Which Anti-virus/Firewall do you use?
Sunday, November 5, 2006 by sophiesboy | Discussion: Windows XP
I was curious to find out which anti-virus/firewall programs people liked and used.
Over time I have tried a couple of different programs, and never been extremeley happy with them for various reasons.
I used Symantec/Norton for a while, and it had a tendency to crash my machine every time an update came out, requiring reverification with the company, unloading/reloading the program, etc.
At the moment I am using the McAfee Security Center Suite, and while it works reasonably well, it manages to chew up about 137MB of RAM according to the Processes window in the Task Manager. For a system that has a typical resting usage of about 350 to 400MB that seems like an awful lot to me.
A friend of mine recommended switching to the Grisoft AVG antivirus/firewall, which he said uses far less memory and catches quite a bit more than McAfee. I downloaded a free version and ran it once. It managed to detect three Trojans which McAfee had missed over months of use.
So the question is, for those of us who are just competent enough to unwittingly destroy our machines, but not so competent that we can delve into the minutiae of these programs, what would your recommendation be?
Ideally this would be a single source of programs designed to work together (the biggest selling point for the McAfee suite in my case), not a multi-sourced collection that may or may not work together depending on my ability to dig in and tweak drivers/settings/codes.
I await the collective wisdom with anticipation.
Over time I have tried a couple of different programs, and never been extremeley happy with them for various reasons.
I used Symantec/Norton for a while, and it had a tendency to crash my machine every time an update came out, requiring reverification with the company, unloading/reloading the program, etc.
At the moment I am using the McAfee Security Center Suite, and while it works reasonably well, it manages to chew up about 137MB of RAM according to the Processes window in the Task Manager. For a system that has a typical resting usage of about 350 to 400MB that seems like an awful lot to me.
A friend of mine recommended switching to the Grisoft AVG antivirus/firewall, which he said uses far less memory and catches quite a bit more than McAfee. I downloaded a free version and ran it once. It managed to detect three Trojans which McAfee had missed over months of use.
So the question is, for those of us who are just competent enough to unwittingly destroy our machines, but not so competent that we can delve into the minutiae of these programs, what would your recommendation be?
Ideally this would be a single source of programs designed to work together (the biggest selling point for the McAfee suite in my case), not a multi-sourced collection that may or may not work together depending on my ability to dig in and tweak drivers/settings/codes.
I await the collective wisdom with anticipation.
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Kupotek
Reply #62 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:31 AM
Reply #62 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:31 AM
Norton Internet Security 2007
Tune-Up Utilities 2007
O&O Defrag Professional
Ad Aware
Spybot Search&Destroy
Regseeker
Crap Cleaner
Tune-Up Utilities 2007
O&O Defrag Professional
Ad Aware
Spybot Search&Destroy
Regseeker
Crap Cleaner
WeatherBound
Reply #63 Monday, June 11, 2007 2:45 PM
Reply #63 Monday, June 11, 2007 2:45 PM
I am using McFee but it does take a lot of ram.
So now I'm trying other programs listed above. I ran into one problem.
Is there a free Firewall out there that works with Vista?
So now I'm trying other programs listed above. I ran into one problem.
Is there a free Firewall out there that works with Vista?
lilAlex
Reply #64 Monday, June 11, 2007 3:34 PM
you smoke too much crackable
LOL!
I use AVG and for firewall Outpost
Reply #64 Monday, June 11, 2007 3:34 PM
you smoke too much crackable
LOL!
I use AVG and for firewall Outpost
Excalpius
Reply #65 Monday, June 11, 2007 4:07 PM
Reply #65 Monday, June 11, 2007 4:07 PM
NOD32...it catches all viruses, trojans, and spyware. Even after the fact, when I have to install it on systems running the software listed above...ahem.
You don't need a special software firewall (like Zone Alarm) if you have a hardware router/NAT and you are running a top-flight antivirus (re: NOT Norton, McAfee, or the freeware aps). XP and Vista have built in firewalls in case you don't have a NAT, but I really recommend a hardware firewall/router/NAT as your first line of defense if your system is online 24/7, like most broadband users.
I'm running Defender on XP and Vista by default (since it's free), but it hasn't caught anything in two years, since I moved to NOD32.
Note that Avast and AVG are "pretty good for free", which isn't good enough for me. I've seen each of those fail and have to be cleaned up by yes, you guessed it, NOD32.
