# Best Antivirus Software



## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

ok, i know a thread already exists for this topic, but i've started this to add a poll and see exactly which one is more popular among you fine experts...

from reading the threads here already, i can see that the most popular antivirus software is between Norton, McAfee, NOD32, and AVG... i personally have used Norton for as long as i can remember, but i am open to switching if i find a better one...

so, speaking purely about antivirus protection, what is your favorite program and recomendation?... try not to worry about price at all... imagine you had billions upon billion of dollars and could afford any software you wanted... which one would be your choice?

also assume that it's the lastest and best version of each product... for example, Norton's latest Professional edition... so the poll is to compare the latest and greatest of each of the 4 competitors....


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## roban (Jul 9, 2002)

My favorites are not listed. They are Avast and Anti-Vir. Both freebies and excellent.


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## pnbalaji (May 30, 2001)

Two of my favourites are below.

1. F-Prot for DOS (free) (www.f-prot.com or www.simtel.net)
2. smartcop freeware version (www.s-cop.com)


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

thanks...

only 7 votes?... cmon people, what's your choice??


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## Terryl (Nov 4, 2002)

I used Norton 2002 for 2 years and have no problem. However. I am looking at AVG to put on my daughter's laptop, will let you know how that goes.


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## cheese (Jun 22, 2003)

NOD32 :up:


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## rancid (Jul 2, 2004)

AntiVir!!


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## Dark Star (Jun 8, 2001)

I've used Norton 2002 for the past two years and when my current subscription expires in Sept I'll start using AVG.... from all that I've read it's just as good as NAV, arguably better and you can't beat the price. 

Norton 2002 has yet to find, block or quarrantine anything, it's there and hopefully,* IF* I should need it, it will work, maybe I'm lucky but from time to time I'll run an online scan just to be sure. Other than that NAV just sits in the systray and does it's 'live update' thing.

I've read high praises and "excellent" and all that but few if any will say "my XYZ brand A/V program is great because it has stopped 28 viri attempts or 14 or 7 or however many. 

DS


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## ianscotm (Jul 11, 2004)

I use norton 2004 and the only time it found something, 6 bad things that came along with a screensaver i downloaded, it could not delete them, i had to open up my hidden files and manually delete them, that's 0 for 6, used nav 2002 b4 on my dads pc but that never found anything. can't really vote as norton is all i've used and only cause it comes in the pc software bundle, i always read that mcafee has the edge on norton, my brother has an old pc (a whopping 64MB Ram) but has no av software, (he only uses adaware) he also has an adsl connection i keep telling him to see if theres any good av freeware out there, any suggestions? His pc is in for a health check at the moment, it would be interesting to see what they find, i'm sure he'll tell me tomorrow. all the signs are there, pop ups etc
ian


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

hmm... very interesting... well thanks for all your opinions, i will take them all into consideration... mcafee is supposed to be good, but i've heard it's a resource hog... and if it's not THAT much better than norton, i think i would still prefer to use norton... norton has always had a pretty good reputation...

but AVG seems to be in the lead in the poll... i'll have to read up on how good that is...


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Hiya

I use AVP:

http://www.avp.ch/

It updates daily, and works well for me, as in ease of use. Thing is, the new version has this stupid control panel, which takes a lot of rescources, so disabled in process manager.

Regards

eddie


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## gotrootdude (Feb 19, 2003)

Trend Micro. AVG, etrust, or Panda.

Norton has a bad reputation in this forum. Would recommend anything besides Norton!

McAffee is just as bad..

Let's put it this way, if it's advertised in Reader's Digest and Golf Magazine, it's probably not the best to use...


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## gotrootdude (Feb 19, 2003)

Forgot to say, you better check the date of your definition file if your useing Norton. I had a few people who's PC acted like they were updateing, saw the download and everything, and the date on the definition file never changed. No protection at all. 

I don't know if they ever fixed Norton's uninstall programs, but it used to be a real pain in the ___ to get rid of it..


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

ok, thanks for the advice... i checked my norton defintion files, and they are infact up to date, thank god... but i will look into some other virus scanners to see if they are better...


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

I've been using McAfee for about as long as I can remember. Right now I'm in the middle of my 5-year prepaid subscription for McAfee.com so will continue using it until my subscription ends. I've never had any problem with it, and the one time I got a virus (trojan) it gave me very clear instructions on how to remove it. Also I think that was a few years ago, even before I upgraded to the McAfee.com subscription which does it's definition file updates fully automated. (I think I had gone for a week that time without doing my update and as soon as I did the update, it detected the trojan).

I've also never had any problem with resources and McAfee being a hog. But that might also just be that I may not run too many applications which require massive amounts of resources, so whatever McAfee uses up doesn't affect anything I do.

My new Dell came with that free 90-day trial of Norton Security (av & firewall). I'm trying it for a tiny bit, since it's free right now, but will probably fully rip it out soon. I can't stand the Norton firewall portion of it, and I'll be putting my ZoneAlarm Pro on (which I already have a subscription to on my other computers).

My dad right now is trying out the ZoneAlarm AntiVirus (his Norton subscription had just ended), since it was only $5 more to include that in the package when we renewed ZoneAlarm last week to upgrade to the ZoneAlarm Security Suite. I'll let ya'll know what he thinks of that after a bit.


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

I've noticed that a lot of people here seem to like AVG. And I'm curious what you all think is so great about it that makes it beat out all the rest?

Someone posted in a reply to my thread about this topic the following link:
http://www.suggestafix.com/index.php?act=ST&f=16&t=11185

He puts AVG at the very bottom of the list of AV software, and I was wondering what all you AVG proponents have as a response to this?


