Anti-Virus programs

[GFX707]

Is it me or are these the most annoying programs ever made? If it wasn't only the fact that the designers seem to think that they are the only program that will be running on your computer, it's the patronising reminders to "update my settings" every 30 minutes or telling me that I've "attempted" to access the internet with unsafe settings when I turned the damn things off myself because it wouldn't let me do anything without timing out!

Add to that that they "recommend" you to do a full system scan every time you reboot....well on my computer a full system scan (I have 4 HDs) takes 6 hours and most of that is the main drive. Not to mention that the system hit you get from most of them is like 3-10% which makes me wonder if it would be better for my system performance overall just to get a damn virus now and then.

I know what they're there for, I'm just venting.

[The Stranger]

theyre quite annoying yeah but TROJANS are tooo...but they dont keep mos virusses out anyway...the badguys will always keep a step ahead cuz you cant fix what you dont know...only if the virus protecters are able to cure everything the good guys win...but dont count on it

[Lemur]

Not all anti-virus programs are annoying system hogs. In other words, not all anti-virus programs are made by Norton. I'm old enough to remember when Norton made really good software -- that was sometime before the War Between the States.

You might want to give this a try. It's free, it's well-maintained, and it doesn't chew up huge system resources the way certain other programs do.

I'd like to hear from other Orgiasts about their favorite anti-viral/anti-spyware software. Please, though, only the free stuff. I find the commercial versions to be worth their weight in animal effluvia.

[Husar]

For a very long time, I had no problems with only my Kerio Firewall. In fact, i never ever found a single virus on my PC as long as my Kerio Firewall was running. Now I have a virus scanner because I thought i might have gotten a virus, but it found nothing. It now starts with my windows all the time and never found anything. Since some time I wondered wether it was worth the >10MB system memory it uses and I think it can be happy for every day I don´t delete it..........

[Proletariat]

The following list has kept me safe so far.

SpyWare Gaurd
Microsoft Anti-Spyware
Spyware Blaster
McAfee

The first three can all be found on cnet.com and are free. McAfee I paid $15 for with my new pc, and it expired today. I got about a month's use (frickin' jip at 15 bucks), and now I'm wondering if I should bother renewing it.

[Lemur]

Prole -- four out of five geeks approve of AVG Anti-Virus. Free, small memory footprint, etc. But if you have to go with a commercial program, McCaffee is about as good as it gets ...

[Adrian II]

I'm old enough to remember when Norton made really good software -- that was sometime before the War Between the States.

This is true. I tried Norton Utilities a year ago. Couldn't get my computer up and running more or less decently again until I had manually uninstalled the whole **** thing, physically destroyed the CR-rom and ritually burnt the Norton box and instructions in my back yard during a full moon.

[R'as al Ghul]

Add to that that they "recommend" you to do a full system scan every time you reboot....well on my computer a full system scan (I have 4 HDs) takes 6 hours and most of that is the main drive. Not to mention that the system hit you get from most of them is like 3-10% which makes me wonder if it would be better for my system performance overall just to get a damn virus now and then.

I know what they're there for, I'm just venting.

If your PC isn't running 24/7 then I wouldn't recommend a "full system scan".
It takes too many resources. (mine runs overnight)
Once the full scan is completed it is sufficient
to have the on-access-function on. It protects you during run time. It checks
the files you're operating with.
New infections are most likely to come by through e-mail.
So, an e-mail protection is the most important thing.
For the full security a full-system scan should be done frequently, though.
I'd recommend to start it once you're finished with your work.
AVG has recently been tested in the German computer mag "ct" as the fastest scanner .
(Many orgahs favour it and its free.)
McAfee and Norton received the lowest marks in this test, btw.

EDIT: An anecdote concerning Norton AntiVirus. The recent version brings back
Dr. Solomon, the virusscanner from the last millenium, on their rescue disk.
It contains virus definitions from as late as 2002.

[Monarch]

Well usually I only run my anti virus when I'm not using my computer, I just leave it on after use running AVG and leave it for a bit. This way I have no problems with slowing down computer and such. Though even when i do bother to run it whilst using it for something else the slow down isnt too apparent.

I use AVG by the way.

[Byzantine Mercenary]

i got the norton free trial with my computer, damn that program is evil, there is no way to uninstall it so i had to manually deleate all the files that my computer would let me deleate and its still there! i would never advise anyone to get norton, your better off with one of the free programs out there.

[GFX707]

Well it's kind of ironic that anti-virus programs are more annoying and intrusive and harder to remove than most virii don't you think?

[English assassin]

This is odd, I've never had the slightest problem with Norton and I've never had a problem with viruses either. Whats so bad about it?

[Dutch_guy]

well other than the programm being bigger than say...McAfee, it also takes longer for it to scan your computer.

I've had Norton and McAfee, and the latter has worked better for me.

[Quietus]

Not all anti-virus programs are annoying system hogs. In other words, not all anti-virus programs are made by Norton. I'm old enough to remember when Norton made really good software -- that was sometime before the War Between the States.

