Can someone give me the truth about anti-virus programs?

[alanfc]

Hey-

 

I have this 1 year-old Dell computer with the McAfee anti-virus =free version=, and someone told me that said its all fluff and doesn't do me much good..... great. And that you really have to buy a real full on program to be properly protected. Just what I want to hear right now.

 

Anyway, I am clueless on this stuff.

 

So do any of you have a paid full version of anti-virus software? And if so what do you have? And how did you make your choice.?

 

any tips greatly appreciated

 

thanks

[Mark LaCoste]

Hi AlanAC,

 

My name's mark. I was unaware that McAfee has any "free" version. I pay for all of mine. once you've paid (and figure about 35 buck a year) you will have very good virus protection for a year. Same for the Norton/Symantec product. Where I work, we use McAfee. Out of about a thousand computers we very rarely have a problem. I have used it personally as well.

 

If money is a problem, there are at least two alternatives. AVG Anti-virus has a free version. It is very good! The only weakness I have seen is that each DAT file update replaces the entire DAT file -- about 2.5 Meg in size -- so that is a big download over a modem. Some tests I have read about say that AVG missed a few viri.

 

Then there's AVAST anti-virus. Again, they have a free version. Updates only involve adding to your existing DAT, so they are as small as possible. Right now this is running on my DAW. It seems to work fine. I turn it off if my track count is getting high (that's when you see SONAR with a little bong) so that no dropouts are caused. AVAST has caught viri for me in the past. Avast, ye scurvy virus!

 

I use and like both free programs. I also pay for and use Mcafee. Nor would I hesitate to recomend Norton to my customers. In fact, Norton has a slightly more friendly interface.

 

Now you know all I know. Have fun!

[theblue1]

Different vendors and manufacturers often include what are basically 'trial-ware' anti-virus packages from Symantec or MacAfee. They'll protect you from all the viruses that are in their profile at the time of your last update. Often you get 3-6 months of "pattern updates." After that, you get the full version or you have anti-virus software dragging down your system that's not providing you protection from recent viruses.

 

There is an alternative style of virus protection: online scanning. That probably should not the sole answer for anyone but a compulsively safety-conscious computer user, but can still be very handy for scanning for the latest viruses and, especially, for cleaning up infected computers. My favorite is Microtrends' HouseCall. http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp (It takes a while to load on dial-up, but, because it loads the most recent version of its engine (if needed) and pattern files, it's excellent for cleaning up infected machines.

[sparksongs]

PC-Cillin by Trend Micro is also a good one. I've been using it for 3 years with no problems and no viruses (www.trendmicro.com).

[alanfc]

thanks guys

gonna try some of this stuff now

[Raymar]

What I like about Norton Anti-Virus is the Automatic Live Update feature. It doesn't prompt you for a live update it just does it, and then a little window comes up at the bottom right-hand side of your screen and tells you that you've been updated for definitions and program updates. Most often these updates are daily and only 150k.

 

Steve

[Dylan]

Most bundled versions of Anti-virus apps only have a 90-day subscription for updates. We use the corporate version of Symantec Antivirus at work and it's great for the most part. If you install it on your DAW (which I wouldn't recommend) you'll want to make sure you disable the real-time protection and any services it installs.

[TeleCarlos]

Just go here: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

and get a good, free antivirus (for personal home use only), keep up with the updates and chill.

 

Works for me!

[nickthepick]

I had a great running 98se system running, never had virus, worm problems.Since i upgraded to xp i've been blasted with blaster, sasser & a bunch of other crap. I installed norton acouple of days ago & it's been a disaster as far as my DAW. My DAW was running better with the stinkin worms. I turned off auto protect, Is there anything else i can do to keep norton from effecting my recording ?

thanks,Nick

[m.l.p.]

check out Panda antivirus. its not a resource hog like norton, and its not a pushover like mcafee. ive had it on mine for a minute with no issues whatsoever. it updates anytime you hit the web (not once a week like norton). i actually had norton, but i got a virus. i was fed up so i got the uninstaller from nortons site then downloaded the panda demo. i tried it for a day and then bought it (with 29 days left on my free trial). i noticed that the sluggishness that norton caused was gone.

[alanfc]

thank you

 

I have now installed:

AVG (Grisoft AntiVirus))

ZoneAlarm (firewall)

AdAware (bot-gremlin detector?I think )

Spybot S & D (bot-gremlin detector?I think )

 

Looks good so far, these programs found and trashed alot of bad stuff.

 

thanks for all the help everyone, I'd be totally lost otherwise

[Kendrix]

Originally posted by alanfc:

thank you

 

I have now installed:

AVG (Grisoft AntiVirus))

ZoneAlarm (firewall)

AdAware (bot-gremlin detector?I think )

Spybot S & D (bot-gremlin detector?I think )

 

Looks good so far, these programs found and trashed alot of bad stuff.

 

thanks for all the help everyone, I'd be totally lost otherwise

Yeah- its not all about viruses.

There are viruses, worms, pop-ups, and various other executables that consume your CPU resources.

 

I am so sick of fighting this war to keep my PC running smoothly. (My home PC is still W98 -including all the latest MS patches)

I run Norton anti-virus, Ad-aware and Spybot in an attempt to protect myself.

Lately, I have to run scans almost every day to keep the system performance at an acceptable level.

Its taking way too much energy to fight all this shit.

[philbo_Tangent]

Man, I'd rather have the nastiest virus around than to use either McAfee or Norton on my system.

They both suck!

 

Grisoft.com (as somebody already mentioned) is good.

 

First and foremost, you should have a firewall program. Go to Zonealarm.com for that.