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## Safe (Mar 25, 2003)

You left out kaspersky. SO I just voted for second best (mcafee)


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Safe

I use AVP, and its great 

eddie


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## Safe (Mar 25, 2003)

eddie5659 said:


> Safe
> 
> I use AVP, and its great
> 
> eddie


Why is AVG so great? All I know, is that Kaspersky offers the best protection against viruses etc Even experts agree according to quite few reviews that ive read, kaspersky updates their virus definitions about 10 or more times per DAY...
*
*EDIT* lol... I thought you just made a typo, AVP is Kaspersky right? anyway, the rest is still valid for AVG *EDIT*
*
I was just reading a review on AVG... Here are the highlights... This was more than enough to make me reach the conclusion that this is a vastly inferior virus protection program:-

Pros - AVG Antivirus:

* Better than to be expected from a free antivirus program
* DOS scanner included
* But only an option for those with absolutely no money

Cons - AVG Antivirus:

* Comes only with a basic (automated) interface without the possibility to adjust any settings
* Doesn't check for double infected files
* Some users have had freezes and other major stability issues on Windows 2000 and XP
* Slows down your computer considerably
* Inserts ads in your email messages.
* You need to use DOS commands for some advanced operations.
* Log file displays limited info
* You can't see anything in systray, so you don't know if it's running or not

Major flaws - AVG Antivirus:

* Terrible virus detection rate
* Doesn't update their virus definition files very often (monthly intervals, should be twice a week)
* Deletes infected files without warning. This is especially bad if the file didn't contain a virus after all (a false positive).
* Very low on scripts, backdoors and trojans.

Email clients supported - AVG Antivirus:

* MS Outlook
* MS Outlook Express 5.x and higher
* Qualcomm Eudora
* MS Exchange


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## southernlady (May 6, 2004)

Another MAJOR flaw with AVG FREE is that it doesn't TELL you WHICH virus you have just that it HEALED it, yeah, right NOT! How can you heal something if you do NOT know what it was. Mine resided in my BOOT file and so every time I did a [email protected] system restore I reinfected myself. Liz


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

hmm... AVP/Kaspersky eh... so AVP and Kaspersky are one in the same then?

and what makes this AVP so great?


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## Conrad747 (Jul 28, 2004)

We have to take note of our resources before we say a program is a resource hog. I have a McAfee in our 1.2 GHz, 256 ram computer and no noticeable speed problem. But when I downloaded free trial of the same A/V on my 64 ram, it really slowed down my computer, drastically. Try reading some forums or articles about A/V's to help yu make your decision.


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## rancid (Jul 2, 2004)

AntiVir http://computercops.biz/forum88.html


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## Safe (Mar 25, 2003)

Gigs said:


> hmm... AVP/Kaspersky eh... so AVP and Kaspersky are one in the same then?
> 
> and what makes this AVP so great?


Heres a summery of kaspersky, from the same site that said how bad AVG was:-

Pros - Kaspersky Antivirus:

* Currently has the best detection record of all antivirus programs
* Easy to install, works right out of the box
* Daily updates ensures full protection at all times (edit updates about 10 times a day!!! edit)
* Small program, uses only 11 MB disk space, requires minimal resources
* Scans all types of archives, not only ZIP-files
* Supports all types of media: disk, floppy, cd, network drives etc
* Runs as system service on Windows NT/2000/XP.
* DOS scanner included
* Very good user manual (250 pages) included
* Phone and email support included for free

Cons - Kaspersky Antivirus:

* Interface could have been better

Major flaws - Kaspersky Antivirus:

* None

Email clients supported - Kaspersky Antivirus:

* MS Outlook
* MS Outlook Express
* MS Exchange

Supports the following email database formats:

* MS Outlook
* MS Outlook Express
* MS Exchange
* Eudora
* MS Mail
* Pegasus Mail
* Netscape Mail
* JSMail
* MIME


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## xplodinghead (Jul 8, 2004)

What big companies always do is have at least four different major AV programs in their networks because each one will be able to find SOMETHING that none of the others can.
However, if you only have enough $ for one I'd recommend Norton, I've always found it overall the best taking into account both detection rate and intuitive GUI.
Though there are programs that have better aspects individually. As Safe already said, Kapersky has a better detection rate, and McAffee probably has the best GUI of all of them (But the detection rate sucks @$$, so I wouldn't recommend it.)
Once again it brings me back to Norton being the most well rounded. But if complicated GUIs are nothing to you, go with Safe's recommendation.


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## Bearboat (Jul 25, 2004)

I've been using PC-Cillin by Trend Micro for years now, been through a couple of version upgrades and have never had a virus slip thorugh. I haven't had any problems with upgrades to scan engines or virus patterns and it is pretty simple to use. At present I am using PC-Cillin Internet Security(latest version) and I am happy with it.


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## cheese (Jun 22, 2003)

The AVG review is old. There much better at updting and stuff now. But its a must for people who dont wanna spend money on an AV.


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## Safe (Mar 25, 2003)

Actually, Norton is really bad... I wouldnt sacrifice detection over a better GUI... Besides the kaspersky gui is still very nice, just not as goos as norton... I used to have norton installed on my system, then replaced it for kaspersky, and kaspersky detected 6 viruses that norton (fully updates) didnt. One virus was a variation of the welchia virus, another was a trojan keylogger, and a few others that I cant remember the names of... Seriously. INVEST is a capable virus scanner like kaspersky or one of the AV programs that use kasperskys databases eg F-Secure... Antivirus programs are not something you should try to make a saving on, they are very important programs...


