Computer Hope

I'll bet 80% of people wont read this entire Post...

Quote from: patio on January 31, 2013, 03:02:53 PM
I'll bet 80% of people wont read this entire Post...

Maybe 99% or more. Post edited by Allan

basically because i do a lot of torrent downloads from certain websites anti-viruses can be a pain so i use (Advanced System Care 6 which does everything you need as an anti-virus it also has a wide amount of tools in the tool box area this is a great peace of kit for anyone. it is also free

The paid version of the software does have more features but i feel most are unnecessary and the free version is enough

here is a link direct to CNET
http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare/3000-2086_4-10407614.html?tag=contentBody;pop

I am using AVG antivirus now. It is okay but I do not think it is the best. It makes a lot of false detections, and hard to disable during games. On the whole it is good. I used to use 360 computer guard, it is esay to diaable in games and less false detections. It is packed with pc tuneup too but the tuneup isnt good...

I'm commenting on my recent impression of Norton Internet Security (NIS).  I bought an HP laptop on 2/21/13 and it came with NIS.  This is my first significant exposure to Norton in many years.  Way back in 2002, I had Norton Antivirus 2002 and continued using it for several years by subscribing to annual renewals.  I renewed at least 2 times, which means I used it for about 3 years (the first year under the original installation followed by 2 additional years); it may have even been 3 renewals for a total of about 4 years.  Anyway, it reached the point where I could not renew again because they no longer supported the 2002 version.  I was satisfied with Norton Antivirus 2002; I never felt that it was using too much system resources when running in my computer.   But, when I could no longer use it, I shunned Norton because their later versions were getting a good bit of criticism for being bloated and having too much impact on computer performance. 

Fast forward to Feb 2013 when I bought the HP laptop.  Like many new computers, it came with a trial version of NIS.  I'm using it and it runs quite well on this computer.  I simply not seen any evidence of it causing heavy use of CPU resources, and I have done some viewing of Task Manager to check on this.  I have noticed that NIS will occasionally display a small panel in the lower right corner of the screen saying it is/will perform certain maintenance tasks during times when the computer is idle (meaning I'm not doing anything with it).  NIS even displays the CPU Usage in it's panel.  I haven't decided whether I'll pay the fee when the trial version expires and get a full year's subscription.  I'm using avast! Free Antivirus on my Windows 7 desktop system and am pleased with it and may use it on the new laptop with Windows 8.  But, if I decide to go with a paid product, it will probably be NIS.

Free AV: My last exposures to Avast, AVG, and Avira have all been negative.  I've had very few problems with MSE and that's what I tend to recommend as it's fairly unobtrusive.
paid AV: We use Mcafee Enterprise at work, albeit an older version, which I don't like at all, the management interface isn't great either so I hope to change that soon.  I haven't been impressed with Mcafee's end user solutions either.  I've been a fan of NOD32 for a while, pretty lightweight with good customization options and a great interface.  I've never liked Kaspersky much.
I agree with you, soybean, newer versions of Norton aren't too shabby, certainly at least 5005.6% (scientifically calculated) better than the older versions.

I personally just use MSE and Windows Firewall (Or Windows Defender on Windows 8 ) and nothing else.  I personally feel that the whole belief that you need to practically wrap your computer in bubblewrap to prevent it getting any viruses is nonsense.  As long as you are sensible you should never have any problems.  And as for software that supposedly optimises/cleans your PC/registry - I've never touched any of them or even manually tried to clean up my PCs, and they still run perfectly!

Common sense is the best antivirus!

Quote from: camerongray on July 01, 2013, 07:43:35 AM


Common sense is the best antivirus!

Well, common sense and a good anti virus app . If you choose not to run an av on your system that's perfectly fine - it is, after all, YOUR system. But to recommend that others do the same is, at best, inappropriate. Also, Windows Defender is a complete and total waste of Windows Resources. Last, MSE (with its ONCE A DAY definitions update) stopped only 67% of zero day threats in recent tests. Other av's update as often as once an HOUR.

Quote from: Allan on July 01, 2013, 07:54:52 AM
Well, common sense and a good anti virus app . If you choose not to run an av on your system that's perfectly fine - it is, after all, YOUR system. But to recommend that others do the same is, at best, inappropriate. Also, Windows Defender is a complete and total waste of Windows Resources. Last, MSE (with its ONCE A DAY definitions update) stopped only 67% of zero day threats in recent tests. Other av's update as often as once an HOUR.

Yeah, I'd always recommend people run antivirus, even I do just to be safe.  When I say "Windows Defender" I'm referring to Windows Defender under Windows 8 which is basically MSE, unlike Defender on Windows 7 which I agree is pretty useless!  Just realised that the forum converted where I said "Windows 8" folllowed by a bracket into "Windows "

The daily updates don't bother me that much, To be honest, I'd rather that than spend resources downloading virus definitions.

There's nothing I do that could really allow a virus to get on my machine, I actually can't think of anywhere that I could get a virus from, especially since I almost have a phobia of using other people's flash drives/other storage media and I don't pirate any software or download dodgy utilities.

Quote from: camerongray on July 01, 2013, 07:43:35 AM
I personally just use MSE and Windows Firewall (Or Windows Defender on Windows 8 ) and nothing else.  I personally feel that the whole belief that you need to practically wrap your computer in bubblewrap to prevent it getting any viruses is nonsense.  As long as you are sensible you should never have any problems.  And as for software that supposedly optimises/cleans your PC/registry - I've never touched any of them or even manually tried to clean up my PCs, and they still run perfectly!

Common sense is the best antivirus!

I agree, most of my customers who have a virus are the ones who fall prey to all the scams and install malicious software.  They generally have a ton of crap running at startup and have
at least one worthless toolbar in internet explorer  Or people who use P2P and download an exe file they think is a movie or music.
When trying to decide which anti virus software is better, it's a good idea to do your research on independent websites. Some sites are likely to base their decisions on how much money a company gives them.  Norton and McAfee appear to be juggernauts in this area.  Their advertising may be the best, but not their software.
Personally I recommend Kaspersky as it's light weight and has been scoring great in tests for quite some time now.  It will often catch things other anti-virus software didn't.
For me I generally just use the free version of malwarebytes and just do scans every so often.  I have enough common sense to know what not to install and click on.  Before I install something I download I usually just check the file at virustotal.com which scans the file using several different virus scanners.
So yea, common sense has worked great for me so far.

kaspersky is best 

Personally, I really like Norton AV coupled with superantispyware. Norton typically takes care of tracking cookies and other cache stuff, while also finding any (though I rarely have any) Trojans or other baddies. Superantispyware is free and focuses on potentially unwanted programs, malware, adware, and spyware. Again since I rarely get bad viruses, it is used as a cookie cleaner.

HuH ? ?

OMG..........I'm looking for a free anti-virus & despite all I've read here, I'm left confused. I guess I'll try MSE again, & maybe AVG..?? Try one & then another ? I had M.B. , but free trial is running out.

I have used available free versions of AVG. But I like to use Escan. I have used it since years and have no complaint with it.