What Virus Protection Is Best ?

[Storm282]

Hi Everyone ...

I'm considering trying a different virus protection software on a build in progress. Presently,(on this computer), I use Symantec's Norton System Works 2001. But, awhile back I read a magazine article about a virus software called PANDA ,(or something like that). I haven't really researched it yet. Just thought I would get some of your opinions first.
Do any of you use this? If so ... do you like it? Easy to use ?, etc ..

Thanks
Storm

[bassman]

Hello Storm,
AVG (http://www.grisoft.com) is a pretty popular one around here. I don't know anything about PANDA, but it seems I have seen it mentioned.
From a person who works on computers, I see that you already possess the most powerful virus out there.
Although not malicious by intent(??), Systemworks behaves just like a virus. I won't get into my rant again, but I recommend you do not put it on your new build.

Hang on for more opinions on PANDA or search Google (http://www.google.com) for some info.

Good luck http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

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A real Christian is one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.
Frank's Place (http://dreamwater.net/tech/frankscomp/)

[Storm282]

Thanks Bassman ...

You just made me pretty nervous with your statements about Symantec. I'm considering removing it from this machine. It might be too late. It seems to have taken over everything. I think it's trying to invade my stereo system that's not too far from the computer. (Just kidding).
I'd better get busy and do some better research on this. Let me know if you find out anything more about PANDA. The article was bragging it up pretty good. But, I guess that's how they SELL things isn't it.

Thanks again ..
Storm

[Storm282]

Bassman ..

Located PANDA's website at www.pandasecurity.com (http://www.pandasecurity.com) , if you're interested. I don't know what to think of this stuff. Every antivirus software mfg claims to have the latest and greatest. It's very confusing to me.

By the way ... I don't want you to get the wrong impression of me. I'm not a PRO like some of you guys. I'm a tinkerer. And that is ONLY when I can find the time. Between work and the dreaded HONEY DO LIST ,(which I might add seems never-ending and has new items added to it on a daily basis), the new build in my basement workshop will no doubt be there for serveral weeks before it ever sees it's first POST.

Thanks for the info on AVG. I'll check it out.

Storm

[iisbob]

AVG seems to be a pretty decent program for a freebie; however i use Norton's ( at home and in the businesses that i support/work for ) { not the system works crap } and i recommend staying away from Mcafees'.

Don't have any experiance with Panda, but it is given good reviews.

No matter which choice you go with, make sure that you do use at least one anti-viral product. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif



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iisbob

The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns something that will always be useful and which never will grow dim or doubtful. -- Mark Twain.

[mjc]

I had McAfee, when the year ran out, I switched...I was not going to pay for it, so I went with AVG, their free version is pretty good, and they have a Pro version (pay)...they are basically the same thing, except the Pro is more configurable, can set up customized testing and has a few other features...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Paul Komski]

If any of the biggish and well known antiviruses are used I doubt if there are significant differences (for most ordinary users) in their effectiveness.

It is much more important to realise that these utilities should:-
(1) Be configured to suit your own special needs.
(2) Be updated regularly or automatically.
(3) Generally be turned off when installing other software.

They should not be just installed, left to their default settings and never referred-to again.

I personally like AVG (especially because it is free) but keep NAV as a "backup"; I don't like having NAV running in the background and I don't like it with its composite firewall NIS. It is also worth knowing about (and have bookmarked) Housecall, which is a free direct web access antivirus, for "emergencies"; and for referring those (who don't have an antivirus installed) to, when they wonder if they have been infected. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif





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Take nice care of yourselves - Paul
"For a Pandora's box upgrade to IE6 (IEsicks that is)"

[kfh]

Hi Storm282,
I got sucked in a couple of months ago, Thinking the most expensive was the best.
But I was advised my most here to use more than one, So I went with AVG as well. As mentioned in the thread it found virii that others did'nt, and it's free.
kfh.


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Sequitur Patrem Non Passibus Aequis

[Storm282]

iisbob ..
I know what you mean with having some kind of anti-virus software. A lady who lives not far from me recently ended up with a virus labled: Win32/Magistr.B. It rendered her HD unbootable. The FIRST problem is that she is one of those who beleives that a good,(up-to-date) anti-virus software is an OPTION instead of a NECESSITY. Fortunately for her , our local computer wiz,(who just happens to be my brother), located,isolated,disinfected and had her going again pretty quickly. (I hate it when he does that ... I get so jealous).

mjc ..
With your free version of AVG ... do they let you download all the latest and updated virus definitions ?

Thanks for the responses ..

