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Antivirus experience vs. reviews

Discussion in 'Windows - Virus and spyware problems' started by matt72, Nov 22, 2005.

  1. matt72

    matt72 Regular member

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    Hi all,

    Since I'm the first to post in this new forum can someone give some good insight on antivirus software. Really interested as I read tons of reviews by "experts" in magazines but not quite satisfied as the ones they usually endorse have a big ad somewhere in the same mag :(. i for one am using norton but AD has taught me that it is a resource hog and since my occupation has me mobile I need something easy on the resources, light on the pockets (will pay if widely endorsed) and user friendly. All feedback is welcome :).


    P.S. Thanks AD now I know I will become even more addicted to AD.
     
  2. Lethal_B

    Lethal_B Moderator Staff Member

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    Hehe,

    If you ask about here, most would certainly agree that AVG is pretty much as good as it gets. When I first installed i found 7 trojans on my computer, whereas the NAV05 only found four. So that is for trojans that Norton would have left me with. AVG uses less resources than Norton, and most others for that matter, and the best thing about it is that it is free!! :)

    Definite reccomendation...

    Download can be found here.
    http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1
    I encourage all who read this to get it if you don't already. Even If you already have an anti-virus, as it would even be good as backup if....I mean when your current anti-v lets the viruses slip into your system! ;)

    Lethal
     
  3. Jamzbond

    Jamzbond Regular member

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    So far I have tried [bold]Mcafee, Norton's, AVG and Etrust Ez Antivirus[/bold] http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft Assuming that there is no perfect antivirus software then I can't score higher that a 9 out of 10. There are several parameters to judge by and I've only chosen a few simple ones which I've listed below. Performance refers to how well it detects viruses and removes them and this was the most important parameter for me. Some maybe good a detection but fall short on removal so that when you run the scan again you still detect some of the infected files again. AVG did that and Ez removed them. Norton's detected an infected file in my System32 folder but did not ID it and in addition could not quarantine or remove it. Ez antivirus detected it and identified it as a Rootkit file. I have given favorable points for cost effectiveness(bearing in mind that the costs are pretty close but free is advantageous) and effective resource usage and performance. I know that this is very subjective but you asked for personal experience, so here's my assessment.
    [​IMG]
    In the final analysis I use both Ez & AVG which work great together. I am hard pressed to tell you which single program is best. So far Ez Antivirus(which I have not seen mentioned previously on AD) has worked best for me as a single program, but I've only had it running for about 1 month before I added AVG. I only added the latter since it has been recommended so frequently here on AD, but [bold]Ez antivirus[/bold] still out performs it as I mentioned before. [bold]AVG[/bold] in my opinion is a very, very close second. Sorry for the delay in posting the table but I was having some difficulty doing it. Hope this helps.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2005
  4. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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  5. matt72

    matt72 Regular member

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    @ddp,

    I've seen that so much from you I copied n pasted it in case of memory lapse :). Ran each as stated and was surprised at the adware it found from browsing :(.

    @lethal_b,

    Thanx definitely appreciate the endorsement as I was leaning towards getting it

    @Jamzbond,

    Great analysis as I overlooked ez antivirus as their firewall didn't get good reviews. Firsthand experience is always the best teacher :). Does ez anti virus have right click and scan abilities?


    One software that I read several times will work in conjunction w/ any antivirus is panda true prevent...will google and post link for forum accessment.

    does avg have the option to download the updates if I am using a pc not connected to the net? would be great for the test pc I have.
     
  6. Jamzbond

    Jamzbond Regular member

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    @ Admin Staff
    Thanks for creating this forum. It's really going to be of great benefit to so many of us.

    @ Matt72
    Thanks for being the visionary. I focussed on antivirus programs since that was your question but here are my other security features. I have Zone Alarm Pro running all the time & I run the following daily in this order. All are free
    1st AdwareSE
    2nd Spybot search & destroy
    3rd a2 guard(the 2 is a superscript = squared)
    Yes Ez Antivirus does have a right click & scan feature. When you right click, you see etrust Ez Antivirus, just click on that. If you use any of the others that I've mentioned, when you right click it says scan with....
    I think that Ddp pretty much annihilates everything in his concise but precise post.
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2005
  7. Jamzbond

    Jamzbond Regular member

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    Last edited: Nov 24, 2005
  8. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    can get most but not all updates from avg site as have a priority & optional lists. usually priority list is downloaded.

    i run my scans in this order with avg after ad-aware & spybot because those 2 programs when running will kick a virus into gear for avg to heal/delete.
    ccleaner http://www.ccleaner.com/
    ad-aware se http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-...
    spybot s&d http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2471.html
    avg7 free edition http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
    do an online virus & spyware scan with this link
    http://housecall60.trendmicro.com/en/start_corp.asp
    scandisk & defrag about once a week

     
  9. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    I use Trends Micro PC-cillin, it updates VERY regularly, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. It has not let a virus in - yet-! I am perfectly happy with it - it doesn't seem to use up too much resources either. Mind you, I do have 1.5 gig of PC3200 memory, my available memory is in the 1.25 gig area.

    Marvellous!
     
  10. r2baruch

    r2baruch Member

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  11. Bird7

    Bird7 Regular member

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    OK i skipped everybodys advice and im going to give mine even if it was already given.
    The best Anti-Spyware by far is Microsofts Beta. Created by Giant Sofware. It is free from the microsft site.

    I have a F Secure AntiVirus from my internet provider. It is very good. It is also free. Ask you internet provider.
    A good free anti virus is also AVG Free.

    DO NOT GET NORTON INTERNET SECURITY. It will slow your computer down and block you from sites and access the web more than you would ever beleive.
     
  12. rav009

    rav009 Active member

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    use ad aware se personal
    microsoft anti spyware
    spybot search and destroy
    ccleaner
    cwshreader
    avg free
    mozzila firefox
    zone alarm firewall
    ewido

    all are free downloads.also e scan is handy
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2005
  13. rav009

    rav009 Active member

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  14. matt72

    matt72 Regular member

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    Hi all,

    Sorry was handling official duties offsite for awhile. My question is if I want to remove lets say mcafee or norton from my pcs how would I be able to delete them completely and not have a conflict with avg. Thanks in advance.
     
  15. Bird7

    Bird7 Regular member

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    add/remove then use CCleaner to scan for of their remaining .dll's that should do it.
     
  16. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    matt, do you know how to use regedit?
     
  17. matt72

    matt72 Regular member

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    I am vaguely familiar with it ddp. I use uninstaller 2006 and after it removes the program it goes into the registry and removes any remaining entries there. Not sure if that is along the same lines as physically going in to edit the registry.
     
  18. matt72

    matt72 Regular member

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    Sorry to bump this thread but I am looking for a program that removes mcafee. I have searched their site, googled and pulled my hair out since the last time I tried didn't get it all so had to repair/. re-install it. Just want to get rid of mcafee as I'm not a fan of it.
     

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