Antivirus Recomendations

[seeker]

I've been runing BitDefender 2008 on my XP machine and it's been a really great program. Licesne running out, so renewed/upated to 2010.

OMG, what a cluster(&*(. Locks my machine up 70% of the time. Have uninstalled, reinstalled, etc. Forums indicate lots of folks having probs; it's just an unstable build.

Any recent purchasers having good luck? Looking for something that is antiviral, antiphish, etc. but doesn't take over you machine too much (or at least lets you configure it to do/not do). Norton is out of bounds cause it hijacks way too much of your native config.

Thanks all!

[Thundersteel]

Buy a Mac?

[seeker]

Unfortunately not. Too much invested in existing software and hardware (midi/recording) to change.

[DavidE]

I run both AVG and Avast at the same time. And then run Malwarebytes every so often. Does a great job.

[Feynman]

The Comodo antivirus (and whole suite for that matter) is rated very highly, and you can't argue with the price.

I use the free version of the Comodo suite on my PCs.

[JohnnyB]

Unfortunately not. Too much invested in existing software and hardware (midi/recording) to change.

Yes, and what's your time worth to keep this leaky ship afloat, to live with chronic aggravation, to sit and watch your computer grind away on stalled processing or hang?

How about getting a Mac, connect itto the Internet, take your XP machine offline and do a comprehensive cleanup on it. Continue to use it for recording.

Windows sucks. Windows security sucks harder, third party security applications are predatory, and Windows security updates cripple basic functionality over time.

Buy a Mac. Make the jump. Convert the files and migrate them (the Apple store will do it for free). After a brief period of adjustment you'll want the last 6 years of your life with Windows back.

[specialk]

If I needed AV, it would either be Clam AV (free)

http://www.clamav.net/about/win32/

or Kaspersky (not free)

http://www.kaspersky.com/

+1 to JohnnyB's post above. Life is simpler with a Mac.

[Submariner85]

Here are a couple of good free programs:

Trend Micro Housecall

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Rootkit Buster

http://free.antivirus.com/rootkit-buster/

RU Botted

http://free.antivirus.com/rubotted/

[Hamer Time]

Eset Smart Security/NOD32

http://www.eset.com/

I've been using 'Smart Security' for awhile now and not had a single problem. IMO the best out there right now.

[unfun75]

AVG, no. Old versions were good, newer versions are spyware disguised as resource-hogging AV software.

Avast, yes. Malwarebytes, yes.

To the PC-haters, I've been building and using PCs for years and years and have never had a virus or system crash.

[alantig]

Zone Alarm - I use the full Internet suite on my XP machines (including the virtual machine on my Mac). The only time it comes across as any type of a resource hog is when it does its scheduled virus/spyware scan, and that's as much because I scan every file as anything.

Alan

[cynic]

I may be the exception, but on any windows machine I've ever used I've used nothing. This was due to how slow they seemed to run with any of that "scanning" software installed. In the 17 or years I've been using a computer online, I've encountered one debilitating virus. In contrast, my dad uses all that virus and malware stuff and is constantly experiencing problems.

On the flipside of that, I'd echo all the recommendations to buy a Mac. Especially for anyone going from XP to Windows 7, the growing pains wouldn't be significantly worse than fully switching to the "light-side".

[BadgerDave]

Avira works great for me and it's free.

I don't get the hardcore anti PC sentiment. I have zero problems running windows, haven't had a virus in 5 years or a system crash in 7. I looked at a Mac the last time I was in the market for a notebook. At half the price for comparable specs, I went for a Toshiba PC.

[Thundersteel]

I'm not a PC hater, as I've built several systems. I told myself the next time my PC crashes, I'm buying a Mac--so I did.

[tomteriffic]

Avast! AV (free, covers damn near everything you do, beyond convetional AV stuff) very small footprint.

Spybot S&D, when setup as resident, very much the same. Free, small footprint, very effective.

[Armitage]

I run both AVG and Avast at the same time. And then run Malwarebytes every so often. Does a great job.

Me too. I run Avast resident, and AVG runs a scheduled scan every night... I also have Avira a scheduled scan every afternoon...

[seeker]

All,

Thanks for the recommendations, have a lot of research to do!