Storm

[mjc]

Avg free is fully supported...that means at least weekly updates...sometimes I have seen several in a week. It uses the same definition files as the pay for version.


My ISP is pretty good at blocking most of the common destructive worms (one of the advantages of a small local ISP, the owners are customers too...so they tend to keep up on that kind of stuff).

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Storm282]

mjc

Does the VGA free version update automatically , like PAUL mentions above ?

Storm

[mjc]

You can set AVG up to update on a schedule, manually run the updater or go to the site and download the latest version (which of course would include the latest updates).

I usually use the "Update Now" button, leave the auto-updater off (I update at least every 10 days, usually every Monday....), and at least once every quater go grab the latest full install (that way if I need to reinstall I have a version that isn't too out of date on hand).

One of the other things I noticed about AVG is that it uses lees resources when running in the background. It isn't trying to scan everything all the time but it does monitor for changes and have a "hook" to monitor Outlook Express, but the background function needs to be enabled to scan/monitor OE...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[ranchdog]

Hi Storm...

AVG has a schedule that a person can set. I set mine for
Sat. mornings at 7 A.M. (needs to have an internet connect)
and the system will check with the website for the latest.

Or a person can check for an update manually at any time after
installation.

AVG can perform a memory and boot record test. Also, IDE media
device testing. Does an excellent job with e-mail.


Luck.






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....How long is a minute... depends on which side of the Bathroom door you're on. ......
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[Storm282]

Thanks guys ..
I have to backup and responed to a couple of comments ...

kfh
When you said,"Thinking the most expensive was the best" , made me squirm a little. I would love to tell you that I have NEVER fallen for this. But , unfortunately I would be lying. I'm one of those that has to learn the hard way. I learn how to recover crashed computers by CRASHING THEM MYSELF !

Paul
You lost me when you said something about not liking "NAV's composite firewall NIS ???

Storm

[Paul Komski]

NIS = Norton Internet Security (Norton's Firewall). This is bundled with/integrated with NAV. I just prefer to use standalone apps; so if I want a firewall I use Zone Alarm.

I also, personally, don't like the way NAV configures and deals with Email protection. It, in effect, intercepts the mail on its own "proxy pop3 server" for the want of a better name. Since I use multiple pop3 mail accounts and have others configured for addresses on a personal domain it all gets too complicated with NAV renaming them etc etc. It would be fine if I just had one or two ordinary mail accounts I am sure.

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Take nice care of yourselves - Paul
"For a Pandora's box upgrade to IE6 (IEsicks that is)"

[Storm282]

Paul
Thanks. I understand now. Guess I need to work on abbreviations...
How about this AVG that everyone's talking about. Does it have some integrated,(out of control), firewall ?

Storm

[iisbob]

let's be clear about this; Norton's stand alone AV does not have a built in firewall program-that's in system works.

It does an excellant job on email protection-and it doesn't rename your accounts-it just intercepts them in a catchall proxy acount ( ie; nortonav@proxy.com )-doesn't matter what your actual account is, it is scanned as a " temp norton account " then passed on to you. Any av that scans email ( including AVG ) works in a similar manner.

You don't have to manually configure anything, it's part of the scripting in NAV to run this for you behind the scenes.



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iisbob

Computer-Show me the Enterprise; no bloody A, no bloody B, and no bloody C-just the original...Mr Scott { from a STNG episode }

[Storm282]

Ok ...

Thanks to this forum and all who responded ,(plus some research on the side), I learned alot about anti-vurus programs today. Hope I didn't bore or aggravate anyone with some stupid questions.

See you all in a future post ,(If I can think of something intelligent to say).

Storm

[Paul Komski]

We are clear that a stand alone is a stand alone. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif AVG has no firewall capabilities or come in any composite packages.

I agree that NAV does an excellent job on email protection; but it (NAV 2001 anyways) DOES rename the POP3 server names in the OE email account settings if NAV is running with email protection enabled (or was run at startup and wasn't totally disabled). That, in itself, is not bad; but it can be CONFUSING; problems can also arise if you then want to export/import email iaf files. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif


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Take nice care of yourselves - Paul
"For a Pandora's box upgrade to IE6 (IEsicks that is)"

[This message has been edited by Paul Komski (edited 04-15-2002).]

[Gallaeglagh]

Common sense is the best virus protection. I haven't had a program installed for the most part of 2 years and don't feel the need for it. I don't download programs that aren't from reputable sites and I'm wary of email attachments - if I miss out on some lil' joke attachment so be it but for the most part I just open attachments from people I expect them from and can see the full file extension.

