[DustFalcon85]

Don't have a favorite at the moment. But I'm using Norton Internet Security for my Desktop & MSE for my laptop. So which Anti-Virus software company is the best or worst? Symantec, McAfee, Sophos, Webroot, AVG, Avast! or what?

[Inspector Lagomorf]

Avast. Failing that, MSE.

[Kathy]

Restricted non-root account.

[Lunick]

To be honest, I use Trend just because I get it free anyway. On Windows 8 I just use the inbuilt security stuff.

[Hank]

Bitdefender maybe.
Or being off-line - NSA proved to the world, anyone can be hacked into.

[TerminX]

MSE.

[High Treason]

I use Avast! but it is becoming a resource hog as time goes on.

I also run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware every couple of weeks.

[Jimmy]

I just use MSE coupled with good browsing habits and AdBlockPlus. I use Malware Bytes and Hijack This! if I have a particularly nasty problem.

[Radar]

Has anyone ever tried not running any virus scan at all?

[Mark]

That would be me. Over the years I've relied on the scan that Microsoft runs when you install security updates, Spybot, Adaware, and ZoneAlarm. Never any dedicated virus protection programs. I guess I've been lucky.

[Radar]

I have absolutely no virus scan on my computer. Even Windows Firewall is disabled because I hate the messages that pop up.

With the amount of memory virus scans consume, I'd rather take my chances with the viruses.

[Fox]

Hey Ms. Radar, check my new photos!!

http://5z8.info/hot-...-dangerous-game

[Forge]

if you don't download questionable software from questionable internet locations, then you should be fine, but i'd recommend running at least a decent firewall like comodo to protect from malicious web pages (you can put it in "game mode" to avoid the annoying pop-ups when you run programs if you're confident there's nothing nasty running in the background.

[Radar]

Fox, on 02 August 2013 - 09:34 PM, said:

Hey Ms. Radar, check my new photos!!

http://5z8.info/hot-...-dangerous-game

Yeah, I definitely avoid links that look like that. Mods, ban this man for spreading malicious links.

[Bloodshot]

The last time I used an active anti-virus was around the time I had a single core processor.

Now I don't have any, though I run programs like malware-bytes anti-malware from time to time, and some other programs.

If I'm doing something and I need to go to a suspicious site for some reason, I have a VM of Windows XP just in case.

[Radar]

The only thing I'm worried about is downloading torrents. Which is why I have a separate laptop dedicated to only that. That laptop takes 5 minutes to open a Web page now. Man, torrents really do destroy your computer.

[Kathy]

Ms. Radar, on 02 August 2013 - 09:30 PM, said:

Even Windows Firewall is disabled because I hate the messages that pop up.

Did you try to, you know, configure it?

Quote

With the amount of memory virus scans consume, I'd rather take my chances with the viruses.

Again, configuring it properly will make most of the problems go away. Many anti-virus software includes various bloatware shit that could be disabled right away.

Ms. Radar, on 02 August 2013 - 11:06 PM, said:

The only thing I'm worried about is downloading torrents. Which is why I have a separate laptop dedicated to only that. That laptop takes 5 minutes to open a Web page now. Man, torrents really do destroy your computer.

lolwut?

[Hank]

Ms. Radar, on 02 August 2013 - 11:06 PM, said:

That laptop takes 5 minutes to open a Web page now. Man, torrents really do destroy your computer.

Torrent don't destroy computers, people that don't maintain theirs usually do. At least get a free Optimizer
Torrents are peer to peer watched, I trust a torrents over 'save' Web Sites with all their third party advertisement.

[Kathy]

Hank, on 03 August 2013 - 06:35 AM, said:

At least get a free Optimizer

What would he need that for?

[Hank]

Kathy, on 03 August 2013 - 06:39 AM, said:

What would he need that for?

We are getting of topic - yet my nose tells me it's time to clean and defrac the comp. Most anti-virus softwares do that in the back ground; CCleaner does that on command with options to delete various dump files and caches, when those files become too large, say Internet Cache get's to the max, the browser becomes slow. You can delete the file individually or use a little software to clean everything.

[DustFalcon85]

Waiting for Viper The Rapper to give his opinion.

[Radar]

Kathy, on 02 August 2013 - 11:57 PM, said:

Did you try to, you know, configure it?


Again, configuring it properly will make most of the problems go away. Many anti-virus software includes various bloatware shit that could be disabled right away.


lolwut?

Of course I configured them.

I configured them to be completely off.

[Kathy]

Hank, on 03 August 2013 - 07:04 AM, said:

We are getting of topic - yet my nose tells me it's time to clean and defrac the comp. Most anti-virus softwares do that in the back ground;

Antivirus software defragment drives now? That's news to me.

Quote

CCleaner does that on command with options to delete various dump files and caches, when those files become too large, say Internet Cache get's to the max, the browser becomes slow.

I have a 100mb browser cache. Does it become slow? Of course not.

Quote

You can delete the file individually or use a little software to clean everything.

Or you can use browser's own option to delete cache/cookies/etc without needing to install some crap.

[Hank]

Kathy, on 03 August 2013 - 07:55 AM, said:

Antivirus software defragment drives now? That's news to me.


I have a 100mb browser cache. Does it become slow? Of course not.


Or you can use browser's own option to delete cache/cookies/etc without needing to install some crap.

1. Bitdefender has a section called Tune-Up, and yes it defrags the comp on a schedule you've set it.
2. It does get slow when you reach the maximum setting. So I simply disagree.
3. Sure, anything CCleaner does can be done manually, but this does not make a software crap.

[Kathy]

CCleaner is crap because it implies that you somehow get faster OS because of it. There is no point in 'cleaning' registry. I dislike how software akin to CCleaner present itself like a magic wand to OS's problems.

Quote

It does get slow when you reach the maximum setting. So I simply disagree.

What do you mean by slow?

[Hank]

Kathy, on 03 August 2013 - 08:31 AM, said:

CCleaner is crap because it implies that you somehow get faster OS because of it. There is no point in 'cleaning' registry. I dislike how software akin to CCleaner present itself like a magic wand to OS's problems.


What do you mean by slow?

1. Were did I suggest to clean the registry? Even if you use CCleaner for this purpose, it tells you exactly which entries are obsolete and can be deleted. Will it make you computer run faster? Experts are divided. In general, uninstalled software that do not clean up after themselves should get a helping hand.

2. Not as fast as usual.

[Tea Monster]

You can clean your registry using one of these really cool apps, but just letting you guys know, that on a fairly regular basis, I dealt with someone who had their system totally and thoroughly shagged by one of these apps.

Just tellin ya.

[Forge]

best anti-virus?
1. Don't own a computer
2.Don't connect to the internet or install third party software - ever
3.Linux/BSD - choose your flavor:Distro Watch
4. Mac/OSx
5. Anything but Microsoft
6. Choose a nice, compact, frequently updated data base Anti-virus program that makes a small background footprint on your comp - until it becomes popular and turns into bloat ware (see: Norton, McAfee, Avast, AVG, etc., etc., etc). Then ditch it when you're fed up with all the resources being hogged, latch on to the newest tiny program and repeat

[Bloodshot]

Windows firewall does all of 2 things.

Jack and shit.

It doesn't even successfully stop programs you have set to deny internet access half the time.

[Kathy]

It does what firewall is supposed to do - block network traffic based on set of rules. If you want to properly and securely block outgoing connections then you should make a whitelist, not a blacklist.

I'd like to see some examples of its faulty behaviour in your case.