This machine is old, but still does the job. Went "commando" wrt AV for 3 years until one screwed up my LAN drivers. That began a death spiral, pushed over the edge by Norton AV.

It's a shame, cause BitDefender has a lot of control features; from very permissive to very paranoid.

I hear ya on the MACs; ran them for 5-7 years at work. Worth considering. What gives me pause are a) the cost, the greater program variety for PC, and c) someone having a monopoly on both my hardware and operating system.

Thanks all! Keep em coming if you have more.

Dave

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

Yes, and what's your time worth to keep this leaky ship afloat, to live with chronic aggravation, to sit and watch your computer grind away on stalled processing or hang?

How about getting a Mac, connect itto the Internet, take your XP machine offline and do a comprehensive cleanup on it. Continue to use it for recording.

Windows sucks. Windows security sucks harder, third party security applications are predatory, and Windows security updates cripple basic functionality over time.

Buy a Mac. Make the jump. Convert the files and migrate them (the Apple store will do it for free). After a brief period of adjustment you'll want the last 6 years of your life with Windows back.

I worked for IBM for five years in the mid 80's. I have a warm spot in my heart for the PC platform, especially the DOS environment. Machines have become fast enough and have enough memory to now run Windows at a reasonable pace, compared to the first versions when Windows ran as a Dos application (you had to put the floppies in to start it up!). I used to write research software as a side business in addition to doing a lot of programming at work.

Having said that, we made the Mac migration almost two years ago and I heartily agree with what JohnnyB wrote.

I run an old Dell laptop with Win XP for recording purposes. Pretty much everything else has been stripped off of it for performance reasons. Everything else I do on the Mac desktop.

The number of hours spent dealing with Windows issues is huge. Every time you buy a new printer or mouse it seems that you have to tweak this and that to get the computer to run properly. A WinXP service pack took down the registry on our desktop which is what drove me to Mac finally. Anti-virus slows down the machine and requires time dealing with scanning and cleaning up the machine. All of that stuff goes away with the Mac.

If you need Windows, either keep your old machine for those specific applications or you can run Windows on your Mac when needed.

[velorush]

I've been running Trend Micro's Internet Security for several years with good results. The only caveat is that, unlike Norton/Symantec and others, TM loads the entire program on boot (rather than piecemeal when needed) and that does add to a longer boot time. The benefit is complete protection all the time.

That said, I have declared and affirmed that there will not be one more Windows based computing device purchased, traded for, or even received as a gift in my house. My problems mirror those concerns expressed by JohnnyB. I consider myself a fairly moderate to heavy user and when I think about all of the hours I have spent working ON the computer (as opposed to doing work on the computer), I shudder. It's not viruses and malware (few experiences with those at the house - work however... ) it is all the baggage that comes along with Windows - constant updates, updates that don't work with other things installed, undoing updates, restarts after any update, etc. I'm finished with it. My PC runs really well right now (after a 'non-destructive rebuild' - a secret routine buried in Windows I'd recommend to anyone who owns a Dell, especially), so I'm not in a great hurry, but a Mac is on the horizon.

Sorry to rant. This touched a nerve.

[burningyen]

I hate my resource-hogging McAfee Security Center. But I like my Zone Alarm free firewall and my Process Guard spyware monitor. PG is very obtrusive, but I like that it's incredibly protective and operates transparently -- i.e. you know exactly what it's doing at all times and nothing can get launched on your PC without you clicking ok. It's not a good program if you don't want to be constantly alerted about what's going on with your PC.

Man, I miss my Powerbook.

[marcnorth]

To the PC-haters, I've been building and using PCs for years and years and have never had a virus or system crash.

+1

I have too, and I use nothing as far as antivirus on any of the machines I have. I've lost a few hard drives but only because they crapped out.

My guitar player works for Live Nation and produces commercials for tours and of course they use Mac's with Protools and he's always having hard drive issues too. But I will say Mac's are better for recording music.

[tommy p]

Lots of rest, chicken soup, and vitamin C?

[burningyen]

A few weeks ago, my wife's hotmail account was hacked after she used a PC at her school that was infected with a keylogger. She's lucky she didn't have any bank account passwords and stuff like that in her e-mails, and she's lucky she logged into hotmail and not our bank's website. You absolutely need antimalware software if you're going to be doing any financial transactions over the internet using a PC.