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What Anti-Virus Software do you use?


Guest LilBambi

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I also use Grisoft's AVG at home. I've had too many problems with Norton and McAfee, which seem a bit too heavy-handed in their approach. AVG works just as well, but with much much less impact on my system.

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Ragnar Paulson

We use RAV Anti-virus in our mail server to scan all incoming E-mails centrally, updates signatures nightly, and centralized management is a boon for the sysadmin.All workstations have Mcaffee or Norton according to preference. I use Norton now. Tried the RAV workstation product and it was just too clunky and ill-fitting.Ragnar

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I use SystemWorks 2002 now and have Norton's products for the last 5 or so years. Never got a virus, guess you could say it works! Whiskey14 :D

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Guest LilBambi

Could this one have been more vague as to who it might affect? Isn't anyone who uses programs in any of the Windows OSes considered someone who runs Windows-based programs?Anyway, it's good info on how to tell if your software slowdown is being caused by an unreported Klez Worm (mainly because your AV software has been disabled under these conditions.) Problems Related to Variant of the W32.Klez Worm Virus Infection (326833)

SYMPTOMSWhen you run Windows XP or Windows-based programs, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms: Windows XP and Windows-based programs run very slowly.Documents do not open properly, or when they open, they do not contain all the correct information. You cannot start Windows Task Manager.NOTE: To start Task Manager, right-click a blank area of the taskbar, and then click Task Manager.Your antivirus program no longer runs.You cannot view Web sites.CAUSEThis issue may occur if your computer is infected with a variant of the W32.Klez worm virus. RESOLUTIONMicrosoft does not provide software that can detect or remove computer viruses. If you suspect or confirm that your computer is infected with a virus, obtain current antivirus software. For a list of antivirus software manufacturers, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: List of Antivirus Software VendorsMORE INFORMATIONTo determine if the W32.Klez worm virus is running on your computer: Quit all running programs.Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.Click the Services tab, and then click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box.In the list of running services, determine if the following service is runningWINKxxxwhere xxx is two to three random characters appended to the word WINK. For example, WINKAP, WINKZFU, or WINKNWK. If this service is listed, your computer may be infected with a variant of the W32.Klez worm virus.NOTE: After you remove the W32.Klez worm virus, you may have to reinstall your antivirus program.
In addition to the FYI from Microsoft here, they have a nice comprehensive list of AV vendor at the link in the quote from the page.
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Used to use AVG but switched to Anti Vir PE. Couple of places have done some research on various AV proggies and found deficiencies in AVG. This may be their opinion. It certainly is popular. Anti Vir seems to work fine--just different. Nice and easy with R mouse context to scan d/l'd files also. In addition to Housecalls for online is Rav and Panda. Be sure to turn off resident scanner when using online ones though.

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Guest ComputerBob
I use SystemWorks 2002 now and have Norton's products for the last 5 or so years. Never got a virus, guess you could say it works! Whiskey14 ;)
And I've never had a penguin in my back yard. I guess that penguin repellant that I bought must be working! ;) I'm teasing you, but my point is, your AV software probably is working, but unless you know for sure that viruses have tried to get into your system, the fact that you haven't gotten a virus doesn't prove that your AV is working. :blink:
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Guest ComputerBob
Used to use AVG but switched to Anti Vir PE. Couple of places have done some research on various AV proggies and found deficiencies in AVG. This may be their opinion. It certainly is popular. Anti Vir seems to work fine--just different. Nice and easy with R mouse context to scan d/l'd files also. In addition to Housecalls for online is Rav and Panda. Be sure to turn off resident scanner when using online ones though.
I generally liked AntiVir PE when I tried it, but here's what I ended up writing about it on my Software Page:"During the week that I tried AntiVir, it told me three times that there was an update available on the Web. Unfortunately, each update was a 3MB+ download, and because the AntiVir server was very slow, each update took 30 minutes to do, using my dial-up modem connection. I didn't want to spend 1 1/2 hours EVERY WEEK, updating my antivirus software, so I stopped using AntiVir."I hope that problem has been fixed since then.
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I can never stick with just one thing. I have AVast 32 on my computer, Norton on my husband's, McAfeee on my daughter's and InnoculateIt on the ones in my classroom. It is nice to hear that at least one or two others use the AVast or the InnoculateIt. I went to the AVast on my computer after getting tired of hassling with the Norton removal/reinstallation thing. After going through what it took to get all the way removed to reinstall when I ran into some problems with Norton and Zone Alarm (I ditched it too), I had to go through the tech support thing to find out it was not all the way removed to reinstall. After I had to remove it again, I just gave up and made the switch. Since then I had AVast pop up once with something about a virus in an inbound email that also went to a lot of relatives' computers using McAfee or Norton and only AVast seemed to think it was a virus (it had a lot of math in it). I would rather my virus software error on the side of caution :blink:

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I started out with McAfee because it came with my first computer. I switched to Norton at some point, then AVG when Norton was up for renewal. I've also used P Cillin because it came with 2 mobos I bought. I'll stick with AVG.