But, most importantly of all, keep you system patched with Windows Update...monthly.
Those three things, hardware firewall, best in class antivirus, and monthly patches will keep you 100% safe with a barest minimum of overhead.
You don't need a special software firewall (like Zone Alarm) if you have a hardware router/NAT and you are running a top-flight antivirus (re: NOT Norton, McAfee, or the freeware aps). XP and Vista have built in firewalls in case you don't have a NAT, but I really recommend a hardware firewall/router/NAT as your first line of defense if your system is online 24/7, like most broadband users.
I'm running Defender on XP and Vista by default (since it's free), but it hasn't caught anything in two years, since I moved to NOD32.
Note that Avast and AVG are "pretty good for free", which isn't good enough for me. I've seen each of those fail and have to be cleaned up by yes, you guessed it, NOD32.
But, most importantly of all, keep you system patched with Windows Update...monthly.
Those three things, hardware firewall, best in class antivirus, and monthly patches will keep you 100% safe with a barest minimum of overhead.
lgspence
Reply #66 Monday, June 11, 2007 4:23 PM
Reply #66 Monday, June 11, 2007 4:23 PM
I use Windows OneCare (beta 1.5).Works great for me and has everything I need.
Ooberman
Reply #67 Monday, June 11, 2007 4:27 PM
Reply #67 Monday, June 11, 2007 4:27 PM
The best antivirus is common sense. I've had a PC for 9 years, and I've never had a virus. Trust me, I've downloaded all sorts of suspect stuff but I just manually scan it as and when required (with NOD32). I don't need something scanning files I know are clean, bogging me down in the background.
I use Comodo firewall which isn't just a good FREE firewall, it beats much of the paid-for opposition to shame.
I've never used Internet Explorer, which makes me less susceptible to malware. Most times when I'm called upon to fix an infested PC its an inexperienced user clicking on random links in IE that caused it. Use Opera or Firefox guys!
I also use Winpatrol which alerts me whenever something tries to launch itself at startup.
I consider some of the big security suites such as Norton, McAfee etc to be as detrimental to system performance as malware itself. The bloat and bells and whitles and flashing lights make it appeal to nOObs, and it sells.
I use Comodo firewall which isn't just a good FREE firewall, it beats much of the paid-for opposition to shame.
I've never used Internet Explorer, which makes me less susceptible to malware. Most times when I'm called upon to fix an infested PC its an inexperienced user clicking on random links in IE that caused it. Use Opera or Firefox guys!
I also use Winpatrol which alerts me whenever something tries to launch itself at startup.
I consider some of the big security suites such as Norton, McAfee etc to be as detrimental to system performance as malware itself. The bloat and bells and whitles and flashing lights make it appeal to nOObs, and it sells.
WeatherBound
Reply #68 Monday, June 11, 2007 5:30 PM
Just want everyone to no comodo firewall does not support Vista.
Reply #68 Monday, June 11, 2007 5:30 PM
I use Comodo firewall which isn't just a good FREE firewall, it beats much of the paid-for opposition to shame.
Just want everyone to no comodo firewall does not support Vista.
Musical-Mayhem
Reply #69 Monday, June 11, 2007 5:47 PM
Reply #69 Monday, June 11, 2007 5:47 PM
Zone Alarm Pro, AdAware, Windows Defender.
Never had any probs with Zone Alarm. Been using it for about 4 years now, and swear by it.
Their beta version which I'm running on Vista works great, and doesn't chew resources.
Never had any probs with Zone Alarm. Been using it for about 4 years now, and swear by it.
Their beta version which I'm running on Vista works great, and doesn't chew resources.
ESAF
Reply #70 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:24 PM
Reply #70 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:24 PM
Firewall = Zone Alarm Pro
Antivirus = The best in the world (and I've tried them all) ESET NOD 32
But ignore D.D.D. and buy the software instead of using cracked versions.
Antivirus = The best in the world (and I've tried them all) ESET NOD 32
But ignore D.D.D. and buy the software instead of using cracked versions.
pjdark
Reply #71 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:52 PM
Reply #71 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:52 PM
[quote]The best antivirus is common sense.
