Anti Virus for PeeCee

[yester64]

Hi, i wonder if commercial software is better than what you get for free.
For a long time i only used Microsofts Security Essentials which was ok, i assume. Before i used Eset32 but that was years ago.
Now i am trying Kaspersky and i am not sure. For one its quite a price (ok for 5 devices). At the same time i wonder if you really need an anti-virus for a smartphone. Weren't they sandboxed?
Anyway, somebody has some thoughts about it what option the better one is. I am kind of undecided so far.

[bueller]

I work in IT for a living and honestly I've never used anything other than Microsoft Security Essentials. It covers the basics and so long as you're not clinically retarded most people should be fine without another virus scanner.

[Turkishrambo]

only AV i sue that isnt paid or  MSE is Avast free antivirus. Because i love the chicks voice and it has a nifty software updater

[linziyi]

Google Linux, you will see some amazing result.

[Leslieann]

I work in IT for a living and honestly I've never used anything other than Microsoft Security Essentials. It covers the basics and so long as you're not clinically retarded most people should be fine without another virus scanner.

Except that it repeatedly fails tests and you have all your eggs in one basket, and worse, the basket is Microsoft.

Google Linux, you will see some amazing result.

That helps a whole lot if he needs Windows.

[PointyFox]

I just use Avast.

[rowdy]

What about Comodo?

This question comes up at work once a year when our Kaspersky licence falls due, and me and the other sysadmin have a quick look around to see what else is available and good and free.

Each year it pretty much comes down to paying to continue with Kaspersky or going Comodo for free.  I usually throw in MSE to see if anyone reacts.

[Tym]

Just want to make sure you're not using AVG, otherwise I will have to "fix" you...permanently.

[yester64]

Ok, i will try Avast out. It seems to have a quicker update function compared to the rest meaning <24h.
At least from what i read.

In any case, thanks for saving me the money i had thrown into the big game.

btw. Linux yes, i had it running. At the moment i don't since i like to game sometimes and i am in war with wine. There are some games that just don't run with wine.
Anyway, i am exited to see how Avast will run and hopefully it will be good enough.

[PointyFox]

I stay away from Comodo since every time I've installed their firewall, it has caused some major problem with my operating system.

[yester64]

So far so good. Seems to be light on the system as well. And yes, it does have a nice women voice.

[rowdy]

I stay away from Comodo since every time I've installed their firewall, it has caused some major problem with my operating system.

Interesting.  I'll try to remember this next time our AV comes up for renewal at work.  Thanks.

[Tarzan]

ESET has been the first program installed on my personal PCs, for at least the last decade.  It just works. 

[yester64]

Had Eset also for a longer time. But i not willing to pay anymore since the cost is high no matter what.
I uninstalled Kaspersky for now and chose the "free" options instead.

[microsoft windows]

I DON'T USE ANY ANTIVIRUS ON MY COMPUTER. NEVER REALLY NEEDED IT. I JUST MAKE BACKUPS OF MY DOCUMENTS AND REINSTALL WINDOWS IF I GET A VIRUS OR OTHER ISSUES.

I'VE HEARD GOOD STUFF ABOUT THE FREE ANTIVIRUS BUILT INTO WINDOWS THOUGH. I'D SEE HOW THAT WORKS OUT BEFORE SHELLING OUT A TON OF MONEY FOR HIGH-PRICED ANTIVIRUS. A LOT OF COMMERCIAL ANTIVIRUS ALSO SLOWS DOWN COMPUTERS AND TAKES UP A BUNCH OF SYSTEM RESOURCES, AND COME WITH NAGGY UPDATERS THAT NEVER WORK PROPERLY.

[Tym]

I think you have a virus, everything you type is in capitals. Better reinstall windows 98.

[microsoft windows]

NO, MY COMPUTER RUNS JUST FINE. JUST REINSTALLED WINDOWS LAST WEEK AS A MATTER OF FACT! I RUN A DEDICATED MACHINE FOR EMAIL AND FORUM BROWSING, SO I DON'T VISIT ANY SITES THAT COULD GIVE ME VIRUSES. I ALSO BLOCK ALL AD WEBSITES WITH MY FIREWALL AS AN EXTRA LAYER OF SECURITY, AND IT WORKS OUT QUITE WELL!

[insilica]

Yea unfortunately when you get a Virus / Trojan that siphons your personal detail you cant simply re-install your life, or backup your bank account for that (not that you can do that using M$ os anyway, wait drag'n'drop / xcopy might work LoL) !

Go ESET (I used to use it when I had M$ OS) or one of the big names, or better yet uninstall windows use Linux or just get a Mac.

Do use an antivirus and do use a firewall, the cost (usually free) is nothing in comparison to loosing information, identity theft or loosing property.

