Anti-virus and anti-spyware

esperanza

Which anti-virus and ant-spyware tools do you trust the most. on my PC I have both spybot and microsoft antispyware installed as spybot doesn't get rid of all spyware. is this a good idea?

OMcGovern

I use free tools, but they've done me very nicely.

AVG virus scanner which also has free virus database updates regularly.
ZoneAlarm ( pretty decent firewall )
SpyBot - Search & Destory ( spyware scanner I run every so often, free
spyware database updates )
PeerGuardian 2 - if you use Bittorrent, it's supposed to block certain "anti-bittorrent" sites, eg. government, music & film companies, etc.

angry_fox

SpywareBlaster and Ewido are pretty good. Arent there a couple of threads on this subject already?

Rollo Tamasi

angry_fox wrote:

SpywareBlaster and Ewido are pretty good. Arent there a couple of threads on this subject already?

every single day. every single day

esperanza

angry_fox wrote:

SpywareBlaster and Ewido are pretty good. Arent there a couple of threads on this subject already?

Yeah, probably are, just didn't have the time to look tbh.

thanks anyhow.

glynf

Plenty of threads here already,but have a look at these sites and make up your own mind:

http://www.av-test.org/index.php3?lang=en

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2005_08.php

http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=72&mnu=72


Stick to kaspersky av & antihacker myself, I don't trust free antivirus.

Ruu_Old

pff the best antivirus programs are free. avg free, nuff said

esperanza

do u think it's safe to have two antivirus programs installed on ones' computer?

**Timbuk2**

no, it would not be a good idea to have two anti-viruses. It may seem to work fine at first, but later you can get unexpected results because the two anti-viruses are fighting to do the same job, if you get what I mean

I'm afraid you will have to choose one or the other

AVG Free is defintly the best free anti-virus and can be found here

ghost26ie

**Timbuk2** wrote:

no, it would not be a good idea to have two anti-viruses. It may seem to work fine at first, but later you can get unexpected results because the two anti-viruses are fighting to do the same job, if you get what I mean

I'm afraid you will have to choose one or the other

AVG Free is defintly the best free anti-virus and can be found here

i've seen that problem before. "experts" say u should have an anti-virus software with at least 2 anti-spymare/malware software packs. seen it in pc live once. not all anti-virus packages scan for the same things. go with avg, adaware and spybot, all free.

esperanza

**Timbuk2** wrote:

AVG Free is defintly the best free anti-virus and can be found here

I prefer to use avast myself, as I've never encountered any problems with it. It's certainly better than Norton.

meditraitor

OMcGovern wrote:

I use free tools, but they've done me very nicely.


SpyBot - Search & Destory ( spyware scanner I run every so often, free
spyware database updates )
.

Very usefull and effective

esperanza

On download.com they carried out a comprehensive and non-commercial test of the main spyware programs. Very interesting stuff. There is no spyware tool that eliminates all spyware.

http://www.download.com/Spyware-Obstacle-Course/1200-2023_4-5143404.html?tag=txt

conzy

AVG Free
NOD 32
Ad aware

esperanza

AD Adware SE has been crowned the winner.;)

Rollo Tamasi

esperanza wrote:

do u think it's safe to have two antivirus programs installed on ones' computer?

no because the likelyhood is that anti virus X will find anti virus y's quarintine list and go ape.

---

McAffee Personal Firewall
Nod 32
Ad-Aware
Firefox

---

esperanza

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

no because the likelyhood is that anti virus X will find anti virus y's quarintine list and go ape.

---

McAffee Personal Firewall
Nod 32
Ad-Aware
Firefox

---

thanks! thought it would be more advisable just to have one.;)

ianmc38

For spyware: Spybot S+D and Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta

Adaware SE as well.

I use AVG now. Used avast before, but it caused a few problems with Zone Alarm firewall.

I'd also recommend peer guardian 2 which is now updated daily.

Mr. Presentable

Avast is the only free one I know of to work with XP64, so that's what's on this machine. However the other two have Trend Internet security on them. I find Trend nice to use, built in firewall configures easily.

Capt'n Midnight

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

no because the likelyhood is that anti virus X will find anti virus y's quarintine list and go ape.

That's not really a problem any more. The big problem is that AV filters all disk/memory access/running processes and so the AV programs would litterly fight for control and protect the OS from the other one.
Golden Rule - uninstall* the old AV, reboot and then Reinstall the new AV

*for Norton and a few others the uninstall routine does NOT work cleanly and you may have to download a cleaner app


Many of the better products are free for Home Users but not for Organisations.

gamer

Expert on newstalk says,best package , is AVG antivirus, and spybot sd, and spywareblaster,spyblaster,plus ALWAYS use firefox browser all the time, internet explorer has too many vunerablitys ,and activex controls can be exploited by malware progs.
He says norton antivirus is not as good at spotting new virus,s plus you need to autoupdate ,or update avg every 3/to 5 days.They are selling cd with those 4 progs 4 20euro, money goes to charity.

esperanza

ianmc38 wrote:

For spyware: Spybot S+D and Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta

I tried these before I read the article from download.com evaluating the different spyware.

esperanza

gamer wrote:

Expert on newstalk says,best package , is AVG antivirus, and spybot sd, and spywareblaster,spyblaster,

Could you please tell us what newstalk is?

gamer wrote:

plus ALWAYS use firefox browser all the time, internet explorer has too many vunerablitys ,and activex controls can be exploited by malware progs.

