ces's Journal: Anti-Viirus software?

So any tips on windows anti-virus/anti-spyware software? My freebie subscription for Norton 2005 just ran out.

Reading over the online reviews it seems all of the major vendors have some serious problems with the latest versions of their software and are engaging in some very sleazy and deceptive business practices as well.[1]

Should I just say "to heck with it" and rely on freeware/shareware products?

[1]Reviews on the latest versions of Norton, McAfee, and Trend are running anywhere from 80-95% negative which is pretty rare unless the software is really a steaming pile.

Avira Anti-Vir

[Timex]

This is a free product (for personal use; commercial use requires a license). I've been using it with Win98se, Win2k, and WinXP systems, with no problems. I like it. I've been using it for a couple years now.

The site for this is http://www.free-av.com/ [free-av.com] ... Take a look.

Well...

[OctaneZ]

There is always Clam AV [clamav.net], and the ClamWin [clamwin.com] front end until you get something you like better. Just so you aren't running around with your pants around your ankles, though that can be fun in the right crowd.

Good and Free

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Avast!
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html [avast.com]
I use this on all my home machines, and those machines I maintain for friends/relatives.

I have also heard good stuff about AVG - no first hand experience for a few years.
http://www3.grisoft.com/doc/downloads-results/lng/ us/tpl/tpl01?prd=avw [grisoft.com]
I don't know how free this is - they keepp saying "trial".

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[jawtheshark]

Another AVG fan here.. Lightweight, functional, good... Exactly how the 1990-era Norton antivirus were... Nothing like the crap they sell today....

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[RevMike]

AVG is a good product. I use it almost exclusively. Like kormac pointed out, the free version is available at a different URL. I don't believe the engine is different, but the configurability is much more flexible on the pay version.

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[Mantorp]

I like AVG as well.

reversal

[RM6f9]

Although eAcceleration's StopSign *was* the premier software/support combination in the industry, it looks very much as if the financial woes incurred by the PHBs may prove fatal to the firm - as I am uncertain of the support being there, I no longer recommend them.

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[ces]

Although eAcceleration's StopSign *was* the premier software/support combination in the industry, it looks very much as if the financial woes incurred by the PHBs may prove fatal to the firm - as I am uncertain of the support being there, I no longer recommend them.

I'm amazed you've heard of us.

As for the support cutbacks I assure you they were necessary for the continued survival of the company. The PHBs didn't really screw up, our target customers have been availing themselves of other free/low-cost optio

avast!

[nizo]

Free for home users. Works great, doesn't bog the machine like Norton, yaddayadda.

AVG

[johndiii]

I've been using AVG for a while on four machines, and it seems to work well.

Trend

[GeckoFood]

I have had excellent results with Trend Micro PCcillin. It's the fastest scanner I have ever used, and it has never let me down.

A good free option is AVG Antivirus [grisoft.com].

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[ces]

I was leaning toward Trend but their latest version has gotten horrible reviews.

Trifecta

[robi2106]

Avast, Ad-Aware, Zone Alarm. Those three and Firefox should keep a system with a reasonably smart user at a fairly secure level.

jason

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[RevMike]

I found that Spybot Search & Destroy is a great security product too. One of the features is a utility called TeaTimer which monitors and alerts you whenever a system setting is changed. So, for instance, whenever a program attempts to modify the registry so that it is autostarted, you get an alert and a chance to deny the action.

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[robi2106]

Ahhh now that would be handy. I HATE auto starting programs. Especially iTunes little exes that sit in the system doing nothing for no reason. Like unitarians praying.... what is the point?!

I kill almost anything in the autostart folder just out of principle.

jason

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[jawtheshark]

Especially iTunes little exes that sit in the system doing nothing for no reason.

Some of those are services, just set them to "Manual" in Control Panel -> Administrative Tool -> Services. Look for iPodService. (Note: modification of Services requires Admin) Only do this if you do not have an iPod. You can guess what it is for by the name ;-)

The others are in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run respectively HKEY_LOCAL_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Ver

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[ces]

This is one of those things where I think the OS should require the user to confirm they want an application to auto start.

The number of stupid little (and big) programs that seem to want to either autostart or pre-load for some idiotic reason has gotten really out of hand. iTunes, Quicktime, Real, winamp, google updater, open office, MS Office, etc.

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[jawtheshark]

I agree completely, but Joe Sixpack will just click "Ok" and the thing will install it in the systray anyway. Even a clean machine can easily reach the 256Meg used after login with all this crap. My machines? ~128Megs used, tops... (I should check, I'm on my work computer and that one is heavily loaded 1.2Gig/2Gig but I'm using it right now... Bootup has been tailored by me too, but I need a few non-standard services)

Compare it to file associations: many well-behaved programs suggest you to select wha

AVG Free from Grisoft

[RevMike]

I've been using AVG for a few years, and I've been happy with it. http://free.grisoft.com/ [grisoft.com]

F-Secure

[Morosoph]

I don't think that they're free, but I've been massively impressed by their ethical behaviour, for example, blowing the whistle on the Sony rootkit.

There's not enough assessment on the basis of what you do nowadays, IMO; rather what counts is "what side you're on". Sony are "protecting their IP", so hacking open another's machine through deception is suddenly AOK.

The electronic equivalent of going commando

[ncc74656]

These days, I don't use antivirus software. Not using Internet Explorer (not even for updates...this [62nds.com] works with Firefox, which gets rid of the last reason I had to use IE) or Outlook Express is a large part of making this feasible. Keeping it off of public networks as much as possible (my notebook runs Linux most of the time anyway, and I have Linux-based firewalls at home and work) is also part of it. On the rare occasions that I need to connect to a public network while booted into Windows, the built-i