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

Safe said:


> You left out kaspersky. SO I just voted for second best (mcafee)


This is the first that I've even heard the name 'kapersky' ever mentioned before. How long has it been around and can someone post a link with information about it and other such details?
I havn't even seen it mentioned in any other threads anywhere on this forum. 
Just trying to find some details that might give enough information no why this might be a better one to use than the others which are more well-known.


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

xplodinghead said:


> What big companies always do is have at least four different major AV programs in their networks because each one will be able to find SOMETHING that none of the others can.
> However, if you only have enough $ for one I'd recommend Norton, I've always found it overall the best taking into account both detection rate and intuitive GUI.
> Though there are programs that have better aspects individually. As Safe already said, Kapersky has a better detection rate, and McAffee probably has the best GUI of all of them (But the detection rate sucks @$$, so I wouldn't recommend it.)
> Once again it brings me back to Norton being the most well rounded. But if complicated GUIs are nothing to you, go with Safe's recommendation.


very interesting... so say i decided to continue using Norton, but get AVP along with it... will they interfere with each other?... i assume AVP has a realtime auto-protect that is similar to Norton's auto-protect...


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## roban (Jul 9, 2002)

The wise say never use 2 AV's on one system.


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## edjon2000 (Jul 16, 2004)

I've been using AVG for years, I have occassionally tried other A/V's, McAfee used to cause system hangs on shut down, Norton failed to detect 3 viruses and by the time I spotted them myself the system was almost completely compromised. out with Norton and McAfee. I can't really comment on kapersky as it was only on my system for a couple of weeks, I forget why I removed it. I used, in the dim and distant past an A/V called Inoculate-It until trend micro stopped supporting it but I have to say the clincher for my argument only happened recently I was checking a system at work that was doing some weird things I removed all of the adware, thanks to the great advice I've received here, I still had problems with this system I tried the panda online scan and the trend micro scan all reported fine I then installed AVG free and it picked up within a few minutes a dialler on the system complete with a full description of it and a link to find out more about this beastie. So in my opinion I think AVG wins out.

Oh and another thing, in the last week there have been three updates to the definitions file and there is usually one update weekly. That dialler by the way was cleaned by AVG not quarantined but disinfected. All in all not bad for a free A/V.

I've just got the latest virus definitions dated yesterday

Jon.


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

HitAnyKey

yep, its been around for a while, this is the main site:

www.avp.ch

I have the latest version, but as I mentioned before, it installs this annoying control panel. This can also take a lot of rescources, so I've disabled that in MSCONFIG, and for XP, in the Services.

You know if its running, as AVPM is listed which is real time.

Gigs, its best not to have two antivirus programs running at the same time, as they can conflict with eachother. I do have the Cleaner running, as this is soley a Trojan detector:

www.moosoft.com

eddie


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

very interesting, but also confusing... everyone says not to run 2 AV programs at the same time... but since Norton 2004 comes with spyware protection as well, is it still wise to run programs like SpyWareGuard alongside Norton 2004?


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## roban (Jul 9, 2002)

I would favor spywareblaster and I run it with my AV. I run adaware and never have a spyware to delete.


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## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Gigs said:


> very interesting, but also confusing... everyone says not to run 2 AV programs at the same time... but since Norton 2004 comes with spyware protection as well, is it still wise to run programs like SpyWareGuard alongside Norton 2004?


Hi Gigs:

Spyware protection and antivirus protection are 2 different utilities. It's OK to run several spyware protection utilities along with (1) antivirus utility.

Hope that helps...


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## brite750 (Mar 16, 2002)

Same experience as others, had AVG catch stuff missed by Norton, not sure what good NAV is if it's missing stuff that gets caught by a free supposedly crappy AV program.


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## edjon2000 (Jul 16, 2004)

My point exactly,

In my opinion NAV is an expensive resource hog that does a bad job, a bit like MS Office and I think you get an update, if your lucky once a month, whereas with AVG Free edition you may get updates daily.

With AVG they say that they release virus definition updates as soon as a virus comes out unlike NAV that like to wait until there is a reasonable number of updates to justify there (last time I looked) GB£6.45 charge for updates once a month.

By the way the cost for AVG Pro is not excessive if you decide that you want or need that kind of protection for multiple computers, or network protection ... still a lot cheaper than NAV


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

Why didnt u include PC-Cillin Internet security 2004, it has built in spyware, and AV and is really good.


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## edjon2000 (Jul 16, 2004)

I forgot about that one  

I've never tried it


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

I've heard Anti-Vir does its job, Norton lost reputation because Symantec bought it out same as Partition Magic. PC-Cillin you get much for one program. Havent heard much about smartcop. AVG seems very good. McAfee retail kits are horrible, but its VSO is nice. Panda Antivirus has found and cleaned every virus. F-Prot DOS is really good if your system is unbootable, but watchout you should have it on report only as it will delete files needed to boot your system. There are plenty other antivirus programs but i cant say them all. 

My recommendation: T
Those who will pay- McAfee VSO or PC-Cillin Internet Security.
Those who won't- Anti-Vir or AVG Personal (free but without all features of pro)


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

GoJoAGoGo said:


> Hi Gigs:
> 
> Spyware protection and antivirus protection are 2 different utilities. It's OK to run several spyware protection utilities along with (1) antivirus utility.
> 
> Hope that helps...


thats what i thought before Norton 2004 came out... the only reason i'm concerned now is becuase Norton 2004 doesn't just look for viruses anymore, it also looks for spyware... and since i know it's not good to run more than one AV program at the same time, i was wondering if the same applies to spyware protection programs... becuase Norton 2004 is not JUST an AV program, it's also a spyware prevention program...

thanks for the input tho...


