WTB Anti Virus

Greg Bockelman

Greg Bockelman

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Greg Bockelman
I have just been reminded why I don't like Norton AV. I have a new computer that I need to put Anti Virus on. I have been using Trend Micro, that I have been happy with, but what are the recommendations from the Brain Trust here?
 
AVG free has done well for me. I have it on all my computers and have never had a virus problem. (yet, knocking on own head)
 
There are a couple of good free ones out there. I've used AVG and I think Rich was recommending [thread=32823]Comodo[/thread] recently. There was another [thread=29491]thread[/thread] about this a few months back, too. I'll say that you need to turn off logging with Comodo, or it really slows things down, at least the version I put on my step-father's laptop.
 
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Microsoft has one for free now. And it doesn't hog up resources like AVG, and every other one I've tried does.
 
I'm still using the free version of Comodo and have started deploying it on clients' computers. Overall, I'm very happy with it. The only caveats I have are:

1. It sometimes seems to get stuck in sort of an update loop after downloading certain updates. A reboot fixes the problem. It's only happened two or three times in the last four or five months or so that I've been testing it, however.

2. The heuristics, even at the lowest setting, are very sensitive. There are more false positives than with any other product I've used. But even at that, we're talking maybe half a dozen total since I've been testing it. I suggest not being too quick to delete anything found by the heuristic scanning.

3. The program asks for user approval any time unrecognized code is executed, which has already caused some of my tech-challenged clients to block some of their important, but obscure applications. It's easily fixed, however, by finding and deleting the rule.

4. I haven't noticed the logging problem that Grant mentioned, but this is a pretty powerful machine. I've installed it on quite a few clients' computers, however, and it slows them down less than AVG or AVAST, and waaaaaaay less than Norton.

5. I sometimes don't install the firewall on networked computers that are behind good hardware firewalls, just to reduce the warnings and the chance of users locking themselves out of something. I haven't noticed any subjective difference in performance.

All in all, Comodo's my favorite right now, and would be even if I had to pay for it. I think it's a better product than any of the paid anti-malware products I've used in the last several years. But it's not a good choice for the profoundly tech-challenged because it does occasionally ask questions that require a degree of understanding beyond the "Where's the Start Button?" level.

-Rich
 
My only gripe with Comodo is all of the popup warnings expecting user intervention--I hate those, and I don't think most users have the knowledge to properly evaluate and react to them. And they happened a LOT. And the link in the popup dialog to "more info about how I should handle this" never had any advice.

AVG is good. Ed also mentioned Microsoft's new suite, which is also good, and free, and does more than just antivirus (malware and spyware detection/suppression/removal).

Link to AVG's product

Link to Microsoft's product
 
Avast used to be King, and I still use it...but it did let a virus in.
It found it and notified me; but after the fact. No apparent harm but if I was paying I would like it to be more proactive.
 
AVG really sucked resources. I ended up pulling it off my machines because it slowed 'em down so badly (one slowed to the point of losing keystrokes). I'm now using ESET/NOD32's antivirus/antispyware package on all my machines.

Very good IMHO. Recommended.
 
I use aVG which used to be very good at NOT sucking resources like Norton did but then they upgraded it and .......
wsuffa said:
AVG really sucked resources. I ended up pulling it off my machines because it slowed 'em down so badly (one slowed to the point of losing keystrokes). I'm now using ESET/NOD32's antivirus/antispyware package on all my machines.

Very good IMHO. Recommended.
Click to expand...
I still use AVG but will look into this.

On my other computer I have a Mac so I don't need a virus checker.
 
After a recent bout with a particularly nasty virus, I opted for ESET http://www.eset.com/

Seems to have a pretty low impact, haven't noticed any degradation on system speeds, not too expensive, they have a 30 day trial which I used. The paid for version loaded with only one glitch - turns out my error - and when I called Tech Support, a real person answered the phone and fixed the problem!!

Gary
 
This question is a frequent source of discussion among my local colleagues in the business, and we've noticed a certain pattern.

An up-and-coming virus scanner impresses the profession with good detection rates, low resource use, stability, and frequent updates. It starts to catch on first among professionals, who then start recommending it to clients. Then it starts catching on among the general public. Word of mouth probably accounts for some of this, as employees of business clients mention to their friends that "the guy who comes to the office to take care of the computers" recommended this or that product.

Everything is all well and good for a while, but as the chosen product gets more popular among the general public, it also gets more bloated and resource-hungry. This was why I stopped using Norton many years ago, and then McAfee a few years later, and then Trend a few years ago, and then AVG most recently. The feature bloat just started slowing down my clients' machines too much.

A lot of the integrated "features" seem to be there for marketing purposes, and seldom work very well. I haven't come across an integrated spam filter that works to my satisfaction, for example. But they do allow consumers who are just savvy enough to be duped to run down a checklist on an ad and observe that Product "A" includes all these extra features that Product "B" doesn't.

What they don't realize is that all those extra "features" may cause product "A" to consume more resources than the OS itself. It's interesting that typically, most of these integrated "features" are absent on the same vendors' network and professional versions.

-Rich
 
TangoWhiskey said:
The ultimate solution is "I don't have a computer, so I don't need a virus checker."

Smart phones are getting close.
Click to expand...
sorry, Troy, but smart phones ARE computers. I seem to recall that there's even at least one virus for them.
 
Greg, I use Trend Micro's product. I have this on my home computers as well as my 200 company computers & servers.

We were using Webroot's Spysweeper but it had some issues in the corporate world that I got tired of dealing with plus it grew into a resource hog.

I looked and tested most of the ones out there (except for Comodo, never heard of it). AVG looked good but it lacked one important feature in the free version (as do all the free ones that I have seen) and that is RootKit protection. Wiki Description

If you want a free one AVG looks good and I've always heard positive comments about it. Going without Rootkit protection is something I won't do.
 
Don't buy any.

I've been using Trend Micro for years, and been very satisfied with it, but recently switched to the excellent free Microsoft Security Essentials.

Lifehacker (which is a great tech blog) rates it as one of the best-performing free or fee solutions. In their review, they suggest there is no longer any reason to pay for anti-virus services. I agree and have put it on all of our machines.

Obviously, being a Microsoft product, it requires a licensed version of Windows.
 
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