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I am running NAV 2003 and so far I was always Norton user.However I am activly trying to find good replacement and I tried most of the mentioned AV products here but found that some of them have some features or others but most complete one so far is NAV 2003 IMHO.Well, it does job right even if its a bit heavy on the system.I have yet to try Sophos and KAV. :unsure:

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I used Fix-It Utilities AV, which feeds off Trend Micro signatures (same as PC Cillin). Loved it, until my system go infected badly with a trojan. :D I now use Norton AV 2003 (coz it actually works), but at work, we use Symantec Anti-Virus Corporate 8.0. It's same as Norton AV, but a lot simpler interface and half the system resources hog.IMO, they should sell a more simpler no-bells-and-whistles Norton for the consumer. One that doesnt automatically install Norton Protected Recycle Bin and more.

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Looks like Norton certainly dominates. I used since the beginning and other Norton products before that such as his utilities and remember Norton Commander. Just dumped him (really Intuit) last month. My virus definitions would no longer update after a correct notice that there were 58 days more on the contact. Could not get any help. Of course that was the straw that broke the camels back. Not happy with their new approach to copyright protection on TurboTax. Their own uninstall tool does not take out the entries in the boot record - they finally pasted a utility on their site. Not so sure thatQuicken2003 doesn't have more menus’ leading to other company services than to code within the program. I find it difficult at best to create an accurate Vanguard download and have yet to figure out how to manage the report section efficiently.Relative to this thread - I purchased, for all to $15, a copy of Panda Titanium. It's totally unobtrusive, updates almost daily, and being a bit of a security freak anyway it is just is an extra "belt."Ed

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Hi, all. Was wondering if any of you have tried/heard of Gladiator AV? My son is looking for a free AV program to try ( he currently is using Grisoft AVG 6.0); he just gets hankerings to try new programs, even though he's been satisfied with AVG. Any opinions or help is greatly appreciated.

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theHammer: Looks like Norton certainly dominates.
Of course. Name recognition is the name of the game. Every newcomer to the computing marketplace must have a Dell/Intel running Norton and AOL. Norton is over-hyped, ho-hum software that doesn't like to play nice with many configurations. NAV is at the root of many quirky problems that can be hard to trace. There are better alternatives. :)
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Lover of quiet computers

I use Norton AntiVirus 2003.Pro: It's consistently rated as the most effective in reviews that I've read.Con: It's expensive to stay on top of the latest versions and definition updates.

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Kav version 3.5.133 from http://www.avp.ch/ Kav is updated Daily, top detection rates are reported by the trusted anti virus test authorities,I also use the free F-PROT for dos [free for personal use], this even works in a dos [cmd] box in windows xp.Get this from :http://www.f-prot.com/download/or use the F-PUP.EXE updater from:http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg/index.html Art's F-Prot emergency program for Win 9x/MEF-Pup.exe --Version 1.5A --Download F-Pup.exe on a clean PC having the same version of Windows as the ailing PC. The program will download the latest version of F-Prot for DOS antivirus. Then use the program to update the DEF files and create a Emergency Boot Disk (EBD) set to be used on the ailing PC. This set consists of a special system boot disk plus two antivirus disks. this is an excellent updater,will download the latest updates and program upgrades as they are released.I have been testing and using all anti virus programs on a daily basis for 5 years as a hobbyAVG [free] is risky, updates are too infrequent.cheers Greg

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Guest LilBambi

F-PROT is great ... I use it in Linux and freeBSD. They do not, however, have daily updates for Linux and freeBSD from what I have seen.FYI: Symantec only updates their NAV LiveUpdate site once a week. They also have the Intelligent Updater (manual updates which are updated more frequently) but most users just use the LiveUpdate and let their computers just go get the updates automatically once a week.I get updates at least once a week manually (on dialup) from Grisoft's AVG ... so I am not sure what you mean by not frequent enough.That's a great idea about F-PUP and using F-PROT for DOS in a DOS window though. Might consider that for a backup.I have also been trying out a new version of Gladiator (that is supposed to work for trojan horses and is free at least right now).I don't think I am going to be suggesting Symantec's NAV anymore though. Especially since their next version will have DRM (Digital Rights Management) crapola in it!