 

Second, you should get rid of Outlook Express, Messenger and Internet Explorer. Don't delete them (Bill Gates won't allow that), just delete all links that point to them. All of these are critical weak points in windows security, because they are so intimately tied into Windows.

 

Then download Mozilla (I think it's at mozilla.org). It will do everything you need, except chat rooms. (Trillian is the best program for that).

 

Thirdly, test out your PC security by going to GRC.com and running the 'Probe My Ports' and the 'Leaktest' programs to see if your firewall is set up right. Don't be fooled by imitators, this is the only place that tests EVERY port.

 

Now that you have control over who and what can get into your PC from the web, the need for an antivirus program is greatly diminished. I use grisoft.com AVS, but I don't leave it installed because it's unnecessary. I install it once every 60 days, download the updates, run it, then uninstall it again.

 

Since going to Mozilla and using a firewall 4 months ago, I have had no viruses of any kind.

 

All of the above items are free, BTW.

 

Regards,

Phil

[alanfc]

I read somewhere (maybe here) that alot of the crap comes through WIndows explorer, and that a different browser does not allow the same crap to get through. Do I have that mixed up?

 

edit: oops we must have been typing at the same time

[phaeton]

You probably don't want to know the truth about anti-virus programs...

[alanfc]

Originally posted by philbo_Tangent:

 

.....Second, you should get rid of Outlook Express, Messenger and Internet Explorer. Don't delete them (Bill Gates won't allow that), just delete all links that point to them. All of these are critical weak points in windows security, because they are so intimately tied into Windows......

 

Thanks Phil- I have a newbie question, where are these links that point to them? It isn't as easy as trashing the desktop shortcuts right?

 

thanks

[KenElevenShadows]

Originally posted by alanfc:

Originally posted by philbo_Tangent:

 

.....Second, you should get rid of Outlook Express, Messenger and Internet Explorer. Don't delete them (Bill Gates won't allow that), just delete all links that point to them. All of these are critical weak points in windows security, because they are so intimately tied into Windows......

 

Thanks Phil- I have a newbie question, where are these links that point to them? It isn't as easy as trashing the desktop shortcuts right?

 

thanks

Somebody will be able to answer this better than I, but no, getting rid of the desktop shortcuts only gets rid of your easy shortcut to these things. You have to either deinstall the programs or take them and sweep them out of their respective folders (probably in the Systems Folder - I'm not a PC guy) and throw them in the Recycle Bin.

 

A word of warning, though - I would recommend doing something like backing them up and keeping some notes of what you did to make sure that you don't chuck something that you actually might need later.

~~~

I use Eudora Pro, but there's others out there. I wholeheartedly agree with not using Microsoft Outlook, since most viruses target Outlook. It's not a bad thing to chuck the other stuff, too, such as Explorer, Messenger, etc.

 

ZoneAlarm seems to work pretty well but is bizarre about not allowing some cookies and other things through.

[philbo_Tangent]

Originally posted by alanfc:

Originally posted by philbo_Tangent:

 

.....Second, you should get rid of Outlook Express, Messenger and Internet Explorer. Don't delete them (Bill Gates won't allow that), just delete all links that point to them. All of these are critical weak points in windows security, because they are so intimately tied into Windows......

 

Thanks Phil- I have a newbie question, where are these links that point to them? It isn't as easy as trashing the desktop shortcuts right?

 

thanks

Yes, it's that easy. Also go through the Start Menu, and delete all reference to them there. Once Mozilla becomes your default e-mail and browser, these beasts need never be fired up again. And, even if they do, your firewall should be set to deny them access to anything outside your PC...

[philbo_Tangent]

Oh, yeah, one more thing - Messenger will insist on starting all the time. Here's one way to wipe it

(props to http://blog.codefront.net/archives/2003/11/21/how_to_really_kill_windows_messenger.php

for posting the technique)

 

1. Open %WINDIR%\INF\sysoc.inf with a text editor.

 

2. Look for the line that goes like this:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

 

3. Delete the hide keyword so that it now looks like this:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

 

4. Save the file and exit.

 

5. Click on Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs -> Add/Remove Windows Components

 

6. Scroll to the bottom of the list and you should now see 2 items for Windows Messenger. Uncheck both of them, giving a triumphant whoop of vindication as you do so.

 

7. Click on Next, and Windows Messenger will be fully uninstalled.

 

Enjoy an existence without Windows Messenger. We all deserve this much at least, if we have to live with Windows.

[alanfc]

-

Excellent/thanks

I'll try that

 

BTW I love MOZILLA ! I got the Firefox version

[Dylan]

I'd recommend spending your money on Norton Ghost over an antivirus app. First, I'd setup a clean install of XP with all of the security apps but no apps expect for Ghost and make a CD image of it. It should fit on 2-3 CD's. Next, I'd get everything the way you like it and then make another image. At that point, I'd uninstall Ghost and get on with it. If shit hits the fan and you get a worm or virus you can re-image your system in an hour and be back in business. No services, autoprotect, etc. to worry about.

[alanfc]

wow thanks that sounds way over my head, but I'll print that !

 

hey I was a Sunset Apollo- did you grow up there?

(I may have already asked you this)

[jlampson]

Originally posted by phaeton:

You probably don't want to know the truth about anti-virus programs...

You can't handle the truth about anti-virus programs!

 

We use McAfee Enterprise v7 at work and it works beautifully. At home, I use NAV CE v8 and it works beautifully. Once configured properly, the downloads work automatically and spread throughout your network (although, not as quickly as some virii). Personal use programs are good, too, but I have to say, free is even better as long as it works just as well.

 

Mark, SONAR isn't allowed to get high. I grounded it for two weeks!