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The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents.
Nathaniel Borenstein

[Eutychus]

As mentioned by Gallaeglagh, common sense has been my best protection. Email attachments never posed a threat to me. For one thing, I have always changed the Windows default to show the entire file name; something like Fred.txt.exe would appear as Fred.txt with the default setting.

Even though I wouldn't be without virus protection, it is ironic that it was Symantec and McAfee that caused my two biggest PC problems, not viruses.

I started using McAfee several years ago when a Norton's program corrupted my Windows registry and eventually required me to reinstall Windows and all other software. Symantec admitted that their software caused problem but basically said, "Sorry. Them's the breaks."

Up to date virus protection didn't help when Code Red struck from a web page when I visited a previously "trusted" web site. And the one time my system was totally disabled it was the virus protection that actually caused the damage. I had installed a weekly update but did not have to reboot, which is normal on NT. It was a couple of days later that I finally rebooted and when I did the PC reported that it found NO operating system. In the end I had to reformat the hard drive and re-install the OS, loosing everything. There was little publicity because it only affected NT 4 PCs running a certain version of VirusScan. I did not even consider McAfee as the culprit until I started to update the virus protection on another PC and saw that they had gone back to the previous week's update file. I started checking around and found that any NT 4 running that version of McAfee was wiped out if they installed the same update that got me.

I still have McAfee on my PCs just to have some reasonable virus protection but now I wait a day or two before downloading the weekly update. To be honest, having up to date protection has alerted me to viruses on several occasions when I was unsure about certain files.

Note: Even after the 1st year you can continue to go to the McAfee site and get updates. Their control panel makes it appear that you can get updates for only 1 year, but that is just for the auto-updates. I bought my last copy of VirusScan in Dec. 1999 and still get free weekly updates.

[mjc]

Yes, I know that DAT files are updated for "life of the engine", but the last one I tried was saying I needed to update the scan engine and that would require a fee....I probably could have just gotten the DAT, but I was itching to try out AVG since I had seen and heard many good things about it, so I scrapped McAfee (after running both for a couple of weeks) and have been very happy with AVG.

Another plus in my book is that AVG uses less system resources to do the same tasks than McAfee did...I am in fact considering the pay version of AVG, I like it that much.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Flick]

Ok, I maybe stepping in the wrong place here but I just wanted to give my limited knowledge on the subject. I have an HP 9795c with ME. It came with McAfee Antivirus. It worked ok. However, I was concerned with the limited ability of Windows to do a proper scan disk and defrag. ME would do all that, but it took hours and hours to accomplish. Sure, I set it to work overnight while I was sleeping, but too often I'd awake and find my computer frozen because "Scan disk had to restart 10 times due to..." (programs that run in the background) or defrag would freeze up. I decided to try Norton SystemWorks 2001 and it has worked great. Since SystemWorks has its own antivirus, I had to get rid of McAfee. I have SystemWorks set to scan my hard disks once a week, defrag the disks every 3 days, clean out temp files and other junk every day and check all files for virus problems every day. I also set it for the automatic "live update" feature to keep current on new virus definitions and as well as software upgrades. I even added Norton Ghost 2002 to the package last month and it works great too. Now, I am not an expert. Perhaps I am missing something. I just wanted to point out that Norton SystemWorks has worked almost perfectly for me. I have only found 2 minor problems. When I upgraded from 128MB to 512MB of RDRAM and ran the memory diagnostic SystemWorks kept reporting a memory error! Turned out that the diagnostic program can't handle any RAM beyond 256MB. It drove me nuts for about three weeks until I figured out the problem. The other thing I've noticed about Norton, is that when I go to the "security" website and request a scan of my computer to insure that everything is working right and up to date, the scan always shows that my antivirus software is not current. It acknowledges that all the virus definitions are up to date. In other words, they want me to buy Norton Antivirus 2002. I think it is just a cheap and crass commercial "scare" tactic used to boost sales but I could be wrong.

P.S. Thanks bassman and mjc.

[Nooyawkah]

Can someone please explain how Norton System Works "takes over" your computer. I recall Norton Utilities conflicting with AOL version 3 (I had to take out Norton), but that was quite some time ago. Someone made me a copy of their disk and it works fine with AOL 7 and WIN XP.
Re Norton:
1. What the heck IS a protected recycle bin and what do I do with the protected files?
2. How do I know what to remove with Clean Sweep?
3. Are the Utilities any better than the standard Windows applications?

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They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
---Edgar Allan Poe