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

LOL. not meaning to be offensive, but both mcafee and norton CLAIM they have spyware prevention. It SUX (cubed) Ad-Aware and Spybot take out much more than what those detected, and they even found things i wanted. I turn off spyware detection within those two and make sure i use somthing like spybot s&d. The only near good bundle is Pc-cillin but the best is individuals (ad-aware pro and Spybot S&D).


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Write up in Consumer Reports Sept 2004 on antivirus protection.


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## MYcompISgay (Aug 11, 2004)

norton has the worst customer support


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## moebius (Oct 7, 2003)

avg rocks, and its free too


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## Gigs (Jul 8, 2004)

ok thanks iXneonXi... i'll keep that in mind... in the end, i have a feeling i'll still be running multiple programs to take care of spyware and viruses separately... seems like thats still the best way to go...


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

most definetly.


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## Skivvywaver (Mar 18, 2001)

I use Norton but that is because I am used to it. When I first got it there were no free AVs to be had. I have tried the free ones and there is always some limit to what they can do. 1 email program, manual updates, or something along those lines. I have to be truthful though. If I kept one of the free ones on the machine long enough to get used to it I might stay with it.
Norton has never let me get virused without an alert, and has never let a virus totally take over.
I have had to boot into safe mode to finish one off. I have also had to turn off system restore to complete a clean up. The thing about it is, I knew it was there because Norton alerted me. A few times the program has reported can not delete. That is when safe mode and turning off restore comes into play. If you get along with a free one I think thats great. I am too stuck in my ways. I also use internet explorer even though I know there are less vulnerable, or at least less targeted browsers.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

Yah lol i use mozilla firefox under linux with a really nice virus scanner and firewall built right into my linux. For windows i use firefox browser also and have McAfee VSO (online) but i use spybot s&d + ad-aware personal (both free) and McAfee hasnt even let one touch my harddrive. I was visiting a website and it directly intercepted it. Not to be offensive but once with norton it couldnt clean a file so it deleted it! OMFG that was very bad because it was the file with all my email and that caused some business problems so i wouldnt keep norton on auto delete if you cant clean it.


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## Skivvywaver (Mar 18, 2001)

I had McAfee before Norton. It did let a virus in and could not clean it. I bought McAfee office back a few hundred years ago. I paid 80 bucks for the suite and gave the disk to my sister. It was I think the 1999 version. What ever works for you is what you should use. Like I said I know Norton pretty well. I get kind of confused with the others.
NOD32 is supposed to be very good. I couldn't even get along with it. LOL


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## Insp3cta (Aug 2, 2004)

panda av is my favorite, then AVG, and last I would say None. I didnt feel comfortable with ZoneAlarm FW+AV, So im usin Panda Titanium + ZoneAlarm Pro. It works great. I remember my dad bought this Suite thing about a year ago -> SystemSuite 4.0 <- I think thats the name of it, within 1 month a new version came out 5.0 and within 4-5months it said that He could update it anymore and that he had to purchase 5.0. Talk about complete Garbage.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

yah i hate it when companies do that. your like me. i think avg and panda are really good as panda's free external removal tools are nice when anything else cant fix it. avg has worked wonders for its price and etc etc. good post.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I also have the " avast! Virus Cleaner - free virus & worm removal tool"

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_cleaner.html

Nice to have because all you need to do is make a folder for it and put the file in it and run it. No install but it makes a aswclnr.log file after scanning so that is why I made the folder for it.

I never tried the " Free antivirus software - free virus protection for home PC " they have because I don't know if you have to install it or not. Anyone know if it needs to be install or if it runs like the "avast! Virus Cleaner "?

http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

iXneonXi said:


> well avg needs an install because it has active protection system.


I know avg does but was talking about the "avast! Virus Cleaner ".

Pays to look around. 

If you already have the latest avast! installed and would like to add the new language only you don't have to download the whole program again. You can just modify installed components of avast program via Control panels - Add/Remove programs.

So yes it does a install.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

I never wrote that.


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## fedster (Feb 2, 2003)

Is this a loaded question or what...It's like asking what is your favorite ice cream flavor...Its all opinion and what you and your comp feel comfortable with...from personal experience I used Norton and PC-Cillin...stuck with norton because I was to lazy to get to know pc-cillin...It has been four years and until recently norton has not let me down...Now I am going to try avast or avp after some research...this is a hard decision for me because like norton I am a vanilla kinda guy...  

great poll thanks  

Windows XP Professional with SP1
Intel Pentium 4 (2.53ghz)
512mb pc100 SDRAM
Maxtor 80g HD


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

I agree with the fedster in that I've always been a "vanilla kinda guy". 
I've been using McAfee VSO for years (though also mainly because I did the 5-yr pre-paid subscription to cut down the price back in 2002) and never had a problem. 
I only just this past week finally got off one of the other things I've been using since as long as I can remember. That being Internet Explorer. It was what I was always used to....though I just changed to Mozilla Firefox, which so far hasn't felt too much different than IE. Which is nice as I was expecting to feel the discomfort of changing off a program I had been using for years upon years. Only annoyance are those websites and programs (such as Yahoo LaunchCast, AIM, and even McAfee VSO) which seem to either require IE or run components through IE.

PS. If anyone knows how to get McAfee VSO to totally bypass IE and go completely through Firefox, let me know.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

yes, i have vso and firefox so i'll try and figure it out. what do you want me to do with the two. by the way i like McAfee VSO because it is online and auto and i dont have to do anything really.  I'll help you on the firefox/mcafee case just tell me exactly what u want me to try.


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## cavtek (Jul 8, 2004)

had macaffe and norton. wasnt impressed. use avg now and survived an assault by NETSKY ( 3 versions ) and a BAGEL or two, no problem .