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I have also been trying out a new version of Gladiator (that is supposed to work for trojan horses and is free at least right now).
Have you tried Gladiator long enough to give a recommendation? My son's already d/l'd it, and doesn't like my telling him to be patient about the install.
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Guest LilBambi
I have also been trying out a new version of Gladiator (that is supposed to work for trojan horses and is free at least right now).
Have you tried Gladiator long enough to give a recommendation? My son's already d/l'd it, and doesn't like my telling him to be patient about the install.
So far I really like it ... especially since the new interface ... will get back to you after I verify the update ability ... will be doing that today.I am still fully testing its abilities to catch viruses, but so far, I really like it. I also like the report that it gives after a full system scan.I am so careful ... I don't generally see viruses, so checking that ability is often difficult. :) However, I do KNOW that AVG caught a sobig email on my computer before it was even updated on many folks weekly NAV updates! That one caught many folks! Edited by LilBambi
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So far I really like it ... especially since the new interface ... will get back to you after I verify the update ability ... will be doing that today.I am still fully testing its abilities to catch viruses, but so far, I really like it. I also like the report that it gives after a full system scan.I am so careful ... I don't generally see viruses, so checking that ability is often difficult.  :) However, I do KNOW that AVG caught a sobig email on my computer before it was even updated on many folks weekly NAV updates! That one caught many folks!
I anxiously await your report; he's using W98SE, and since I get to do the re-installs,etc., I'm hoping that it's stable. Last time I checked, it was an Alpha - guess it's Beta by now. Thanks,
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Guest LilBambi

quint --I too am using Win98se.Depressing and angering information on Gladiator.First the auto-update didn't work right. After successfully downloading all the updates ... took forever on dialup ... it restarted itself and claimed the gladiator.dll was missing after the update....which it wasn't...I could find it no problem. Corrupted no doubt. I figured maybe 3.0 to 3.5 was too big a jump for their autoudater.So, I logged in to their site with my username and password and downloaded the zip files (for the program) figuring it must have gotten en error in transmission or something, and (as they stated the last time I got them, I dutifully overwrote what they had autodownloaded (program wise). It turns out it wasn't even the current version!Went back into the program and it said I needed to use the updater that my engine needed to be updated ... DUH!So did the update again, then when it restarted itself same thing .... overwrote the gladiator.dll again and restarted the program ... now it said I had gotten one more piece updated but now I didn't have gav32 installed. So back to updater, it installed the gav32 but puked again...same problem...couldn't find gladiator.dll .... overwrote it again and went back and tried one more time to autoupdate with the same response. Overwrote the gladiator.dll one more time and was again able to restart the program.So, the program seemed to run fine as long as I over wrote the gladiator.dll .... so ...By this time, I did already have the latest updates to the definition patterns and daily patterns too ... so I figured, skip the autoupdater this time and ... I would just do a full scan with that with the engine that I had since it appeared to be working just fine.Got most of the way through nearly an hour! Almost to the very end (and it took forever to scan my little 7gigs of data!) and it pukes: "can't find DLL entry point Gladiator_AsPack_Unpack in Gladiator"BTW: I also noted when I opened the new Interface that there was a statement that reads "Please donate for real time protection" and yes it was in RED!So, not only is it not ready for prime time .... But they have the gaul to 'require' a donation for REAL TIME PROTECTION! What gives with that! They can't get their updates and scans right and require a donation! I am never donating to them just so I can beta test their software for them! They just wasted an entire afternoon of my life for nothing!It is now gone, never to be put back on my system again.As far as I am concerned, if they can't get the software right AND CHARGE A DONATION TO GET REAL TIME PROTECTION (WHO EVERY HEARD OF SUCH A THING! Requiring a donation! Either you charge for something or you don't) ... God only knows why I should trust them to find a virus, worm, trojan horse, macro virus, blended threat, or whatever!!!OK, ok ... calm down! Do some deep breathing! maybe a little meditation :P Back to my faithful AVG and it does real time scanning! I may install F-Prot for DOS as backup solution to be run only as called upon :P

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Guest LilBambi
I do not use anti-virus.....I just have my girlfriend nag all the incoming data into submission. :P
LOL! :( :P :P :( :) :( Thanks Stryder! Needed a little levity about now :P
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