Best Anti-Virus?

johnnyrotten

Whats the best Anti-Virus package on the Market?

Orion

Depends on whether you want to pay or not. For paid my personal winner is NAI. For free the best choice is AVG. Both links are in the sticky.

the_jocky

zone alarm pro had every other one and this got all the stuff you need
spware pop up blocker spam everything

MrJoeSoap

I use AVG free, Zone Alarm and Hitman Pro.

Flawless combination. Comes highly recommended.

the_jocky

do u use the free versions or the retail the free zone lram is nothing compared to the full version ive never had any thing sneak in to me system

derek27

BitDefender pro 9.0 was voted best in 2005
AVG free seems to do the job well enough though.

MrJoeSoap

I use the free Zone Alarm the_jocky, haven't had any problems with it since I got it about 4 months back.

gerire

I was just about to also post about Anti Virus. Im looking for a standalone aggressive virus detector and removal tool. Does anybody have any reccomendations. Also please read my problems below any suggestions will be gratiously received.

I have been away from my PC for the last 10 months or so and my little bro has been using it and probably wouldn't be the most inspired person in relation to shutting down AV and firewall for fun, and I reckon I have picked up some sort of virus,
Reasons for thinking this:
1: When I try to run independant online free virus checks , Symantec Mcaffee etc, It will start to download the ActiveX controls but wont let them run.
2: Windows update wont allow me to access the updates
3: Mouse pointer will stick on the screen at any particular time, ie no specific trigger event, but you can still move the mouse if you can guess where on the screen it is. Hard to explain really Mouse is moving but pointer is stuck in 1 position on screen

Orion

ZoneAlarm is a firewall - not AntiVirus!!!! Don't confuse the two. A firewall will not prevent a virus getting in and AV will not prevent hackers getting access to your system.

You will need both firewall software and AV if you have broadband. For a free firewall Outpost is very good.

Firewalls are not spyware blockers either! Get Spybot to take care of this. And to block popups - use Firefox instead of IE.

Orion

gerire wrote:

and I reckon I have picked up some sort of virus,

It's possible that you have. Get the Stinger tool from NAI and run it. It cleans the most prevalent viruses. It's a free, standalone tool. It is not a replacement for AV - this is a run and terminate application not a virus shield.

gerire

Macros42 wrote:

It's possible that you have. Get the Stinger tool from NAI and run it. It cleans the most prevalent viruses. It's a free, standalone tool. It is not a replacement for AV - this is a run and terminate application not a virus shield.

Thank you exactly what I was looking for, in relation to your previous post, I am aware of the difference between AVG and ZoneAlarm but the little bro is a bollix and finds it ammusing to close these down feeling he will get faster downloads of some crap like that. THank you for your reply. Scanning now

the_jocky

beg to differ on the zone alarm being a fire wall
i bought the full retail version and while we speak its running a virus check .
i know what ur saying its a fire wall with out buying the add ons etc .

spartacus93

the_jocky wrote:

beg to differ on the zone alarm being a fire wall
i bought the full retail version and while we speak its running a virus check .
i know what ur saying its a fire wall with out buying the add ons etc .

Yep, they make an anti-virus product, although they are probably better known for their free firewall.

the_jocky

thanks for clearing this up .

layke

kaspersky are proabbly have the best scanning engine on the market.

(I know from multiple tests performed in the lab).

TerrorFirmer

I use a combination of AVG, Spybot search and Destroy and the built in Xp Firewall.

Anyone shed any light on the reliability of XP's own firewall?

the_jocky

kaspersky i ran it on the other pc i got it messed it p on completly
so now i stick with an all in one program and pay the extra few bob.

MrJoeSoap

MobileInfantry wrote:

I use a combination of AVG, Spybot search and Destroy and the built in Xp Firewall.

Anyone shed any light on the reliability of XP's own firewall?

Not too sure about the XP firewall because I'm running Windows 2k, but if you want a decent spyware program try Hitman Pro. It includes 5 different programs (including S&D) and runs them all at once when you scan.

Great program altogether.

aaf

MobileInfantry wrote:

I use a combination of AVG, Spybot search and Destroy and the built in Xp Firewall.

Anyone shed any light on the reliability of XP's own firewall?

Woeful. Get yourself Zone Alarm or as suggested, Outpost - never heard of it but worth a shot. Just don't rely on Windows firewall.

the_jocky

i was asking on another tread bout capturing desktop screen.
so i could show the difference with the zone alarm pro and free version.
i bought snag it fantastic prigram does video and photos.
so i can show you the extra stuff zone alarm does now hehehe.

Drakar

er what's wrong with PrintScreen (PrtSc)? :P (the key on your keyboard rather than any fancy program)

Laguna

XP's built in firewall is as good as a hamster protecting an unguarded entrance into your home MobileInfantry. My personal choices are AVG free and Zonealarm.

Laguna

Drakar wrote:

er what's wrong with PrintScreen (PrtSc)? :P (the key on your keyboard rather than any fancy program)

I was thinking the same. Some guy bought a program that performs the same function as a standard button on a keyboard...

the_jocky

i just collect software but it saves video clips too and water marks jpegs etc ideal for web design and stuff
does what it says on the tin lads .... dont give me hard time bout it ....

SouperComputer

Best AV ive found to be NOD32 by far. Low use of resources, excellent heuristics & detection.

AVG is great value however, as it is free.

Ive tried more AV than I have fingers TBH and have found NOD32 to be the best overall package.

Orion

the_jocky wrote:

i was asking on another tread bout capturing desktop screen.
so i could show the difference with the zone alarm pro and free version.

Good god - you went to all this trouble just to prove a point? :eek:

My point still stands - ZA is a firewall, NAI is an AV package. I will entrust the safety of my pc to specialist packages not 'one size fits all'. ZA make a very good firewall but why the hell would I pay extra for an AV addon that I just wouldn't trust when i do trust NAI and AVG.

the_jocky

because when you buy the retail u buy the support also.
free avg is good but its free . when your pc foooks up.who ya gonnna call? nobody.
as i said above it does what it says on the tin so i bought it.

MrJoeSoap

the_jocky wrote:

because when you buy the retail u buy the support also.
free avg is good but its free . when your pc foooks up.who ya gonnna call?

Ghostbusters??

Thats the thing with AVG Free though, your PC won't fook up!

the_jocky

hahahahahahahahahahhaa

jonski

NOD32 is rated the best AV for gamers , I presume because of it's low use of resources .

I use either Norton ( because my tiny brain thinks that it should be better) or AVG .

For a Firewall I use that hardware one built into the netopia 3347 modem provided by eircom .

psicic

For anti-virus I use AntiVir : download full free version here
I swear by it, but most people I know use AVG. Both are pretty good. For Anti-Virus, however, never use Norton. It's not great, way over priced and creates mre problems then it solves.

For Firewall I use Syate Personal Edition : was free, until those Symantec b*st*rds took over. Am still using the Sygate one to protect my home network until I get a chance to find something better. When I wanted to test-run ZoneAlarm about two years back, it have me nothing but trouble - and that's not even including when I tried using it on a network.

For adware/spyware: I use both AdAware and Spybot. One or the other just won't cut it - they each will find stuff the other misses.

I've yet to see any commercial(i.e. versions that cost money) products in these categories that provide enough advantage to justify pending cash.