It is not alwayspossible to use Firefox, as some sites cannot be viewed with mozilla. I do agree with you though that Mozilla is much better, the interface is much more user-friendly...i'll stop there as the thread is about anti virus and anti spyware.

glynf

Newstalk

BopNiblets

For spyware:
http://www.hitmanpro.nl/
(website is in Dutch but download it and the application's in English)
Combines most of the mentioned programs, updates and scans with them for you.

esperanza

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Many of the better products are free for Home Users but not for Organisations.

Can you recommend an efficien anti-virus incorporating anti-spyware program for a small organisation?

SouperComputer

esperanza wrote:

Can you recommend an efficien anti-virus incorporating anti-spyware program for a small organisation?

There isnt one really. A couple promise, but dont deliver.

NOD 32 AV is best AV IMO. Best detection, great huristics and a low system load. It does catch spyware, but is not a replacement for antispyware.


The best allround antispyware is Ewido, but like all of them, it doesnt get rid of it all, but it comes closer than any other. Hitman pro is fantastic as well. It uses an automated script to execute the following spyware programs:

Spybot S&D
Lavasoft AdAware
Webroot Spyware sweeper
Spyware Doctor
CW Shredder
Spyware Blaster (Active X prevention)

Im not sure on the impications of Hitman Pro for organisations. You could donate and then purchase the full versions of the commercial software contained in the list.

Using Firefox is always a good idea, the vast majority of sites are compatible and it is only in rare cases were a site is not displayed properly.

As for the download.com review, id take any review from there with a pinch of salt.


So for companies: NOD 32 combined with Ewido is the best match.

esperanza

hi souper computer,

you seem to really know what you're talking about. I'd never heard of that hitman pro thing, seems like a good program.

why do you say that the reviews from download.com are not trustworthy? surely, they are objective enough, after all many of these programs are freeware versions...

SouperComputer

Gut feeling TBH. Over the years ive seen a few solid accusations of reviews being "bought" and their experts tend to leave glaring holes in their testing

There was a noteable farce a couple of years ago about AV software. Basically Norton under "odd" circumstances.

esperanza

SouperComputer wrote:

Gut feeling TBH. Over the years ive seen a few solid accusations of reviews being "bought" and their experts tend to leave glaring holes in their testing

There was a noteable farce a couple of years ago about AV software. Basically Norton under "odd" circumstances.

Right, thanks for that. But as an amateur to these things, you have to trust some source or you'd go ape trying to test all these spyware and antivirus tools oneself.

For the spyware, I spent hours last night downloading hitman pro. it takes up quite a bit of space. What I'm wondering is whether it will update itself and what will happen when the trial versions of some of the tools run out... anyone got an idea?

SouperComputer

esperanza wrote:

Right, thanks for that. But as an amateur to these things, you have to trust some source or you'd go ape trying to test all these spyware and antivirus tools oneself.

For the spyware, I spent hours last night downloading hitman pro. it takes up quite a bit of space. What I'm wondering is whether it will update itself and what will happen when the trial versions of some of the tools run out... anyone got an idea?

When the trials run out, that's it, they stop working. All the other non-trial basis apps will contine to run. You can of course purchase the full versions as these will also work with hitman pro.

Spacewise, it shouldnt occupy more than 50Mb IIRC. Unless of course the quarantine becomes huge. I should have mentioned however that it is not very dial-up friendly as it downloads a lot of software and updates. It can take a long time to scan, depending on the power of your machine, volume fragmentation and speed of your HD. Hitman pro is about as close to squeaky-clean as you are going to get without using tools like hijack this, regedit and cmd to manually stubborn nasties.

When running a scan, its good practice to boot from safe mode (Tap F8 after hearing the system "beep" on bootup), disable system restore and scan each user account in turn. Of course you will loose all system restore point by doing this.

you have to trust some source or you'd go ape trying to test all these spyware and antivirus tools oneself.

Well, take on board as many reviews on board as you can. Throw the marketing\blatant pimping rubbish away and test what's left.

[edit] I removed fully updated AVG free from a computer today, it also had McAfee installed. (No, not my doing) Replaced with NOD 32 (novemeber 05 definitions) and it immedialy picked up virus's and malware (CoolWebSearch) on reboot. This is before even updating definitions and perfoming a scan![/edit]

esperanza

SouperComputer wrote:

When the trials run out, that's it, they stop working. All the other non-trial basis apps will contine to run. You can of course purchase the full versions as these will also work with hitman pro.

