Which antivirus anti-spyware software for a home network?

Zaph0d

If you have 4 windows PCs on a home network, what's the best/cheapest way to get them all antivirus and spyware protection? I have norton av for one of the PCs but I don't want to pay four times.

The network is connected to the internet with a Zyxel ADSL modem that feeds ethernet into a Linksys wireless-g router.

Thanks

Keyzer

Norton sucks ass....

AVG Anti Virus
AdAware (does what it says on the tin)
Zone Alarm

Should be horny as fvck after installing that lot...

SickBoy

AVG, Ad-Aware SE and(if the systems are XP) windows firewall.
Nice and cheap!

aidan_walsh

SickBoy wrote:

windows firewal

Better than nothing, but still nowhere near enough. The Windows Firewall only blocks incoming connections, so anything thats already after infecting your machine can still send out whatever its designed to. You'd be better off getting a proper software firewall like ZoneAlarm or Kerio.

Microsofts Windows AntiSpyware is also pretty good, sometimes finding things that AdAware and SpyBot miss...

ai ing

You should stick on Spybot Search and Destroy as well as adaware.This and the above stuff would keep you sorted.

Basq

Was also suprised at how good Microsoft's new (free) AntiSpyware program is.

It is a beta release.... but it found 5 threats that AdAware did not find.

lomb

ive been running etrusts 2005 ez antivirus/ firewall. picked up all the viruss b4 they do any harm. etrust offers 12 months free subscription and are very reputable.go to www.microsoft.com/protect for more info.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/downloads/default.mspx

Zaph0d

OK thanks for all the replies, very helpful
So i can choose from:
Norton AV 5 user $199
eTrust AV 5 user $125
AVG 5 User $109

I'll try the MS spyware thing as its's free

I'm ging to restrict the younger/ more gullible people in my house from installing apps by changing their admin rights.

Bit of a pain - it's like a tax you have to pay.

Firewall: as the machines are all hidden behind a router, I'm not going to bother.

cheers

lomb

i dont think u read it right etrust is free for 12 months with a free software firewall that is well prove (zone alarm) it also does not tax the system like norton does. i prefer it to norton.

Creamy Goodness

use spybot with adware they both catch things the other doesn't.

can't you use AVG free edition for the pc's?

maxheadroom

I've recently discovered avast! and its actually quite good. Free for home / non-commercial use too.

Zaph0d

lomb wrote:

i dont think u read it right etrust is free for 12 months with a free software firewall that is well prove (zone alarm) it also does not tax the system like norton does. i prefer it to norton.

I think I did misread it. AVG is completely free for home users so I guess I'll go with that.

Norton really slows down the machine that I have running it (an old P3 800) so I'll be glad to try out something that might be less resource hungry.

maxheadroom

Zaph0d wrote:

I think I did misread it. AVG is completely free for home users so I guess I'll go with that.

Norton really slows down the machine that I have running it (an old P3 800) so I'll be glad to try out something that might be less resource hungry.

That's the reason I switched from Norton, too damn greedy for resources. I'd seriously reccomend giving avast a try. Really light on resources. I tried AVG before and wasn't really impressed with it, it seemed really Win98 if you know what I mean?

dingbat

Zaph0d wrote:

I think I did misread it. AVG is completely free for home users so I guess I'll go with that.

Norton really slows down the machine that I have running it (an old P3 800) so I'll be glad to try out something that might be less resource hungry.

NOD32 is really, really light on system resources.

maxheadroom

dingbat wrote:

NOD32 is really, really light on system resources.

So I've heard, but its €39.95 for a single use licence or €179 for a 5 seat licence. Both NOD32 and avast! were highly recommended on notebookforums.com, but I went for avast! because its free.

garthv

Kerio Personal Firewall ( Dont get Zone Alarm as it could get a VSINIT.DLL error(google for more info) )
Microsoft Spyware Checker(Best Spyware Checker out imho)
AVG Anti-Virus
And dont download ANY p2p progs!!

Stephen

The firewall isn't all that important since all your PC's are behind a NAT router anyway.

chump

as basquille said the windows spyware remover is excellent... had to fix up a completely junk-ridden machine and neither adaware or spybot could kill a few particulars... most up to date versions available, loaded up the microsoft job and it cleaned up the mess effortlessly!

monster_fighter

Stephen wrote:

The firewall isn't all that important since all your PC's are behind a NAT router anyway.

NAT only protects against incoming connections.

If you want to prevent outgoing connections (spyware or simply programs like Acrobat reader etc) you need a software firewall.

greglo23

try this as well http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html. it works on ie and firefox and stops spyware being installed . it`s regularly updated and it`s free.

Basq

chump wrote:

as basquille said the windows spyware remover is excellent... had to fix up a completely junk-ridden machine and neither adaware or spybot could kill a few particulars... most up to date versions available, loaded up the microsoft job and it cleaned up the mess effortlessly!

Yep... great piece of software!

I read somewhere it's a fairly expensive piece of software from another company that Microsoft bought the rights to.. and just repackaged the software with their name.

Still, kudos to Microsoft for offering it as freeware.