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

mcafee retail sux its the vso thats good and everytime a virus attempted to enter vso would clean it instantly.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I hate McAfee but if you say McAfee VSO is just a online scan then that may be ok.
Got a link for McAfee VSO?


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

iXneonXi said:


> yes, i have vso and firefox so i'll try and figure it out. what do you want me to do with the two. by the way i like McAfee VSO because it is online and auto and i dont have to do anything really.  I'll help you on the firefox/mcafee case just tell me exactly what u want me to try.


My issue right now is that I've attempted to cripple my IE a little bit, by setting the Security Settings to 'Prompt' me for each of the below categories:
Download Signed ActiveX controls
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins
Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting

Because I've done this, the automatic updater for McAfee pops up with those two question boxes which state:
"A script is accessing some software (an ActiveX control) on this page which has been marked safe for scripting. Do you want to allow this?"
and
"Do you want to allow software such as ActiveX controls and plug-ins to run?"

These pop up a few times. So if I'm not at home, I'll come up later and find these boxes waiting for me to click on them so my VSO can update itself.

If the only way around this is to allow the ActiveX stuff (I was taking a suggestion to disable that to lock down my IE since I'm trying to discontinue using it as much as possible), then I suppose I'll just have to enable them again. But I'm looking for a way around that to keep all other things using ActiveX from functioning and only allowing the McAfee.


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

hewee said:


> I hate McAfee but if you say McAfee VSO is just a online scan then that may be ok.
> Got a link for McAfee VSO?


Hmm, now that you bring it up. I've just been looking and I'm not sure that there is a difference between McAfee VirusScan and what I used to know as McAfee VirusScan Online.

A couple years ago there used to be a whole separate thing for it, and I'm pretty sure they were two separate subscriptions.
What I appear to have is the McAfee Security Center with McAfee Virus Scan Build 8.0.41.
And from looking on the website, it doesn't even appear that you can purchase it in the way which I had back in 2002. Back then I was able to buy a 5-yr subscription, which gave me a year free or something like that.

In either case, I've always been quite satisfied with McAfee.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I was thinking McAfee VirusScan Online was a free online scan.

They just changed there site around and I can't find any of the free things they had listed.
Did have the speed test bookmarked and was able to see the other things from the links there but after they changed the site the links are gone.
Plus the speed test does not work now with netscape.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I will say nothing could be more easy to use then the AVG. 
Plus it's free and is rated good and they update it a lot.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

yah AVGs great. i may even start using that once my McAfee subscription runs out. I like mcafee because i dont even know its there really. whenever i start downloading a virus it just pops up and says virus cleaned and then disappears.


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## eoJeoJ (Dec 19, 2003)

Is anyone running Kaspersky 5 on WinXP Pro SP2? The list says Kaspersky 5 has problems with SP 2 in that real-time scan does not work...


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## Safe (Mar 25, 2003)

eoJeoJ said:


> Is anyone running Kaspersky 5 on WinXP Pro SP2? The list says Kaspersky 5 has problems with SP 2 in that real-time scan does not work...


Im running Kav 5 on SP2 and real time protection works fine... I just tested it using the eicar test file...


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## aarhus2004 (Jan 10, 2004)

Eicar Test File?? From where? How about a link when you mention something such as this.


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## Safe (Mar 25, 2003)

aarhus2004 said:


> Eicar Test File?? From where? How about a link when you mention something such as this.


You can find it from a simple google, but heres the link:-

http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

I dont care about the poll (i trust this lab instead), look at this chart of best antivirus from a testing lab (best in the world)
i heard many company doesnt like this lab because they catch weaknesses of their products .
look at this:

Abbreviation/Product/Version 
------------------------------------ 
AVP = Kaspersky AntiVirus (former avp)
BDF (AVX) Bit Defender 
CMD = Command Software 
DRW = DrWeb 
FSE = FSecure AntiVirus 
INO = Inoculan 
NAV = Norton AntiVirus (Corp.Ed.) 
NVC = Norman Virus Control 
RAV = Rumanian AntiVirus 
SCN = NAI VirusScan (mcaffee)

In order to support the race for more customer protection, we 
evaluate the order of performance in this WXP test with a simple
algorithm, by counting the majority of places (weighing "perfect" 
twice and "excellent" once), for the first places:

************************************************************
"Perfect" Windows-XP AntiVirus product: =NONE= (20 points) 
"Excellent" Windows-XP products:
1st place: SCN (18 points) 
2nd place: AVP,FSE (13 points)
4th place:  NAV (11 points)
5th place: DRW (10 points)
6th place: INO ( 9 points)
7th place: RAV ( 8 points)
8th place: BDF,CMD,NVC ( 6 points)
************************************************************
"Perfect" Windows-XP AntiMalware product:=NONE= (26 points)
"Excellent" Windows-XP AntiMalware product:
1st place: SCN (22 points)
2nd place: AVP,FSE (17 points)
4th place: NAV (13 points)
5th place: DRW (11 points)
6th place: INO (10 points)
7th place: RAV ( 9 points)
8th place: BDF,CMD,NVC ( 7 points

here is the link :
http://agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vtc/


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## HitAnyKey (Sep 1, 2002)

This test result information would be more useful if it was actually up-to-date with someone doing tests this year, if not within the past few months. This test was published April 30th, 2003. More than a year ago. And looking at the details a bit, the actual tests were obviously performed a good deal prior to that.


