Norton antivirus. It'll make your PC run so slow that you'll never turn it on again, and never get a virus.
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I use Norton and it's really not as bad as it used to be! At one point, it really was a big system hog, but it's nowhere near as bad now and I've never had any problems with a virus.
The only issue I've had is that it thinks my Taito Type 2X emulator and games are a virus, so it's removed the .exe from them so I can't start those anymore, but as my laptop isn't quite powerful enough to run the games (Street Fighter IV etc) that's a small issue.
I use Norton and it's really not as bad as it used to be! At one point, it really was a big system hog, but it's nowhere near as bad now and I've never had any problems with a virus.
Fair enough... "Norton: Not as crap as it used to be" then :) I wouldn't touch it myself, but antivirus s/w seems to be one of those things a bit like hard disks, where people all have their favourite manufacturer and everyone has an "I would never use their products again..." story for different manufacturers!
Personally, Microsoft Security Essentials works very well for me on Windows. And the price is right :)
Avast (the paid one actually now, the 'middle' choice just AV and Firewall really) here, used the free one for several years.
I used to run AVG however I for a while ended up using an ancient 1GHz box for a couple of weeks (Running XP) and found that AVG would slow it down noticeably, compared to Avast. It had 512mb ram too...
Another vote for Avast! here, I put it on a lot of desktops and laptops, and it never gives me any problems, other than a very rare false positive.
Also, put Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on there too. AVG and Malwarebytes (as we all call it) can co-exist perfectly and never wrongly flag their counterpart as being infected (unlike most other combinations of two or more anti-virus/malware packages on one PC), so if you do get a warning from Avast! about an infection on your PC, then double check it by using Malwarebytes.
AVG Free. Never had a problem with it, and if I ever do, then Avast I guess. Microsoft's Essentials is supposed to be pretty decent too
I suppose it's only fair to point out that ANY anti virus will a) miss the odd virus/trojan and b) be a drain on system resources, and AVG Free works for me - your mileage may vary ;)
So nobody uses BitDefender? I've been using the free version and also tried the trial version of the pro version. Very impressed by the non-intrusive nature and simplicity of use. Apparently the pro version has one of the best anti-virus engines in the market right now, and the free isn't too shabby either.
I use AVG Free. On my machines at least, it doesn't hog resources. I also run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware every couple of weeks (don't think the free version can be scheduled).
I use AVG Free. On my machines at least, it doesn't hog resources. I also run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware every couple of weeks (don't think the free version can be scheduled).
Yes the free one you have to run manually. Having said that it (might, read untested) be possible to schedule a task and run it via command line. Then again its no hardship to manually run a scan... :)
Firstly i used Norton which took up lot of CPU usage for some reason and made the PC run slow, then it gradually locked me out of everything as it saw me as a 'threat' so got rid of it (and it was bast to uninstall!) and used AVG for a few years but got a virus that it didn't pick up (even though it was obviously there) so now i use Zonealarm antivirus & firewall (which is free).
I also have spyware terminator and malwarebytes so pretty well protected now.
EDIT: One minor problem with Spywater Terminator is when i play Watchdogs i have to switch it off, if not you get an error message something about incorrect language settings, the forums said it was 'sending a false positive' whatever that means.
Another vote for Microsoft Security Essentials/Windows Defender here.
Certainly, if you're running Windows 7 or 8, and are capable of applying a modicum of common sense to where you browse and what you download, you really shouldn't need any third party security tools.
I also have spyware terminator and malwarebytes so pretty well protected now.
EDIT: One minor problem with Spywater Terminator is when i play Watchdogs i have to switch it off, if not you get an error message something about incorrect language settings, the forums said it was 'sending a false positive' whatever that means.
A false positive is when an anti-virus or anti-malware program wrongly thinks that a program is infected when in fact it isn't. In some cases it can be difficult to tell (I've heard it said that in some cases it's impossible to be 100% sure that a given program is not somehow infected), and so Avast!, AVG, etc tend to err on the side of caution, and flag a program as infected if they are not entirely convinced that a program is uninfected.
A second cause of false positives is that some programs legitimately try to do something that, to an anti-virus/anti-malware program, might seem like the actions of a virus/malware. If program A, for example, tries to find and modify program B, then to the anti-virus/anti-malware program, program A might contain a virus that is yet unkown to the anti-virus/anti-malware program, or program A might actually be a form of malware posing as a legitimate problem. In this case Avast! etc should report this as a possible infection.