Spacewise, it shouldnt occupy more than 50Mb IIRC. Unless of course the quarantine becomes huge. I should have mentioned however that it is not very dial-up friendly as it downloads a lot of software and updates. It can take a long time to scan, depending on the power of your machine, volume fragmentation and speed of your HD. Hitman pro is about as close to squeaky-clean as you are going to get without using tools like hijack this, regedit and cmd to manually stubborn nasties.

When running a scan, its good practice to boot from safe mode (Tap F8 after hearing the system "beep" on bootup), disable system restore and scan each user account in turn. Of course you will loose all system restore point by doing this.



Well, take on board as many reviews on board as you can. Throw the marketing\blatant pimping rubbish away and test what's left.

[edit] I removed fully updated AVG free from a computer today, it also had McAfee installed. (No, not my doing) Replaced with NOD 32 (novemeber 05 definitions) and it immedialy picked up virus's and malware (CoolWebSearch) on reboot. This is before even updating definitions and perfoming a scan![/edit]

thanks for the info, you seem a very intelligent sort of guy. What do you do for a living?

by the way, is hijack this as good as or better than hitman pro?

SouperComputer

esperanza wrote:

thanks for the info, you seem a very intelligent sort of guy. What do you do for a living?

:blushes:

There's lots of knowedgeable folk here, boards is a good molting pot of knowlege.

I'm self-employed. I have a small computer servicing\consulting company.

by the way, is hijack this as good as or better than hitman pro?

TBH you need to use both if things get sticky, as they are quite different. Hitman Pro first, then if it's REALLY stubborn, you need to take the manual approach. You have to be careful though, as HiJack this used wrongly can really mess up your system, its really for advanced users or those with a lot of time and patience on their hands.

Hitman Pro will clear most of the stuff out anyway, also a trial version of NOD32 is always a good thing.

[edit] reading through the EULA agreements for some of these packages today, it seems that Spybot and Spyware blaster are OK for workstation use within a network\Company. Im not a lawyer, so dont't quote me on this! [/edit]

Lucious Sweet

Some great info on this thread. I'm using AVG and Ad Aware but don't have a firewall.
Anybody recommend a good firewall that won't kill browsing?

cheers,
moz

SouperComputer

moz wrote:

Some great info on this thread. I'm using AVG and Ad Aware but don't have a firewall.
Anybody recommend a good firewall that won't kill browsing?

cheers,
moz

Kerio is not too shabby.

aaf

moz wrote:

Some great info on this thread. I'm using AVG and Ad Aware but don't have a firewall.
Anybody recommend a good firewall that won't kill browsing?

cheers,
moz

Zonelabs ZoneAlarm - it's free

Bogger77

SouperComputer wrote:

[edit] I removed fully updated AVG free from a computer today, it also had McAfee installed. (No, not my doing) Replaced with NOD 32 (novemeber 05 definitions) and it immedialy picked up virus's and malware (CoolWebSearch) on reboot. This is before even updating definitions and perfoming a scan![/edit]

What version McAfee was on the PC? Enterprise or Home?
/edit/

SouperComputer

Bogger77 wrote:

What version McAfee was on the PC? Enterprise or Home?
/edit/

home, home user

esperanza

moz wrote:

Some great info on this thread. I'm using AVG and Ad Aware but don't have a firewall.
Anybody recommend a good firewall that won't kill browsing?

cheers,
moz

I use Kerio personal firewall. It's very reliable! Used to have zone alarm, but it annoyed me, can't recall why...

Bogger77

SouperComputer wrote:

home, home user

Can i ask what version?
I use it McAfee on my PC's as it's free for me, never had any problems yet.

The current versions of VS will only pick up spy ware if you run a full scan regularly, this will improve when the next updates come out for V10 users.

Version11 will blow the commerical competition out of the water.

SouperComputer

Can i ask what version?

I cant recall what version TBH.

I use it McAfee on my PC's as it's free for me, never had any problems yet.

You wouldn't be alone there, it’s less buggy and a bit more efficient than Norton. Given a choice, ill take NOD32 over it any day for the heuristics and the lightweight code

The current versions of VS will only pick up spy ware if you run a full scan regularly, this will improve when the next updates come out for V10 users.

I could understand if it was installed on a machine already infected with spyware and McAfee was installed without a scan. But if it’s in its definitions there is no excuse for it not to detect it via a resident shield. Again this is heuristics and detection, and why despite continuously challenging it, I use and recommend NOD32.

Version11 will blow the commerical competition out of the water.

I'd be interested to hear more about this. Are they planning a complete rewrite of code?

Bogger77

SouperComputer wrote:

I'd be interested to hear more about this. Are they planning a complete rewrite of code?

If it was a version installed from CD anytime before June, I'd not expect it to pick up spyware, McAfee have a product for that, which is quite good.

Re: future plans:
Can't say! :cool:

SouperComputer

I wait with baited breath!