You might want to give this a try. It's free, it's well-maintained, and it doesn't chew up huge system resources the way certain other programs do.

I'd like to hear from other Orgiasts about their favorite anti-viral/anti-spyware software. Please, though, only the free stuff. I find the commercial versions to be worth their weight in animal effluvia.

Here's a bunch of free stuff: http://www.ramsinks.com/software.asp (not all are freeware though).

[drone]

I run the Norton, probably out of habit more than anything else. I've never had any problems with it, I usually turn off the popup notices and automatic stuff. The SystemWorks tools are ok, it does a decent job of keeping the system and registry clean and the PC running smoothly, but I have it set be all manual, I choose the time when all that stuff runs. The AV and some other tasks run in the background, if I'm playing a real CPU intensive game I sometimes turn it off.

On older machines (especially lower RAM machines) Norton AV is a pig and will make the computer unusable even when just monitoring. My dad got a virus a while back on an old Win98 computer I gave him, I used Norton 2003 to clean it, then decided to install it. Big mistake. The machine could barely boot, it was thrashing the virtual mem so much. I had to boot in safe mode just to uninstall.

[Byzantine Mercenary]

the main thing i didn't like about norton was that it kept throwing me out of games to scan my hardrive, while i was supposed to just sit there doing nothing for the hour or so it takes, i don't like the way they boss you about telling you to update etc all that...
also it was slowing my computer down
and was all over my computer

[drone]

the main thing i didn't like about norton was that it kept throwing me out of games to scan my hardrive, while i was supposed to just sit there doing nothing for the hour or so it takes, i don't like the way they boss you about telling you to update etc all that...
also it was slowing my computer down
and was all over my computer

As installed, Norton can be very intrusive (AV check, one button checkup, download updates, clean sweep, maybe even defrag all set to be automatic) and will usually kick in at the most inappropriate times. I think Symantec assumes the user is not very computer literate, and goes with max-protect. All you really need is the background monitor (and even that is questionable), and set aside some time every so often to run the system scans and updates when you aren't using the computer. You can (and must, for your own sanity and gaming life) change the scheduling under the options.

[Proletariat]

Prole -- four out of five geeks approve of AVG Anti-Virus. Free, small memory footprint, etc. But if you have to go with a commercial program, McCaffee is about as good as it gets ...

Thanks, Lemur. I've been running AVG now and so far so good. Whatchya mean by free, though? It keeps counting down the days I have left on the trial copy. Then I have to pay up or just reinstall it?

[Lemur]

Sounds like you accidentally downloaded the full program. They sort of hide it on their website, but there's a completely free version hidden in there. Trust me, it exists.

I thought the linky I posted above led to the free version, but I'll double-check and get back to you.

In the meantime, take pity on a sad lemur. I've completely hosed my WinXP box by doing things to it that I really shouldn't have done. Not only am I a sad lemur, I'm a bad lemur. Never never never install Fedora Linux on an XP machine and then delete the partition. Bad lemur! No dessert for you!

[Lemur]

Okay, I think I see what happened. On the linked page, to the left, there's a link to "get Free AVG," and that's the road you want to take. They have much bigger, prettier buttons for the "AVG Full." Ignore them. They are the Devil's work.

Oh, my poor, beloved XP box. Repository of my games and my, uh, educational videos. I will be very sad if I can't recusitate you, little homemade piece of junk ...

[Proletariat]

Aha, that's exactly what I did wrong. It must've been late when I downloaded it because I remember thinking that it was odd that it said 'trial version' and you were saying 'free.' In too much of a wrapping-presents stupor to see the 'free' link, I guess.

Thanks again and sorry to hear about the late XP box. :moment of silence:

[Xiahou]

I just thought I'd chime in to agree with others here- AVG Free Edition is good people. I use it on several of my home PCs and don't have anything bad to say about it.

[Marshal Murat]

Just out of curiosity...
If you get a virus, trojan, etc.
Can you completely clean out your entire computer, reinstall the operating system, or
Take a magnet to the entire thing, and reinstall. (lol)

[Xiahou]

Take a magnet to the entire thing, and reinstall. (lol)

When I absolutely must wipe everything off of a drive I use.... Darik's Boot and Nuke

[Divine Wind]

My family has used Norten, Panda and McAfee.

We all agree that McAfee is the best by a long shot. For spyware i recommend Microsoft AntiSpyware or Ad Aware SE personal.

[Xiahou]

I despise McAfee Security Center, which they seem to bundle with new PCs nowadays. Their plain Antivirus is ok though.

[Lemur]

If you haven't tried Spyware Blaster you really ought to. It locks down various vulnerabilities in browsers, sort of like a prophylactic. And it's free, like the best software often is. I know it supports Internet Explorer and Firefox, don't know about Opera and the other fellas.

I've been using it for over a year, and I've found it to be unobtrusive and a snappy sort of works-as-advertised thing-ma-bob. I can't pay a higher compliment.