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

McAfee Anti-Virus Technology Receives First Place Ranking Over the Competition for Third Consecutive Year From University of Hamburg Virus Test Center

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Network Associates (NYSE: NET), the leading provider of intrusion prevention solutions, today announced that the University of Hamburg Virus Test Center has awarded McAfee's anti-virus technology its first place ranking in the detection of viruses and other malware for the third consecutive year. In a bi-annual comparative review of anti-virus scanning technology, which for the first time included anti-virus scanning on the Windows XP platform, McAfee Security surpassed the competition scoring higher than all other anti-virus vendors. Results of the Virus Test Center's independent anti-virus technology testing are available at: http://agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vtc/

"In our first testing of anti-virus scanning technology running on Windows XP, McAfee demonstrated its outstanding ability to detect viruses on the popular Microsoft operating environment," said Professor Klaus Brunnstein of the University of Hamburg Virus Test Center. "Through our comprehensive testing procedures, McAfee continues to maintain its solid reputation for providing exceptional anti-virus technology that is needed to ensure that global enterprise customers are protected from today's threats."

The University of Hamburg Virus Test Center is well respected throughout the anti-virus industry for its comprehensive, bi-partisan testing procedures. The Test Center's thorough detection testing includes threats from 'zoo' collections and 'in the wild' virus lists, multiple platform detection, compressed format detection and product reliability by counting false alarms that occur when a product wrongly detects threats that do not exist.

"Our continued dominance proven by the results from the University of Hamburg Virus Test Center reflects our ongoing commitment to provide customers worldwide with industry leading anti-virus solutions," said Christopher Bolin, senior vice president of product development at Network Associates. "McAfee Security provides its customers with the highest level of anti-virus protection available today on all major operating platforms, including DOS, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Linux Windows XP."

McAfee Security is a product division of Network Associates, Inc. that protects businesses from security breaches, virus attacks and blended threats. McAfee Security provides comprehensive network protection through industry leading anti-virus, encryption, desktop firewall, intrusion detection, viral vulnerability assessment and online managed services. All McAfee Security products and services are backed by the world-leading anti-virus research organization, AVERT(TM) (Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team), the team responsible for providing cures for major outbreaks like Slammer, LoveLetter, CodeRed and Nimda. For more information, McAfee Security can be reached at 888-VIRUS-NO, and on the Internet at http://www.mcafeesecurity.com.

With headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Network Associates, Inc. is the leading provider of intrusion prevention solutions. Network Associates(R) is comprised of three product groups: McAfee Security, delivering world-class anti-virus and security products; Sniffer(R) Technologies, a leader in network availability and network protection; and Magic Solutions(R), a leader in innovative service management solutions. For more information, Network Associates can be reached at 972-963-8000 or on the Internet at http://www.networkassociates.com/.

NOTE: Network Associates, McAfee, Sniffer, Magic Solutions, and McAfee Security are registered trademarks or trademarks of Network Associates, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Sniffer(R) brand products are made only by Network Associates, Inc. All other registered and unregistered trademarks in this document are the sole property of their respective owners.


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

EICAR Test File

The EICAR test file is designed for users and administrators who want to check the proper operation of their anti-virus software without using actual viruses. Since it is never a good idea to test with real viruses, anti-virus researchers designed a completely harmless test file that most anti-virus products detect as if it were a virus. The EICAR test file is completely benign and contains no viral code.

The most common uses for the EICAR test file are:

Confirms the anti-virus application is installed correctly 
Demonstrate what happens when a virus is found 
Check internal procedures and reactions when a virus is found .
go to this link and test ur anti virus :

http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/eicar_test_file.shtml

remember it s not a virus ,it s only a test to see hor ur av responds .


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

McAfee is really great i have very long subscrition of VSO.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Nice that McAfee is rated so good but I had it on my PC in the pass and I never want to install theresoftware on my PC again.
Matbe that will change some day but not very soon.

I have norton AV and have used them for years.
I was wondering if I could also have the free AVG on my PC but keep it disable and updated. That way I can have a 2 av program to scan with. Not sure if I can just check the box to keep it from starting at boot up is all I need to do or not.
I know you should not have but one av program running.


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## Cris_Cr0ss (Jan 30, 2004)

Sad no one voted for Nod32 Personnaly its on of the best AV's out there it has never let me down. Iv used almost all, mostly trial versions or hand me downs, but all time fav is nod32. Iv tried trend micro/mcafee/norton/f-prot/fsecure/avast/avg/panda. 

Nod32 it scans fast get rids of what has to be deleted and make sures all is good. IT also doesnt burn my resources like Norton or Mcafee. Nod32 with ZoneAlarm or Sygate is your best Chance. I prefer ZoneAlarm Free version with purchased nod32/spybot+ad-aware n spyware gaurd as well as spyware blaster.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

any avast home users here, i've been readin about it and i want to know if its all people say it is?


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## HappyHacker (Nov 9, 2003)

I have tried download a few files from servers that I know are infected. The results?

McAffee, allowed download, did not pick it up during a scan, but stopped the execution of the file.

AVG, allowed download, caught it on the scan, and moved it to the virus vault when accessed.

Norton, denied download, denied access, and wouldn't allow me to execute the file.


I rate Norton just slightly higher than AVG as it is a active scanner. But for low end PC's I always put on AVG. Or if money is a issue.

For me, I buy last years edition of Norton Pro and run that.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

i hate norton, i will never go with norton, and AVG is good but its user interface is wierd and it hardly cleans anything, it just sends it to the vault. McAfee is my favorate pay product. Anyone use avast! i want more info on it.


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

the funny thing with norton , it says sometimes failed to delete the file , what does that mean ? lol ,so i switched to mcaffee , so far no problem,i did mix it with tds 3,and now my machine is perfect like a ferrari .


