Anti Virus computer programs. Whats good?

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rekabdarb

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I know i've been making a couple of computer shit but... I've been wondering. What exactly is the "best" Anti-virus, spyware, etc, program?

I personally have Spybot and i was wondering if that was good
 

ThrobbingEgo

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I use Avast and Malwarebyte's. I haven't had any problems in a long while. I also don't go to warez sites and I avoid internet explorer like the plague. That may also have something to do with it.
 

JC175

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To be honest it doesn't really matter which software you use as long as you browse and download with intelligence.

1. Don't visit any warez sites (I use a Firefox add-on called Web of Trust, it helps a lot, in case you click on something accidentally)
2. Scan everything after you download it, especially .exe and other application or self extracting files
3. Make sure the antivirus software uses a firewall.

If you follow those guidelines everything should be fine, the only real differences between the professional products are the amount of system memory they utilise.

EDIT: You might want to consider upgrading from Spybot, it's pretty basic.
 

IamSARAhearMYgrr

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Those are both really good but if you really worried about viruses you would just get a mac... and don't use Internet Explorer, that's just asking for a virus!
 

Sable Gear

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Clashero said:
AVG is pretty good too.
Only if you're willing to buy it. Personally I'm cheap, but I don't disagree that it did work for a while, before it just started taking up space on my computer.

AdAware isn't bad for a freebie
 

Novacain4862

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Free of pay? Well I have Avira Anti Virus, Spybot S&D and I'm doing ok, no viruses to date. Try AVG as well
 

ThrobbingEgo

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IamSARAhearMYgrr said:
Those are both really good but if you really worried about viruses you would just get a mac... and don't use Internet Explorer, that's just asking for a virus!
Or save money and get linux.

Or run an instance of linux inside VMWare on your linux machine and use it as a browser if you're super paranoid.
 

rekabdarb

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i'm not saying my computer has a virus... i'm jus twondering what's good out there since i'm not exactly tech savy
 

OneHP

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Jan 31, 2008
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AVG has a few compatibility issues. I used it for years but I've just made the switch to Avast after hearing good things. No problems so far.
 

tanithwolf

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Mar 26, 2009
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The only difference between anti-virus you pay for and the free ones is that the free ones are several months behind the paying ones for protection against viruses. Also use firefox instead of internet explorer.
 

ThrobbingEgo

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tanithwolf said:
The only difference between anti-virus you pay for and the free ones is that the free ones are several months behind the paying ones for protection against viruses. Also use firefox instead of internet explorer.
Not true. Avast and Avira are sold to enterprises. The personal editions are like free samples - they're just as good, and they're incentive to purchase licenses for professional use. Plus there are benefits to having a large, semi-knowledgeable install base - you get bug reports faster.
 

bitzi61

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AVG and Ad-aware FTW!

Avast is alright.. but my friend got a couple virsus with that on it, was able to get AVG on and Avast off, and AVG took care of the virsus. Another convert! LOL!

But ya... what I said above

PS: AVG free edition is still good
 

Gazok

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Well, I did a lot of research into this a while ago. Norton is one of the best options available, and the best for system performance. Norton AV tends to get a lot of negative press, but it seems fine to me. It ranked second in the Passmark Antivirus Performance Testing [http://www.passmark.com/ftp/antivirus_09-performance-testing-ed3.pdf] (When I read it first, Norton was first, so presumeably it has been updated) so... it's pretty good :p.

IamSARAhearMYgrr said:
Those are both really good but if you really worried about viruses you would just get a mac... and don't use Internet Explorer, that's just asking for a virus!
The Mac operating system has been the first hacked in the PWN2OWN hacking conference two years in a row. In the 2009 conference, the hacking challenge was completed in under 10 seconds using a previously unknown exploit in Safari which has yet to be patched.

So I don't think I'll be getting a Mac, thanks.
 

tanithwolf

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ThrobbingEgo said:
tanithwolf said:
The only difference between anti-virus you pay for and the free ones is that the free ones are several months behind the paying ones for protection against viruses. Also use firefox instead of internet explorer.
Not true. Avast and Avira are sold to enterprises. The personal editions are like free samples - they're just as good, and they're incentive to purchase licenses for professional use. Plus there are benefits to having a large, semi-knowledgeable install base - you get bug reports faster.
I was making a general comment, not saying that all anti-virus software obeys this rule. And I agree with you about the large install base being benificial.