Anti-Virus Software

[MDM4AU 332]

Any suggestions on Anti-Virus Software? I have got to upgrade mine and I wanted to know which was the best for my money. I know there is probably one out there for a small mortgage, but I would like to keep it economical. That being said, I don't want to sacrifice security either.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

i recently bought the norton package. while i cannot attest to its veracity, i can say i've not been virated since i bought it!

ct

[Guest AuNuma1]

Before you go spending a lot of money on some bloated software that slows your system down, at least try this free AV package, AVG Antivirus. Just register for their free edition and they send you the serial number via email and that's it. Very easy to use and it has free updates, forever.

AVG Free Edition

[DKW 86 7,425]

I am using Nortons and can tell you that it is a little slow to update at times. Firewall is great tho. Most I know like Zone Alarm too.

Strictly AV? Norton's. I Know folks that like McAfee too. My experience with McAfee was not good tho.

[TitanTiger 20,485]

I think McAfee and Norton pretty much get the best ratings from the PC magazines for features, ease of use, and catching the most viruses.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Im using symantec anti virus corp edition...works great.

[TitanTiger 20,485]

If you're on a constant internet connection (DSL, Cable, etc.), the most important thing to have is a firewall. Preferably two...a hardware one (usually available through your broadband provider) and a software one. For Windows, ZoneAlarm is a really good one, and it's free. Norton and McAfee also have firewalls with their antivirus packages.

You can avoid most viruses simply by not opening attachments unless you know exactly what they are and were expecting them. And don't use P2P programs like Kazaa that not only puts a bunch of spyware on your computer, but when you download things that way, you're opening yourself up to virii and trojan horses. If you want to download music, purchase it from legit sources like Apple's iTunes Music Store, Walmart.com, Buy.com, or places like that.

[Ranger12 46]

My subscription to Norton (Symnatec) just expired and I did not renew. I had nothing but bad experiences with them. I had Norton 2003 AV and my computer got infected 3 times within a year, causing me to have to do a destructive recovery once. I also had problems getting the LiveUpdate to rund properly. Also, their customer service is the worst I have ever seen, honestly. It took them 2-3 weeks to respond to my e-mails and whenever I would try to call, I would get a message that all circuits were busy and to try again later. If I wanted to go around that, I would have to pay some fee to get an advance tech. After talking to some others, I found out that there were quite a few unhappy with Norton. I have switched to McAfee and so far I love the way it works. The network admin at my workplace hooked me up with the software for free. It also will catch spyware for you and any other files it thinks may be unwanted and ask you what you want to do with them.

Also, don't spend a ton of money. If you are like me and feel more comfortable getting the "known, reliable" software, you can find them on E-bay for dirt cheap. I was on there the other day and found alot of 2004 AV software (Norton, McAfee, PC-cillan, etc.) that was less then $20. They were all unopened, never registered, and non OEM software. Just like you would by at retail stores. All of them were "Buy It Now".

One more thing, you can go to C-Net.com and find all sorts of good free AV and anti-spyware software. Besides my McAfee, I back myself up by using Spybot and Ad-Aware to catch spyware.

As far as downloading music, TT is right about Kazaa, don't use it. I will be honest and tell you that I don't pay because I think those sites are a ripoff (see not topic I have created). There is a good site called Lime Wire which does not have all that junk attached to their files and you don't get bogus files when downloading.

[MDM4AU 332]

Thanks guys. After all this in-put I renewed wih McAfee again. I have had problems in the past with Symantec so I knew I didn't want to go with them. I do have the two firewalls (broadband provider and ZoneAlarm) as well as ad-aware 6.0.

I just wasn't sure if there was something better out there I should be using.

Thanks again!

[TrueTiger 0]

Before you go spending a lot of money on some bloated software that slows your system down, at least try this free AV package, AVG Antivirus. Just register for their free edition and they send you the serial number via email and that's it. Very easy to use and it has free updates, forever.

AVG Free Edition

Thats what I use.