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

NOD32 NOD32 NOD32 its got to be. Norton is include with most comercial computers in the shops now and comes with a 1 year subscription when you buy the computer, as a result it has become well know and the only reason it is the "most trusted" is because its all some newbies or some people that are not concerned know about. NOD32 is not advertised much but in my eyes it is clearly the best out ther. 50 times faster then Norton or so it says. but i can certainly say that it is much faster. norton took 2 hours to miss live viruses i delibratly put on my computere to test where as NOD32 took 25 mins to find them boht. also NOD32 takes alot less system resources. The only dowside i can think of is price (I know its not a factor here) and GUI. I think its more a proffesional specialist company.


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

i just uninstalled viruscan(mcaffee) and i am testing nod32 , see what gonna happen , i think you may be right , my first scan was fast ,very rapido !


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Can anyone answer post 77 here.

http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?p=1894910


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

In reply to post #77. Yes you can have AVG running along side norton but keep its resident scanner disabled. Use msconfig to stop it from starting up. The only reason they say you shouldn'thave mroe then one AV running is that one may think that the virus signiture pattern files of the other AV are viruses themselves. So in theory you can have as many AVs running as you system can handle but just keep only one resident protection enabled at a time.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Ok great to hear darkviper because I was wanting to add avg but disable it from running and just have it to use when I want to use it.


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

I personaly would prefer not to use AVG but am forced to use it as im just a kid 16 years old and the only AV i can buy around where i live is Norton and Mcafee which are not as good as i would expect from the companies that get the most funding. Spent on advertising and putting their product on the shop shelf iwould imagine. AVG would be a better AV is they pass a VB 100% in windows that would also inspire confidence for the users but unfortunaly they have yet to do so.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

say what you say but McAfee kicks ***. i was using avg and it let me download 2/3 of the EICAR files. it only cleaned the other ones. Then, when scanning my system to remove it, it only cleaned one and the others it did nothing. For McAfee VSO when i went to download it blocked every eicar and when i allowed the download and scanned my system it cleaned/deleted all of them. I dont know why tho.


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

No No i am not saying Mcafee kicks ***. I personaly dont like it and if it supposedly is hotmails antivirus then it sure dosent pull through most the time. i get viruses sent to me through hot mail all the time.


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## Dasein512 (Aug 30, 2004)

I am trying to find out which is better. Right now, I have Norton Internet Security with Norton AntiVirus2003. I am wondering is it better to have Panda Internet Security with Panda antivirus. Or is it better to havbe Norton Internet Security with Panda antivirus instead?


Sincerely,
Gerald


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

why not pc-cillin internet security, it has firewall, antivirus, and spyware blocker all bundled.


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## Dasein512 (Aug 30, 2004)

I have heard good things about Panda. so Im curious about panda versus norton with what i discussed in original post..

PS: why pcchillin? and not panda or norton? and isn't Webroot Spy Sweeper best spyware?
Thanks,
Gerald


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

I should think that all "Internet security" packages are firewall and antivirus. Symantec is a security corporation and i thinkt hey have a better firewall if not overloaded with features and a filescan that slows braodband to 56k speed. Panda came to the market as an antivirus so i think they have a slightly better antivirus but lacks features. titanium is a install and forget program. i would recommend use the internet security package of one company.

Pc cillin is by treand micro. they are huge corporation and are third in the ranks following symantec and mcafee. i have used ther products before and they are very good. regular updates and best of all no update subscription charge!!!!


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

i just came to this conclusion , if you have nod32 and tds 3 , your machine is pretty secured , believe i tied all the full versions norton ,pc cillin ,mcafee , kaspersky and f secure and CA .
my top 5 is :
1 nod32 
2 kaspersky
3 mcaffe
4 f secure
5 norton


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## mrsasperin (Aug 31, 2004)

I have McAfee on office computer.. had a few problems but they were willing to work with me. Norton was a different story! Was on my home PC and laptop.. and got rid of it on both. As an earlier post said, it alerted to problems.. after the fact.. and then couldn't delete. Three times I had to manually get rid of worms. A friend told me about Avast (free) virus protection. Installed it two weeks ago and have had no further problem. Is very user friendly. Recommend it if you are tired of the others.
Mrs. A.


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## HappyHacker (Nov 9, 2003)

If Norton "cannot" delete a file it is bacause of permissions and or it is trying to get into use. It WILL if you set it up correctly throw what it doesn't delete into quarentine and deny access to it.


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## kath100 (Aug 20, 2003)

"Symantec is a security corporation and i thinkt hey have a better firewall if not overloaded with features and a filescan that slows braodband to 56k speed"


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## Dasein512 (Aug 30, 2004)

If you had your choice....which would you favor Pc-cillin internert security, Norton internet security or panda internet security? All three have antivirus combined with firewall, etc. which is the best? I have Norton internet security, but still coming across worm viruses mainly in kazaa lite.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

pc-cillin


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Test Your Antivirus Software

There is a way to test your antivirus software. The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) has developed a simple way to test nearly any antivirus program on the market.

Open Notepad and paste the following text into it as a single line (no spaces):
X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Make sure not to add any extra text. Save the file as aseicar.com then scan it with your antivirus program. It should report infection by the following:
EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE.
This is not a real virus and poses no threat to your system, but you should probably remove it after testing to avoid scaring yourself or others in the future.

Tip from G4TechTV.
http://www.g4techtv.com/leolaporte/feature...s_Software.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Worked great for me too.
Norton AV found...

Virus name: EICAR Test String.68
Aliases:
Infects:
Likelihood: Common
Length: 68 bytes

Characteristics

Memory resident No Triggered event No
Size stealth No Encrypting No
Full stealth No Polymorphic No

Comments:
No additional information.


