antivirus software that works? help!

let me be the first to say i know for a fact norton antivirus is crap. ive had it on the 5 computers i had to have replaced because norton was sleeping on the job. let me also say ad aware is crap. they hav found out adaware can actually have hidden trojans pre installed on it.

besides those two crap softwares.... what do you use for antivirus, popups, etc. on your pc? what do you reccomend? im relying on spybot and spysweeper to protect me at the moment. help!

[edit on 18-8-2006 by worksoftplayhard]

There is no effective anti-virus software available to the average consumer.

Anti-virus software is a scam. By the time new patches and virus definition files are released, 20 or 30 new exploits have been discovered and are making the rounds, including on your computer.

Dont waste your money. Resign yourself that if you are a heavy net user, every so often you are going to have to chuck your old hard drive and do a fresh install. Either that or hire a sys admin to sit at your system 24/7 with things like Tripwire and so forth and monitor every bit and byte that moves......

Simple ... Trend Micro Internet Security

www.trendmicro.com


$ for $ I've found it to be the best Overall protection available.

anti-virus, firewall, malware, spam filtering, wireless network intrusion detection, etc.

I've used it for over 8 years and have never encountered a problem I didn't bring on myself.

Aside from that, and unlike Norton or McAfee it's not "up n your face" all the time asking you what it should do.

You can get a full version 30 day trial, if only to use as a comparison to what you are or have been using.



Give it a try ... I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

I like Spybot:Search and Destroy. I am not a computer security expert, but I like the way it alerts me if something is trying to access the internet or change a registry setting or what have you.

If you have Comcast broadband they provide McAfee anti-virus free, if you don't use Comcast perhaps your ISP provides a free program also. I scan my computer for viruses maybe once a week while I'm sleeping - though I know some people who do it multiple times a day! I also have a physical firewall in my router, and have never had any problems with viruses with this setup.

Originally posted by Pyros
There is no effective anti-virus software available to the average consumer.

Actually there is plenty of software that is above average for absolutely no cost, and much more at a small cost. I would never recommend Norton or McAfee, as they are simply yesterdays news.

AVG Free

This does the trick for me, completely free. Give it a go!

Originally posted by Pyros
Anti-virus software is a scam. By the time new patches and virus definition files are released, 20 or 30 new exploits have been discovered and are making the rounds, including on your computer.

Actually, updates for Antivirus programs & your OS are released before the viruses. Microsoft will put up updates for Windows, then in return these individuals who create the malicious files notice where there is a whole in peoples windows. Knowing that not everyone will do the proper updates, they put out these viruses that will affect all those customers who do not update.

If you update your Windows, Antivirus, etc. you are doing yourself a great service in protecting your system.

Sasser & Blaster were probably two of the biggest viruses of all time, they would shut your computer down in 60 seconds, and the patches to prevent these were available about a week or two before the virus was even on the internet.

Originally posted by Pyros
Dont waste your money.

Ahh we agree at last!

You should save your money because you can protect yourself completely without spending a penny. In my signature you will find a direct link to a thread that will provide alot of information to protecting your system, prevention of infection and even some indepth instructions for removal of specific issues.

Originally posted by Pyros
Resign yourself that if you are a heavy net user, every so often you are going to have to chuck your old hard drive and do a fresh install. Either that or hire a sys admin to sit at your system 24/7 with things like Tripwire and so forth and monitor every bit and byte that moves......

Not the case at all.

Personally, I suppliment McCrappy with Spybot - Search & Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition and they seem to do the job quite well.

Beware of "knock-offs" though, both programs have such a good reputation that there are many companies who try to capitalize off of giving their own programs very similar names.

[edit on 8/18/06 by redmage]

I'll support chissler.

I recommend AVG Free, + ZoneAlarm Free user mode.

To the orgininal poster, you are running a firewall aren't you. If not, even the best AV prog. will choke. Like I said, I recommend Zonelabs Zonealarm. Their free version is very good.

IMHO, McAfee works fine for me