And a third cause of false positives is actually deliberately lying by the anti-virus/anti-malware program, or rather, lying by the people who write the AV software. It's rumoured that anti-virus/anti-malware programs are programmed to check for pirated software, and especially programs that crack (remove the protection or limits) commercial programs, and to deliberately say that these cracks or pirated programs are infected when they are not, to dissuade the user from using pirated software. A lot of people claim this, though I don't know how widespread it is.
And a third cause of false positives is actually deliberately lying by the anti-virus/anti-malware program, or rather, lying by the people who write the AV software. It's rumoured that anti-virus/anti-malware programs are programmed to check for pirated software, and especially programs that crack (remove the protection or limits) commercial programs, and to deliberately say that these cracks or pirated programs are infected when they are not, to dissuade the user from using pirated software. A lot of people claim this, though I don't know how widespread it is.
A lot less widespread than cracks which actually contain malware.
Comments
i used avg till i got a virus and even pointing to it avg didnt pick it up
I use Norton and it's really not as bad as it used to be! At one point, it really was a big system hog, but it's nowhere near as bad now and I've never had any problems with a virus.
The only issue I've had is that it thinks my Taito Type 2X emulator and games are a virus, so it's removed the .exe from them so I can't start those anymore, but as my laptop isn't quite powerful enough to run the games (Street Fighter IV etc) that's a small issue.
Personally, Microsoft Security Essentials works very well for me on Windows. And the price is right :)
Ditto.
Shame they'll cut off the definitions to XP in April.
I used to run AVG however I for a while ended up using an ancient 1GHz box for a couple of weeks (Running XP) and found that AVG would slow it down noticeably, compared to Avast. It had 512mb ram too...
Also, put Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on there too. AVG and Malwarebytes (as we all call it) can co-exist perfectly and never wrongly flag their counterpart as being infected (unlike most other combinations of two or more anti-virus/malware packages on one PC), so if you do get a warning from Avast! about an infection on your PC, then double check it by using Malwarebytes.
I suppose it's only fair to point out that ANY anti virus will a) miss the odd virus/trojan and b) be a drain on system resources, and AVG Free works for me - your mileage may vary ;)
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Yes the free one you have to run manually. Having said that it (might, read untested) be possible to schedule a task and run it via command line. Then again its no hardship to manually run a scan... :)
Looks like I'll stick to avast.
Now just got to remove the free macafee.
I also have spyware terminator and malwarebytes so pretty well protected now.
EDIT: One minor problem with Spywater Terminator is when i play Watchdogs i have to switch it off, if not you get an error message something about incorrect language settings, the forums said it was 'sending a false positive' whatever that means.
Certainly, if you're running Windows 7 or 8, and are capable of applying a modicum of common sense to where you browse and what you download, you really shouldn't need any third party security tools.
A false positive is when an anti-virus or anti-malware program wrongly thinks that a program is infected when in fact it isn't. In some cases it can be difficult to tell (I've heard it said that in some cases it's impossible to be 100% sure that a given program is not somehow infected), and so Avast!, AVG, etc tend to err on the side of caution, and flag a program as infected if they are not entirely convinced that a program is uninfected.
A second cause of false positives is that some programs legitimately try to do something that, to an anti-virus/anti-malware program, might seem like the actions of a virus/malware. If program A, for example, tries to find and modify program B, then to the anti-virus/anti-malware program, program A might contain a virus that is yet unkown to the anti-virus/anti-malware program, or program A might actually be a form of malware posing as a legitimate problem. In this case Avast! etc should report this as a possible infection.
And a third cause of false positives is actually deliberately lying by the anti-virus/anti-malware program, or rather, lying by the people who write the AV software. It's rumoured that anti-virus/anti-malware programs are programmed to check for pirated software, and especially programs that crack (remove the protection or limits) commercial programs, and to deliberately say that these cracks or pirated programs are infected when they are not, to dissuade the user from using pirated software. A lot of people claim this, though I don't know how widespread it is.
Used to be AVG till it thought our accounting software at work was a threat and wouldn't run it :/
I'd have thought that all accounting software is very clearly a threat. :)
A lot less widespread than cracks which actually contain malware.
I agree on that.
I've been using Kaspersky since 2005, and even when it gave some issues with spectaculator 8 (slowed start-up), I've never stopped using it.
For a free AV, Microsoft's Security Essentials and some common sense while surfing the web and installing stuff is the way I suggest.
I intend to buy it after the trial.