AGREED 100%
AGREED 100%
Excalpius
Reply #72 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:59 PM
AdAware (which has no resident always running application in the free version) and Windows Defender (which does) won't stop Spycrush, for example, a very common out in the wild trojan/spyware. I just had a friend hit with that. Since Spycrush stops other anti-spyware apps from running or being installed, the only way I could clean his system and get it back to running was by switching him to NOD32.
Trojan Remover would have also removed it after the fact, but again, doesn't run a resident monitoring application, so it wouldn't have stopped it from infecting the machine.
Reply #72 Monday, June 11, 2007 6:59 PM
Zone Alarm Pro, AdAware, Windows Defender.
AdAware (which has no resident always running application in the free version) and Windows Defender (which does) won't stop Spycrush, for example, a very common out in the wild trojan/spyware. I just had a friend hit with that. Since Spycrush stops other anti-spyware apps from running or being installed, the only way I could clean his system and get it back to running was by switching him to NOD32.
Trojan Remover would have also removed it after the fact, but again, doesn't run a resident monitoring application, so it wouldn't have stopped it from infecting the machine.
ShelbyGT_The_Car
Reply #74 Monday, June 11, 2007 8:56 PM
Reply #74 Monday, June 11, 2007 8:56 PM
seldomseen - the plus version has a better feature to it for not giving false reports as wc being yellow. The which has been updated to green!
With Vista Ultimate - the firewall rules are much better at being configured properly for a better response for any machine on Vista.This being that Microsoft is still holding out on info for such to be completely configured properly by third party software firewalls.
So I use Windows Vista firewall with personal set configurations written by rules and settings.
With of course the best av - NOD32 - currently version for Vista 2323 .
Which has proven to detect the Zero Day Virus very well so far.
and
Mcafee Site Advisor Plus for Vista. Which has done a very good job at stopping bad links in mail and IE7 [the which IE7 was just re-released to msn members for update {special}].
Along with none other than Windows Defender - which after a log time setup seems to use less memory and works better at stopping spyware [that is truly spyware?].
Then there is the hardwall appliance firewall [not gona say which it is!] and of course the router and all it's so called protection.
Thus it is a fair system and works smoothly. I've about 20 different other products I've tried and paid for everyone of this year too. I figure I got about $500 or more tied up in security research for my systems at home and tons more at work. But if you consider the loss of a system by a bug or just a hacker; it's worth every penny.
Oh and just a good FEW words for those that like cracked wares -
YOU MAY GET WHAT YOU THINK YOU WANT IN THE PROGRAM - BUT THE DAY WILL COME - YOU GET WHAT YOU DID NOT THINK ABOUT HAPPENING TO YOUR STUFF ! NOT GOOD AND FOR SURE NOT SAFE !!!
Happy Skinning All and keep it safe on the Net!
SGT
Trying Site Advisor, even though they list us WC as a "yellow" site instead of green.
With Vista Ultimate - the firewall rules are much better at being configured properly for a better response for any machine on Vista.This being that Microsoft is still holding out on info for such to be completely configured properly by third party software firewalls.
So I use Windows Vista firewall with personal set configurations written by rules and settings.
With of course the best av - NOD32 - currently version for Vista 2323 .
Which has proven to detect the Zero Day Virus very well so far.
and
Mcafee Site Advisor Plus for Vista. Which has done a very good job at stopping bad links in mail and IE7 [the which IE7 was just re-released to msn members for update {special}].
Along with none other than Windows Defender - which after a log time setup seems to use less memory and works better at stopping spyware [that is truly spyware?].
Then there is the hardwall appliance firewall [not gona say which it is!] and of course the router and all it's so called protection.
Thus it is a fair system and works smoothly. I've about 20 different other products I've tried and paid for everyone of this year too. I figure I got about $500 or more tied up in security research for my systems at home and tons more at work. But if you consider the loss of a system by a bug or just a hacker; it's worth every penny.
Oh and just a good FEW words for those that like cracked wares -
YOU MAY GET WHAT YOU THINK YOU WANT IN THE PROGRAM - BUT THE DAY WILL COME - YOU GET WHAT YOU DID NOT THINK ABOUT HAPPENING TO YOUR STUFF ! NOT GOOD AND FOR SURE NOT SAFE !!!
Happy Skinning All and keep it safe on the Net!
SGT
Jafo
Reply #75 Monday, June 11, 2007 9:08 PM
Reply #75 Monday, June 11, 2007 9:08 PM
Jafo, i used Bit Defender 10, and it took a lot of my resources when i had it running full-bore, i'm on a decent machine, and it just seemed to lag it down when i kicked it up.
is your machine just that much better than mine, or is there some weird thing with my box?
