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Anti-Virus Software

TexasJack

Penultimate Amazing
TexasJack
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
10,906
Is there a difference between the free programs and the ones you pay for, such as Norton?
 
TexasJack said:
Is there a difference between the free programs and the ones you pay for, such as Norton?
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Generaly pay for will offer a wider set of features with more user control. Norton will use more of your computing power.
 
geni said:
Generaly pay for will offer a wider set of features with more user control. Norton will use more of your computing power.
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I guess my biggest concern would be, does the free programs protect you from viruses as well as the paid ones?
 
I personally recommend Spysweeper, versions can be bought with anti-virus and anti-spyware. Also it does not eat up your processor time like Norton.
 
TexasJack said:
I guess my biggest concern would be, does the free programs protect you from viruses as well as the paid ones?
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Typically the free programs will protect you from known viruses, but you will need to buy a version of the program to receive updates to cover any new viruses. The older the free version gets the less effective it becomes.
 
DouglasL said:
Typically the free programs will protect you from known viruses, but you will need to buy a version of the program to receive updates to cover any new viruses. The older the free version gets the less effective it becomes.
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AVG does a reasonable job virus protection wise.
 
DouglasL said:
Typically the free programs will protect you from known viruses, but you will need to buy a version of the program to receive updates to cover any new viruses. The older the free version gets the less effective it becomes.
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That's not true. The three free-for-home-use packages I have used lately (AVG which I use currently, Avast! and AntiVir) all receive regular updates. However, they generally offer little or no support and have fewer features than the paid versions, such as no integrated antispyware, antiphishing or firewall. Some may also use nagware to prompt you to upgrade.
 
Norton is crap. Just about anything from Symantec for about the past five or ten years is crap.

You know who I really pity? Peter Norton. In his day, he was a genius. He wrote and sold some very, very good stuff. He sold out to Symantec, not only his products, but his name as well; and now, as a result, his name and his image is associated with software that is utter crap.
 
And don't even install a Norton "free trial" on the assumption that you can remove it after the trial period. Uninstalling it is a real headache, and in two cases i know, completely @#$*ed the OS. Only thing worse than Norton is Norton's customer support center.

AVG is alright, but nothing great. It adds some time to your login to scan everything running and update. But for job it does, i have no complaints.

Also check with your ISP: many offer one or another commercial product for their customers. Mine offers McAfee, but i'm not really impressed with how well it works. We use that at my office, where it gives bogus error messages from time to time. I was about to check out Avast myself; anyone have some good feedback to share on it?
 
Bob Blaylock said:
You know who I really pity? Peter Norton. In his day, he was a genius. He wrote and sold some very, very good stuff....
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I watched the same decline, and for a few years bought updates thinking "this time, they'll get it back as good as it was..."

Shame on me.
 
For those using Windows AND confident that a manual scanning regime will work for them, I recommend ClamWin, a FREE Open source GPL virus scanner

About ClamWin Free Antivirus

ClamWin is a Free Antivirus program for Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003 and Vista.
ClamWin Free Antivirus comes with an easy installer and open source code. You may download and use it absolutely free of charge. It features:
  • High detection rates for viruses and spyware;
  • Scanning Scheduler;
  • Automatic downloads of regularly updated Virus Database.
  • Standalone virus scanner and right-click menu integration to Microsoft Windows Explorer;
  • Addin to Microsoft Outlook to remove virus-infected attachments automatically.

Please note that ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access real-time scanner. You need to manually scan a file in order to detect a virus or spyware.
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Seems its popular with those using screen-readers and those who prefer keyboards to mice

User References
"I'm a blind person and I've used many antivirus programs over the years but your program is outstanding and I just wanted to thank you for making this available for us."
djc

"This is not a support issue but rather a praise for the development and ease of use from the keyboard for those who cannot use the conventional mouse. I am blind and also train others who are blind and disabled. We are always on the lookout for applications which are accessible and easy to use with screen readers and other access technology. With Clamwin's easy context menu operation from the notification area system tray, easy to get to and use scanning and result reports, automatic updating and easy accessible balloon notification of status messages, this antivirus program is really fitting the bill.
With kind regards and Congrats for a great 'Free And Open-Source Product'"
Tony Broome
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Wudang said:
Having used several over the years I'm very happy with Avast! free home edition.
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This is my experience as well. Avast! is easy to use, updates automaticly, and is and not a huge memory hog. I started it using it a year or two ago, based on it being the best free antivirus on Consumer Reports' list. There were only a few non-free packages that were rated higher.



Spunk-Monkey said:
Also check with your ISP: many offer one or another commercial product for their customers. Mine offers McAfee, but i'm not really impressed with how well it works. We use that at my office, where it gives bogus error messages from time to time. I was about to check out Avast myself; anyone have some good feedback to share on it?
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See above. I have a McAfee suite provided by an ISP, but it petulantly refuses to load the antivirus portion, since I am running Avast!
 
The free ones are fine. But having tried Kaspersky i really can't recomend it enough if you are willing to pay.

It is fast, extremely fast.. Especially compared to norton.

It has some great features, like, it will tell you that your flash plugin is outdated and has a security hole.

I have NEVER seen any other anti virus program that will actively search your harddisk and check the versions of your programs/libaries to see if they have security breaches..

It even informs you as to where you can get an update without the flaw(it does not install the new version for you).

I have never seen anything like it, and if i used windows, i would probably use kaspersky...
 
I have used the free versions of Antivir and COMODO firewall for some months since they got the best testresults, Antivir has a huge nag-popup every day which make my computer choke (that can be annoying if you are playing an online game at the time) and COMODO is a bit overprotective in my taste.
 
Six7s #15
That is very interesting. I use the keyboard a lot, but with magnification can still use the mouse as well - which is about 2 inches long, coloured blue and looks as if it is a solid block. The local computer shop man suggested Panda AV which I have had since about March and which has given no trouble at all.
 
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