AVG and Mcafee

[NWO Sentryman]

Some time ago, i got a trojan which permadisabled by antivirus enterprise (not my firewall or my virusscanner. I got AVG to fill the crack, and the new edition 9.0 (30 day trial) is causing some problems (i.e. the startup jingle on my XP is delayed) And the scan on it stops after a certain number of files

What do i do?

[Piscivore]

I'm using Avast! and it worked where AVG failed.

I frickin' hate Mcafee. It is worse than the viruses.

[ShowMe]

I concur with Psi. I moved to Avast from AVG as a 'temporary' measure. It worked so well I've stayed with it.

AVG was great when I started, but it started to suffer from bloat. It was pounding my system too hard.

Avast just works.

[Gagglegnash]

Hi

Hmmm... did I leave the window open? There seems to have been a sudden gust of synchronicity. I was just doing some research on the subject of free anti-virus programs for a client!

ANYHOW!

There's a new kid in town that seems to be sweeping the comparisons:
Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 9.0.0.407 (http://download.cnet.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html)

I haven't done anything with it, yet, but it's next on the bench. You might enjoy giving it a quick look.

[JWideman]

I highly recommend Avast! though I also recommend turning off the sound played when it updates.
McAfee is pure [rule 10] and AVG is headed that way.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

I use Kaspersky and it's been great.

~~ Paul

[Soapy Sam]

Some time ago, i got a trojan which permadisabled by antivirus enterprise (not my firewall or my virusscanner. I got AVG to fill the crack, and the new edition 9.0 (30 day trial) is causing some problems (i.e. the startup jingle on my XP is delayed) And the scan on it stops after a certain number of files

What do i do?

Go to control panel and turn Windows sounds off.
Then delete all the extra files.

Seriously- when did you last reinstall Windows?

[bluesjnr]

Soapy,

I'm savvy but not THAT savvy. Why would anyone need to reinstall windows on a regular basis?

[Gagglegnash]

Hi

Soapy,

I'm savvy but not THAT savvy. Why would anyone need to reinstall windows on a regular basis?


Because FDISK is the. Best. Windows. Uninstall. Program. EVER!

[Epok]

I use Kaspersky and it's been great.

~~ Paul

My brother just got that and he says a lot of good things about it so I am thinking about going with it also.

[GreNME]

I don't know if Kaspersky for the consumer is the same as its enterprise version, but if it is be prepared for a very thorough security software. Don't let it get you frustrated if you have to click through a few things early on, because the software really does lock down your system pretty hard by default-- this is a good thing, following a safe security policy (of "off unless turned on" instead of "on until turned off") in terms of allowing access to your computer by both outside sources (h4x0rZ) and software on your system itself (disallowing many rogue processes).

I give Kaspersky an A+ overall, though it can be quite the overachiever.

[WildCat]

Spyware Doctor with Antivirus, best $30 I ever spent. And you can install it on up to 3 computers for that price. Way better than any free anti-spyware program I ever used.

[RayG]

Why would anyone need to reinstall windows on a regular basis?

I wondered that too. :eek:

The only reinstall of Windows on any of my four systems was on the newest one earlier this year, and that was only because HP recalled that model to fix a motherboard problem. They replaced the m/b and RAM, reinstalled Vista, and it's been running smoothly ever since.

Regarding anti-virus programs... I used to be a fan of AVG until the scans started taking enormous amounts of time (on my Pentium III, Dell Optiplex GX 110 anyway). I tried Avast, but didn't like the interface, so I switched to Avira Antivir.

The only downside is the annoying popup ad I get once a day urging me to buy the professional version.

When getting a new computer there are two programs I ensure are immediately removed -- Norton and McAfee. I've no use/patience for either.

RayG

[Ducky]

Regarding anti-virus programs... I used to be a fan of AVG until the scans started taking enormous amounts of time (on my Pentium III, Dell Optiplex GX 110 anyway).

....?

Yes my TI-86 graphing calculator has a hell of a time running Blender.

:rolleyes:

[screensnot]

I used AVG for a long time, and was happy with it, until they said they were no longer going to support their free version. They eventually rescinded that decision, and still have a free version, but I had already switched to ClamWin.

I was happy with ClamWin for about a year, until I got a virus. The virus was redirecting my Google searches to another (nefarious) search engine. Neither ClamWin, AVG, nor various anti-malware programs could fix it for me. I ended up re-installing Windows to cure the problem.