Specs for PC are- Athlon 64 3400, 2gigs DDR400, 300GB 7200 16m, ECS board, Radeon x850xt PE.
is your machine just that much better than mine, or is there some weird thing with my box?
Specs for PC are- Athlon 64 3400, 2gigs DDR400, 300GB 7200 16m, ECS board, Radeon x850xt PE.
Eek...bit slow....
It's possible you have something else running that causes the issue. Bitdefender specifically dislikes a few spyware proggies...eg spybot.
BD10 now has a new pricing offer.... 2 years on two machines for much the same as it was one on one...
Disturbedcomputer
Reply #76 Sunday, August 19, 2007 1:41 AM
Reply #76 Sunday, August 19, 2007 1:41 AM
I use
avast! Anti-virus Professional 4.7
Ad-Aware SE Professional 1.06r1
Ad-Watch SE Professional
RegCure 1.5.0.5
XoftSpySE 4.33
ZoneAlarm Security Suite 7.0 (With Anti-virus but not Using)
Advanced Registry Optimizer 1.2.8
CleanUp! 4.5.2
MSConfig Cleanup 1.0
WinTasks Professional 5.0
avast! Anti-virus Professional 4.7
Ad-Aware SE Professional 1.06r1
Ad-Watch SE Professional
RegCure 1.5.0.5
XoftSpySE 4.33
ZoneAlarm Security Suite 7.0 (With Anti-virus but not Using)
Advanced Registry Optimizer 1.2.8
CleanUp! 4.5.2
MSConfig Cleanup 1.0
WinTasks Professional 5.0
bobbyhundreds
Reply #77 Sunday, August 19, 2007 10:18 AM
Reply #77 Sunday, August 19, 2007 10:18 AM
I have Virgin broadband and they provide a free anti virus/firewall/anti-spyware suite called PC Guard.It's excellent and uses a fraction of the resources that Norton uses.It also has other features such as identity theft protection,parental controls,pop-up stopper etc.
I have tried Trend PC Cillin too (this years version) but had to get a refund from Trend as it used a colossal ammount of memory and was virtually unusable on my machine.
I have tried Trend PC Cillin too (this years version) but had to get a refund from Trend as it used a colossal ammount of memory and was virtually unusable on my machine.
vStyler
Reply #78 Sunday, August 26, 2007 6:35 PM
Reply #78 Sunday, August 26, 2007 6:35 PM
Windows firewall, no AV, I watch where i surf and use common sense when opening files. Definate ram saver.
AnneMarie
Reply #79 Sunday, August 26, 2007 6:55 PM
Reply #79 Sunday, August 26, 2007 6:55 PM
for me
AntiVirus-NORTON!! *best OUT THERE!!*
Firewall-Zone alarm OR Windows Vista FireWall
I use Adaware, Spybot *Search and Destroy*, Spywareblaster, Win Optimizer, System Mechanic and Windows Defender...
ALL Great programs and with all this nothing ever gets through my system... IT all runs great and NO Issuses..
I have been using these for close to 5 years now and NO Issues
all work great
thats just me.. Ilike what I Like
Blessings
Anne
AntiVirus-NORTON!! *best OUT THERE!!*
Firewall-Zone alarm OR Windows Vista FireWall
I use Adaware, Spybot *Search and Destroy*, Spywareblaster, Win Optimizer, System Mechanic and Windows Defender...
ALL Great programs and with all this nothing ever gets through my system... IT all runs great and NO Issuses..
I have been using these for close to 5 years now and NO Issues
all work great thats just me.. Ilike what I Like
Blessings
Anne
jazzymjr
Reply #80 Sunday, August 26, 2007 7:27 PM
Reply #80 Sunday, August 26, 2007 7:27 PM
I use AVG Professional, Ad-Aware, and SpyBot Search and Destroy. I use the Windows firewall. My router also is a firewall. I used McAfee for years, but it kept missing stuff, and kept hogging more system resources. So, I switched to AVG about 3 years ago, and have been very pleased. Nothing has ever gotten thrugh. Plus, since I have the paid version, it does real-time scanning as well.
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Reply #61 Sunday, April 22, 2007 1:23 AM
personally , I consider kaspersky with highly security .