Anti Virus Software. What's the best..?

Mrmars · 07-12-2006, 06:24 AM

I'm in the market for some new anti virus software. Looking for something simple and easy to use. Something that just has the basics without any unnecessary features and that won't hog system resources. I've used Norton System works for a couple years but found its a bit to busy (unnecessary features) and slows things down. I'm temporarily running the AVG Free anti virus but unsure if its sufficient enough. Interface and terminology is a bit confusing. Can anyone give me some suggestions..??

**koala** · 07-12-2006, 06:57 AM

AVG and Avast are both excellent free antivirus programs that are updated regularly, and use less system resources than Norton.

Mrmars · 07-12-2006, 07:38 AM

The AVG Free system scanner takes "forever" to complete.

I'd really appreciate some other suggestions. Any opinions on Zone Alarm? I already use their firewall.

crazijoe · 07-12-2006, 08:05 AM

AVG Free Is about the best simple AV software out there.

With the sizes of todays drives and all the data people are keeping on them, it's not uncommon to see a scan take a hour or two.
You might just let it scan at night while your asleep.

Mrmars · 07-12-2006, 08:46 AM

Will it really give you the protection that the big "pay for" software does? Not a real big deal but you have to put up with the message it adds to incoming and out going email messages.

In regards to the scanning. I do have it set to run at night. It has taken upwards of 8 hours sometimes to complete a scan whaich seems rediculous. It seems to be some conflict with Zone Alarm.

**koala** · 07-12-2006, 09:02 AM

Don't worry, the protection is just as good. You could also use some other antispyware programs like Ad-Aware, Spyware Blaster, a-squared, etc for extra security.

The email messages can be disabled in the Control Center. Right-click the Email Scanner box and click Properties. Then click the Configure button and disable 'Certify Mail'

What size is your hard drive? My 80gig drive takes about an hour to do a full scan.

I haven't noticed any problems using AVG and Zone Alarm Pro.

Mrmars · 07-12-2006, 09:11 AM

I'll try disabling the email certs. Hard drive is only 40gb. I've since found a thread in the ZA formums (see link below) that describes a fix for the problem.

http://forum.zonelabs.org/zonelabs/b...ssage.id=12989

Johnwalker911 · 07-12-2006, 01:12 PM

Thats strange, What version zone alarm are u using? I use 5.5 with avg free no problems. Scan take 20 mins. 74 gig raptor with 12 gigs of software and games.

Mrmars · 07-12-2006, 01:33 PM

I'll check when I get home. I know its the latest Zone Alarm "Pro" version. What ever that might be.

Mrmars · 07-12-2006, 03:41 PM

Its ZoneAlarm Pro version:6.5.722.000. I changed some settings from the advice I found in the ZA forum as previuously mentioned. We'll see if that works.

**PanamaGal** · 07-12-2006, 04:25 PM

Norman. Simple, quick, effective, and not a resource hog like McAfee and Norton.

mallard32 · 07-13-2006, 06:56 PM

ive heard good reviews on NOD32 ive never tried it though? anybody know about it?

ssspring · 07-15-2006, 05:12 AM

Hmm....zone alram firewall is good but the anti-virus seems useless, i hav been using it a while but infected by several trojan, virus w/o knowing it untill i scan my system with others antivirus.

Bit defender also a free antivirus and ok for me :)

dorts · 07-15-2006, 05:18 AM

Bit Defender Free does not have a Real-Time virus scan. Only on-demand. So it doesn't really protect you.

omneus · 07-18-2006, 10:00 AM

Kaspersky, BitDefender, and NOD32 are the best 'paid' programs. NOD32 is the lightest of the three, but is slightly harder to use then the others. AVG and Avast are weaker then these 'paid' programs in pretty much every aspect, but for casual usage, using one of these free programs is fine.

SpySentinel · 07-18-2006, 11:21 AM

I would go with either Kaspersky AntiVirus 6, NOD32, or Sophos AntiVirus

07-12-2006, 06:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mrmars Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 262 OS: XP Home SP2	Anti Virus Software. What's the best..? I'm in the market for some new anti virus software. Looking for something simple and easy to use. Something that just has the basics without any unnecessary features and that won't hog system resources. I've used Norton System works for a couple years but found its a bit to busy (unnecessary features) and slows things down. I'm temporarily running the AVG Free anti virus but unsure if its sufficient enough. Interface and terminology is a bit confusing. Can anyone give me some suggestions..?? __________________ MrMars