I decided to go with Avast on my fresh OS. All was good for a few months, until I got a virus again. Similar to the first virus, Google searches were being redirected, along with other problems (like it stopping Windows Update from working). I ended up re-installing Windows again.

This time I went with Microsoft's new anti-virus (http://www.microsoft.com/SECURITY_ESSENTIALS/) (free version), and so far, all is well.

[shandyjan]

snipped>

The only downside is the annoying popup ad I get once a day urging me to buy the professional version.

When getting a new computer there are two programs I ensure are immediately removed -- Norton and McAfee. I've no use/patience for either.

RayG

Heres a tip for you...

There is an annoying splash screen that appears when the program updates for the premium version of the product, but this is easily disabled. Instructions to follow:


http://www.community-feedback.com/index.php?autocom=ibwiki&cmd=article&id=25

[TheDaver]

I abandoned AVG earlier this year. I had to “repair” it almost every time I wanted to update the definitions. It also had a known bug that essentially disabled CF/SD card readers, that had gone unfixed for months. Probably still hasn’t been fixed.

[The Kilted Yaksman]

I just had to dump AVG. The 9.0 update for the Free version broke Firefox. It was taking anywhere between 5-30 clicks on any link or bookmark to actually get a response. Giving Avira a try now...

[TheDaver]

As I type this, my brother is busy trying to clear my sister’s machine of an ugly infection. She had been using AVG.

[Whiplash]

With regards to the question about why it's a good idea to reinstall your system from time to time.. this may not be as relevant today as it was years ago. But there was a time where Windows could get very bloated with lots of left over stuff that never got removed and made your system unstable. Especially if you are someone who is constantly trying new drivers and installing and un-installing large quantities of programs and stuff. Extra .DLL's that would be left behind and active. Conflicts with the older stuff that was still there. It could get ugly.

It doesn't seem to be as bad any more now, but I remember a time when XP was new, and my system would be all unstable and slow, and the only thing that really ever got it back to normal was a complete re-format and reinstall.

And if you are massively infected with a virus, it's often easier to just blank the drive and start over. At least if the time it will take is less than the time it takes to get the damn virus out. Sometimes this can be a right pain in the arse. The last time it happened to me, I had spent half a day trying to download and run different virus scanner/removers only to have the virus in question keep me from being able to run them at all. Or it would be slow and sluggish and doing god knows what over my internet connection.. can't open anything.. can't bring up the ctrl-alt-delete panel, or access the control panel.. Even when I was downloading virus scanners/removers to a different computer and bringing them to my own computer via CD or other means. Some of them are just plain nasty.

ETA: cue why Mac's are better than PC's discussion.

[SimonD]

My brother just got that and he says a lot of good things about it so I am thinking about going with it also.

Do it - you won't regret it. I've been using it for a while and it is by far the past AV software I have used in a while.

[Beanbag]

I'm trying the MS Security Essentials right now. After installing the latest version of AVG Free, FireFox windows would randomly lose focus while I was browsing, and I'd have to click inside the window to return focus. Pain in the butt to lose focus while typing a reply.

No observable problems at this point (I'm using the 32 bit XP version), except that it keeps wanting to download and install the latest version of Internet Exploder every time I boot. If I like it, I may install it on my other machines. This one's for the test drive.

Beanbag

[terry_leopard]

Another vote for Avast here.
I've been using it in combination with Comodo firewall for about a year now, they are both set on their highest security level and I haven't had a single problem.

I was using Norton for ages until I had a rather nasty experience involving a Trojan and my online bank account password.

[BigAl]

I've been using AVG (free) for a couple years on countless machines. It've been very good to me. It's always possible for some bug to get past any given AV product and the fix is to scan with the online version of another brand. Trend HouseCall is what I go to first.

I like Trend as a vendor and as a decent product but free is good for home use. All the others are, IMO, bloated advert-ware.

[Thunder]

I have been using AVG Free for more then a year now.


Not only did it remove that viruses I had on a corrupted version of Kaspersky, given to me by a sneaky co-worker, but I have been completely virus-free, since then.

AVG Free. it works. use it. you will smile.

[Eyeron]

I've never had any problems with AVG. With Avast it causes some of my mmorpgs to freeze up on me. And there have been times when I've had three anti-virus programs on my computer and still have gotten viruses and Trojans on my computer, even without using limewire.

[NWO Sentryman]

Well, AVG 9.0 seems to cause my n.exe problems. For example, 71 "problems" seem to come up at every scan. When i ask to heal them, it causes Firefox to foul up. When i restart, it asks for "n" to be shut down as it is not responding. When i restart, it's good as new.