG bit, just a brain glitch! Thanks for t'other info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I've used AVG personally for a couple of years, and implemented it for friends and family across maybe 10 machines. I have often installed it in place of McAfee and Symantec with positive results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 AVG in version 9 has gone from being good and efficient to bloatware that meant I had to upgrade my laptop memory so can't recommend that any more though I still use it. Somebody I know in IT says that NOD32 is good and fairly efficient but no personal dealings. Norton has long since been relegated to bloatware, Norton IS 2006 was the last one worth using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 A good firewall is something I do reccomend, either software or hardware. Zonealarm was always a good software one that I used to use in the past before I went hardware It can't hurt to have both. Hardware firewall to stop the 13 year old hackers getting in, software firewall to stop any nasties that you will acquire from a browser exploit sending any data out. It's always useful to know what programs on your PC are sending out data and being able to contol and block them. Also helps identify as soon as you contract something before it wrecks your PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangeyRover Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Anti Virus is always a very personal decision. As system admin for a lot of small companies, I am currently recomending NOD32 to anyone who asks, mostly because of it anti malware capability. Most users who complain of viruses have actually got a malware infection which is causing unwanted search popups and page hijacks. Viruses are more sinister and silent, designed to steal your data or use your machine without permission and as such are normally silent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myocardial Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 If you have a Barclays Bank account and use internet banking then I'd suggest getting the free licence for Kaspersky. Nod32 is about the best for performance/detection with a pretty small footprint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazelle Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have used AVG and zonealarm for a number of years, but have switched firewall to Comodo. Comodo bundle an industrial strength firewall with a limited antivirus, hence I recommend AVG (Anti virus only) Comodo (Firewall only) Spybot search and destroy (spyware protection). total cost £/$0 Cheers Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 It can't hurt to have both. Hardware firewall to stop the 13 year old hackers getting in, software firewall to stop any nasties that you will acquire from a browser exploit sending any data out. It's always useful to know what programs on your PC are sending out data and being able to contol and block them. Also helps identify as soon as you contract something before it wrecks your PC. A valid point. I'm very controlling of my PC and what software is running. I use TCPView to check what the applications I am running are doing. As for browser exploits, well yes there are always going to be ways of nasty bits of code getting onto your PC...but in my view that's just the risk I run. Common sense when browsing is very understated. Anti Virus is always a very personal decision. As system admin for a lot of small companies, I am currently recomending NOD32 to anyone who asks, mostly because of it anti malware capability. Most users who complain of viruses have actually got a malware infection which is causing unwanted search popups and page hijacks. Viruses are more sinister and silent, designed to steal your data or use your machine without permission and as such are normally silent. Another good point, what many people would say is a 'virus' these days is usually spyware/malware/adware of some kind, due to the prolific use of the term 'virus'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 The best way not to get viruses is not to use windoze in the first place.. But if you must then i would vote.. Avast! antivirus and the windoze defender (free from microsoft) as this can give you a really good in depth view of what process are running so if you think you might have some spy wear running its easy to spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 The best way not to get viruses is not to use windoze in the first place.. Because of course there is no malicious software out there for Mac/Unix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Because of course there is no malicious software out there for Mac/Unix because nobody can be bothered to write it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Indeed OS wars aside, the best piece of anti-virus kit available is the bit that's installed between the keyboard and the chair. Common sense when opening emails, downloading things etc, and the ability to sniff out dodgy websites is highly important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Because of course there is no malicious software out there for Mac/Unix Name any widespread Linux malware threat? the danger is when people leave there linux box open to attack and get it cracked... ---- This is getting way OT (but hey its friday) so i will leave the windows/linux bunfight there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 because nobody can be bothered to write it When *nix becomes mainstream they will - effort and return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Well it already is mainstream in a way. The vast majority of web servers are *nix based. However, this discussion is about anti-virus software, the vast majority of which applies to Windows based systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 because nobody can be bothered to write it * Anyway, not being too Techy I want something that is about as bullet proof as I can get, doesn't slow the system down to a crawl ie NORTON does, and also be user friendly, for me what ticks all these boxes is KASPERSKY Internet Security 2010 around £15 from www.aria.co.uk plus a £couple P&P Nige * NOTE "Car" Land Rovers are a whole different thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I used AVG for years, but i too had found the recent versions becoming a bit bloaty, and any time i install them i was needing to turn off most of the "features" like LinkScanner do avoid the PC grinding to a halt. I installed Avast on the missus machine because AVG8.5 and Windows7 RC didnt agree, and it seems fine. I dont run any on my laptop any more, as i found that due to laptops generally having slow hard disks, it just took too much of a toll on the performance. I run it on my desktop, but it has a fast 10K RPM SATA disk, so its less noticeable. I would say that firewall software is something i've never bothered with. Most people connect to the internet via a router anyway, which acts as a firewall due to the way it works. Windows also has a passable one built in. I tried zonealarm a while back and found it constantly nagging me "are you sure you want XYZ to access the internet" and due to the way windows works you end up saying "allow all" to processes such as iexplore and rundll32, which pretty much writes off any benefit against an accidental malware infection, because the malware will undoubtedly be using one of those to talk to the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Common sense when opening emails, downloading things etc, and the ability to sniff out dodgy websites is highly important. This is in my opinion No.1 thing to do to not get any virus's/malware!! I am constantly amazed by the number of people who winge about getting problems, you ask how it came and you just want to slap them I used McAfee... but gave up with that about 2 years ago, getting too slow, and not picking the od thing up.! Personally I use AVG, It has got more lardy over time (like most of us ). But still is a good one, and free! The only reason I use anything, is the risk of when my sister uses my PC, and the value of my PC! Norton... oh dear oh dear... using this is like asking the worlds heaviest man to be your co-driver on Ladoga, he'd just make you sink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I guess I will be in a minority then.... ....I use Norton 360. A complete package that looks after pretty much everything on my computer. And before anyone starts, yes I KNOW it slows things down, but it does not effect me too badly. I dont know a great deal about how these things work on the inside (think of the scene in Zoolander...thats me!) and my Norton package looks after things quite nicely, and I find it user friendly, so I think that is the price to pay for a chunky bit of software. Please dont anyone get on their high-horse about Norton. Just offering my opinion of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest noggy Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 A valid point. I'm very controlling of my PC and what software is running. I use TCPView to check what the applications I am running are doing. As for browser exploits, well yes there are always going to be ways of nasty bits of code getting onto your PC...but in my view that's just the risk I run. Common sense when browsing is very understated. Another good point, what many people would say is a 'virus' these days is usually spyware/malware/adware of some kind, due to the prolific use of the term 'virus'. All very good points, i too have not run a Antivirus or firewall for...6+ years. It all down to what you do with your clicky finger! Plus... firewalls dont like the programs i run... *nix is the way forward, Ubuntu Breesy Badger is installed on my CarPC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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