07-12-2006, 06:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,366 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	AVG and Avast are both excellent free antivirus programs that are updated regularly, and use less system resources than Norton. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

07-12-2006, 07:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
Mrmars Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 262 OS: XP Home SP2	The AVG Free system scanner takes "forever" to complete. I'd really appreciate some other suggestions. Any opinions on Zone Alarm? I already use their firewall. __________________ MrMars

07-12-2006, 08:05 AM	#4 (permalink)
crazijoe Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Omaha, The Center of the Universe Posts: 7,632 OS: WinXP, Win2K3 My System	AVG Free Is about the best simple AV software out there. With the sizes of todays drives and all the data people are keeping on them, it's not uncommon to see a scan take a hour or two. You might just let it scan at night while your asleep. __________________ Microsoft MCSA + Messaging, MVP, A+, Network+ http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...other/Help.jpg Do you want a real Republican? HDD diagnostic tools / HDD data recovery software

07-12-2006, 08:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
Mrmars Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 262 OS: XP Home SP2	Will it really give you the protection that the big "pay for" software does? Not a real big deal but you have to put up with the message it adds to incoming and out going email messages. In regards to the scanning. I do have it set to run at night. It has taken upwards of 8 hours sometimes to complete a scan whaich seems rediculous. It seems to be some conflict with Zone Alarm. __________________ MrMars

07-12-2006, 09:02 AM	#6 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,366 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Don't worry, the protection is just as good. You could also use some other antispyware programs like Ad-Aware, Spyware Blaster, a-squared, etc for extra security. The email messages can be disabled in the Control Center. Right-click the Email Scanner box and click Properties. Then click the Configure button and disable 'Certify Mail' What size is your hard drive? My 80gig drive takes about an hour to do a full scan. I haven't noticed any problems using AVG and Zone Alarm Pro. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

07-12-2006, 09:11 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mrmars Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 262 OS: XP Home SP2	I'll try disabling the email certs. Hard drive is only 40gb. I've since found a thread in the ZA formums (see link below) that describes a fix for the problem. http://forum.zonelabs.org/zonelabs/b...ssage.id=12989 __________________ MrMars

07-12-2006, 01:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
Johnwalker911 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 7 OS: 2000	Thats strange, What version zone alarm are u using? I use 5.5 with avg free no problems. Scan take 20 mins. 74 gig raptor with 12 gigs of software and games.

07-12-2006, 01:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
Mrmars Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 262 OS: XP Home SP2	I'll check when I get home. I know its the latest Zone Alarm "Pro" version. What ever that might be. __________________ MrMars

07-12-2006, 03:41 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mrmars Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 262 OS: XP Home SP2	Its ZoneAlarm Pro version:6.5.722.000. I changed some settings from the advice I found in the ZA forum as previuously mentioned. We'll see if that works. __________________ MrMars Last edited by Mrmars; 07-12-2006 at 03:45 PM.

07-12-2006, 04:25 PM	#11 (permalink)
PanamaGal Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Panama Posts: 1,240 OS: WinXP Pro SP2; Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista Ultimate; Vista Business	Norman. Simple, quick, effective, and not a resource hog like McAfee and Norton. __________________ It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

07-13-2006, 06:56 PM	#12 (permalink)
mallard32 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 116 OS: Windows Vista My System	ive heard good reviews on NOD32 ive never tried it though? anybody know about it?

07-15-2006, 05:12 AM	#13 (permalink)
ssspring Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 21 OS: XP	Hmm....zone alram firewall is good but the anti-virus seems useless, i hav been using it a while but infected by several trojan, virus w/o knowing it untill i scan my system with others antivirus. Bit defender also a free antivirus and ok for me :)

07-15-2006, 05:18 AM	#14 (permalink)
dorts Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,599 OS: Windows XP SP2 My System	Bit Defender Free does not have a Real-Time virus scan. Only on-demand. So it doesn't really protect you. __________________ If you think TSF have helped you, please kindly donate to TSF and help keep this site free to all.

07-18-2006, 10:00 AM	#15 (permalink)
omneus Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 9 OS: xp	Kaspersky, BitDefender, and NOD32 are the best 'paid' programs. NOD32 is the lightest of the three, but is slightly harder to use then the others. AVG and Avast are weaker then these 'paid' programs in pretty much every aspect, but for casual usage, using one of these free programs is fine.

07-18-2006, 11:21 AM	#16 (permalink)
SpySentinel Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: The United States Posts: 378 OS: Windows XP SP2	Reply I would go with either Kaspersky AntiVirus 6, NOD32, or Sophos AntiVirus