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## deubanks (Nov 5, 2000)

I use and like EZTrust by Computer Associates. It is not free but only cost $9.95 a year and automatically updates almost daily.


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

www.eicar.org go there for information about that eicar test file. personaly i think all AVs are progrmaed to recognise this string but it does prove that the AV is working. and kath100 your post 98 what are you trying to say?


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

nly 10 votes for nod32 come one what has norton done to the world


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## dai (Mar 7, 2003)

i see ms has just renewed their contract with nod


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

dai 
Distinguished Member Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: west australia
Posts: 5,637 

i see ms has just renewed their contract with nod

Hey , can you post the link of this info , thanx a lot .


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## dai (Mar 7, 2003)

the link
http://www.nod32.com/about/press.htm


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

thank you
with all the money they have ,they might buy them ,and add it to longhorn .


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

by ms do you mean Microsoft? and if so where did you here that. I heard rumours in the past that Microsoft used Norman


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## jillian2 (Sep 11, 2004)

I have been using Norton ever since I go my computer 2 years ago with no problems. 
It has always found any virus or suspious files. I have been pleased with it and would be afraid if I did not have it. It is the best.


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## jillian2 (Sep 11, 2004)

Norton has found several spyware items. More than any spyware program that I have on my computer


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## dai (Mar 7, 2003)

spyware or virus?
are you running
spy sweeper
adaware
spybot
the first one is running all the time the computer is on and the second two it is up to you to run them


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

darkviper said:


> by ms do you mean Microsoft? and if so where did you here that. I heard rumours in the past that Microsoft used _Norman_


did u mean norton or is there a norman. ps ms doesnt use supply with norton, the distributors (e.g. dell, hp) sell there computers with norton.

I would love to have NOD32 built into longhorn.  ps i have the leaked version of longhorn on a 64 bit system and its buggy but cool. none of the good stuff has been implemented yet tho  .
o and i got the iso via irc.


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## darkviper (Jul 12, 2003)

nice to knbow u have illegal warez but i guess its not against forum rules as udont say how u get them. yeh i did mean norman and it does exsiste look it up it has a very good history for and antivirus but is going downhill now i reckon


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

mine are not listed avast, f-prot, and AVG which i didnt vote for as the poll is limited


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

yah sorry its not super illegal if i dont go selling it, i just wanted a sneak peek. its pretty nice but slow and buggy since its really in deep testing. mostly microsoft's problem for letting their software leak. its a ms insider site where it found out about longhorn. basically i cant say anymore than that or i'd be breaking the rules, but if you wanna know stuff like what its like than i could say that. but i wont say where to go and get the iso.


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## 4steve44 (May 4, 2004)

deubanks said:


> I use and like EZTrust by Computer Associates. It is not free but only cost $9.95 a year and automatically updates almost daily.


I use CA's eztrust and did heewee's test and as soon as I saved it ez popped up instantly and told me bout it and recommended that I do a scan to remove it. Now that's Service with a smile  :up:


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## deubanks (Nov 5, 2000)

Hi 4steve44,

I have received many e-mail messages with viruses in them and as soon as one downloads in OE, it pops up and recomends a scan but it also cleans the virus from the e-mail attachment. Works great.


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## sfpb (Sep 11, 2004)

You hypocritical americans you missed Kaspersky just because it is russian HUH simple and true i vote for Kaspersky 5.0 phenomenal detection and protection !Mcafee is great too.


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

kaspersky the germano russian antivirus is great , nod 32 and mcafee are good too , i like these 3 and i tested them all of them because i have them ,but not all installed in my machine ,that would be crazy lol ,anyway i tested those 3 AV ,they are ahead everybody , the others they lack in removing worms or trojans ,wich kaspersky and nod and mcffee succeed at removing them ,i know you goanna say an antivirus remove only viruses ,but still it s good to have one of these 3 that remove virus and trojans without failure , and a lot americans know the excellent programs kaspersky ,dont worry sfpb , when something is good ,it is good ! ....no matter what is the origin of the program !


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## mimo2005 (Aug 14, 2004)

latest news : after microsoft signed with nod , comcast the giant cable company signed with nod 32 , to secure their computers and also to to protect comcast email users .by the way comcast now upgraded the size of email to 250mega ,sweet ,i dont need no more gmail ,250mb is enough for me ,sweeet.


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## sfpb (Sep 11, 2004)

mimo2005 said:


> latest news : after microsoft signed with nod , comcast the giant cable company signed with nod 32 , to secure their computers and also to to protect comcast email users .by the way comcast now upgraded the size of email to 250mega ,sweet ,i dont need no more gmail ,250mb is enough for me ,sweeet.


thanks MIMO 2005 of course i don,t have all three installed at the same time -my system will collapse but you are right all 3 programs are great!Kaspersky by the way is russian ot germano-russian -they just have versions in french,german ,russian,english,spanish,italian.thanks and bye mate and good luck with anti-virus!


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## Baconismidog (Sep 23, 2004)

I am a little disappointed in the choices, this poll is quite misleading. Norton and Mcafee are both hogs on system resources, not to mention un-free. Free software like Avast, Antivir, and AVG are all respectable antivirus programs. I KNOW that AntiVir and Avast detect more than Norton (I use them from a bootdisk when machines are acting funny and Norton is running). If you are going to have a poll on something as important as virus protection, include all the options. I did not vote because my vote would be for:
1. Avast ties with AntiVir
2. AVG


(note large gap in preference)


3. Norton Corporate
4. See choice #1


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## dougl5 (Nov 19, 2001)

AVG !!
I've used Norton 2003 AND AVG both for almost 2 years, and avg has found every virus and trojan I've received, Norton NONE!! I love Norton tools, but not the virus protection.


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