[microsoft windows]

WELL, I DON'T DO ANY ONLINE BANKING, AND I ALSO DON'T POST PERSONAL INFORMATION ONLINE OR STORE IT ON COMPUTERS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. SO THE VIRUS PEOPLE WOULD BE OUT OF LUCK WITH ME.

FOLKS HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHAT THEY PUT ON COMPUTERS THAT ARE HOOKED UP TO THE INTERNET. EVEN WITH ANTIVIRUS, THINGS CAN STILL SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS FROM TIME TO TIME. NEVER HURTS TO BE CAREFUL!

[rowdy]

WELL, I DON'T DO ANY ONLINE BANKING, AND I ALSO DON'T POST PERSONAL INFORMATION ONLINE OR STORE IT ON COMPUTERS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. SO THE VIRUS PEOPLE WOULD BE OUT OF LUCK WITH ME.

FOLKS HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHAT THEY PUT ON COMPUTERS THAT ARE HOOKED UP TO THE INTERNET. EVEN WITH ANTIVIRUS, THINGS CAN STILL SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS FROM TIME TO TIME. NEVER HURTS TO BE CAREFUL!

Hey!  You've used words longer than 8 characters.  I though you were limited to 8 characters uppercase words in your posts?  (or 11 character words with a full stop after the 8th character)?

[microsoft windows]

I've upgraded to Windows 98 now. Nice thing about 98 is it's 32-bit and allows the use of long file names! IE6 also runs in Windows 98, which is another big plus.

[rowdy]

I've upgraded to Windows 98 now. Nice thing about 98 is it's 32-bit and allows the use of long file names! IE6 also runs in Windows 98, which is another big plus.

98SE or original?

[Leslieann]

I work in IT for a living and honestly I've never used anything other than Microsoft Security Essentials. It covers the basics and so long as you're not clinically retarded most people should be fine without another virus scanner.

ESET has been the first program installed on my personal PCs, for at least the last decade.  It just works.

Yep, works great.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mse+fails+av+test&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a


I install Avast on the hundreds of systems I maintain.
I tried MSE for 2 weeks and promptly ditched it.

I've upgraded to Windows 98 now. Nice thing about 98 is it's 32-bit and allows the use of long file names! IE6 also runs in Windows 98, which is another big plus.

Looks like you finally learned how to turn off caps lock too.



By the way,
During the span of one week, Google, Myspace, Facebook and Yahoo were all giving out a trojan.  80% of the world uses Facebook, and Google runs about that much of the ad market. You can run, but you can't hide.

Truth is, you are 3 times as likely to be infected from a religious website, than you are from porn sites. This is 180 degrees opposite of what it was 10 years ago. The reason is that porn sites got organized to fight these people and have built their own secure ad networks. Religious sites are typically run by volunteers, not professionals, and as such, are easy prey.


Also, online banking, sorry, but Microsoft Windows is using outdated thinking.
Your card is just as likely to be cloned at a bar. I've been online banking for about 10 years, the one time my card was stolen, was by a guy manually entering it. He got the info off the server at his work where I ordered a part then went home and used the numbers. Basically, if you use a card, at all, it's vulnerable. He could have gotten those numbers at a bar, from a phone order, anywhere. Here's the thing... I caught it within 24 hours, why? because I was using online banking and could see something was wrong before they drained the account.

Remember, your card is a convenience, which also makes it convenient for you as well as crooks. Your computer is only only one of many ways it can be taken.  You are better off being proactive and catching something as it happens, than to bury your head in the sand thinking it can't happen.

[listokei]

microsoft security essentials

[Grim Fandango]

microsoft security essentials

Same. I also use Comodo firewall.

The negative about MSE is that it is common and popular. So in theory it can be aimed for when people are trying to make something that will not be picked up by virusscanners. However, in the annual tests that you see around the web, the detection rate is very similar among the top anti-virus scanners. So then it really becomes about which additional features it has, the user interface and the system resources it takes up. MSE scores well in the latter two categories.

People often say things like "just use common sense, and you wont need an anti-virus". This might be true 99% of the time, but it simply is not true that whenever someone gets a "virus" on their PC it is because of something they did wrong. Examples of this that I personally experienced was a trojan in the download section of Razer Europe's driver page a couple of years back. And a flash exploit that would compromise wow-accounts through malicious ads on known and trusted gaming websites. In both cases anti-virus (or in this case, more particularly no-script) prevented me from being a victim like so many others. All they did was update their drivers and visit their favorite websites like thousands of others. The only difference between them and those who stayed unaffected is that they did not bother to have proper protection.

[Morwrath]

Avast all the way! Had it installed on my parents computers aswell since they are a bit clueless when it comes to computers.

[lucifurburch]

ive used avg for years now, ive put it on at least 10 clients machines in the last year and had good feedback from them and its free.