[Tech] Anti-Virus recommendation

Cynic-Al

Cynic-Al

In Cryo Sleep
Hey guys,

my copy of McAfee (what came free with the university internet connection) is dying by degrees, and I wanted a recommendation of something to replace it with. Obviously being a cheap student free software would be best, but otherwise something that is functional but not going to cost me ridiculous amounts. Just wondering what you guys use, and if you would recommend it above various other thing? (recommendations to avoid are also useful)

Thanks,

Cynic
 
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elDiablo

Guest
I use AVG as well, and it only annoys me is the update method. If I'm playing a game, it will alt-tab out of it to download and install the new virus database, and does it in such a way that it eats up 100% of my CPU usage on a dual core machine, so I have a good 20-30 seconds before I can alt-tab back into my game, which (for anything online) seems to mean death.

Secondly, I can't find a way to "quit" AVG when I play games. You can only quit the monitor program, with the update and service processes still running in the task manager. This means that to stop it, you have to end process on them all, which is just annoying. If there is a "game mode" button which I am missing, I'd love to hear about it :(

I've also used Norton in the past (eg, more than 3 years ago), and my recent experience have been that it is rubbish, and horrible. The options are impossible to find, the monitor seems to randomly turn auto-protect back on if you disable it (I once disabled the auto-protect, 3 seconds later it was back on and doing a system scan!), and it's a bit of a resource hog.

Really, one of the best methods of stopping virus' is to use a router firewall, and don't download anything from places you don't know or trust. And this includes emails. If someone sends you an email with an executable of any type in (screensavers are the next favourite), just don't run it.
 
Ronin Storm

Ronin Storm

Administrator
Staff member
I use ClamWin. It's free, it integrates with Outlook, it does all the things you expect a basic anti-virus to do, and it's not AVG, which I have had issues with in the past.
 
Haven

Haven

Administrator
Staff member
Prevention is better than a cure imo, use firefox and thunderbird with appropriate addons i.e. adblock, flashblock, noscript.

Clamwin is totally free if you want cheap but I'd recomend you get the free AVG instead if you really need an AV solution as clamwin misses many newer trojans and viruses.

Also replace your hosts file as this prevents many issues.
 
thatbloke

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
elDiablo said:
I use AVG as well, and it only annoys me is the update method. If I'm playing a game, it will alt-tab out of it to download and install the new virus database, and does it in such a way that it eats up 100% of my CPU usage on a dual core machine, so I have a good 20-30 seconds before I can alt-tab back into my game, which (for anything online) seems to mean death.
Click to expand...

I have NEVER had this happen to me....
 
Huung

Huung

Well-Known Member
I personally use Kaspersky on all my PCs, its one of the few pieces of software I don't actually object to paying for, as its been worth its weight in gold to me after trying other anti-virii in the past and disliking them for various reasons.

To be honest, the only AV I would recommend people not getting is McAfee - its by far the most useless I've ever used, even more so than Norton.
 
Cynic-Al

Cynic-Al

In Cryo Sleep
Thanks for all the recommendations guys, I've gone with AVG for the moment, as it's the one that's been most mentioned (and with most online games being a bit mucked up by the uni's proxy server dropping out of games I'm not playing isn't a problem). Also going to see if the mentioned addons exist for Chrome, as I stopped using firefox because of it's minute long start up time and tendency to slowly cramp up if left running in the background.
 
thatbloke

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
elDiablo said:
Lucky bastard :( Very time for me, without fail :(
Click to expand...

You do realise that you can control when it should update. I have mine set to stupid o'clock in the morning, so that it will do the update on login every time I run my computer. That way, it never updates while I'm actually doing anything...
 
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elDiablo

Guest
I do the same thing, bloke. However, when working at home, I get on the PC around around 7:30am every day. I wait 30 minutes checking emails and stuff, and then they release the update at 8:30-9am everyday! IT'S ANNOYING!
 
Taffy

Taffy

New Member
thatbloke said:
I have NEVER had this happen to me....
Click to expand...

Me neither.

On my old computer, I used Norton, which was absolutely terrible. It repeatedly hogged the whole CPU and started scans at random times. In the end, every time I turned the thing on I had to race to switch Norton off before it started scanning and breaking everything. Oh and once its on, its nearly impossible to get off the somputer again.

I've been running AVG Free since June and have had absolutely no issues whatsoever. It does exactly what I want, when I want.
 
decky101

decky101

In Cryo Sleep
I have to second the recommendation of Nanor, I also use avast and have never had any trouble with it whatsoever, and it's got some clever nice features, like you can set a screensaver that does a virus scan, the database always updates when you first log on, so it's never particularly annoying, and to be honest, the voice of the dude that says "virus database has been updated" is just win ^^. Hope this helps, Decky.
 
Wol

Wol

In Cryo Sleep
Can I put in a vote for common sense, and just avoiding getting the virus in the first place like .... arse I'm on the wrong page to remember who said it...... Haven suggested. Using firefox with approprate addons gets rid of a *lot* of the crap on the internet. I am always suprised when I see facebook with ads on when using a different computer!

I've not bothered with an antivirus for years now and haven't had any problems. Learn to setup firewalls correctly, and not open up your entire computer for anonymous access etc...
 
PsiSoldier

PsiSoldier

Well-Known Member
Nod32 > All

Recently got it after being with AVG free for over a year and a half, and by god, it's resource usage is far lower than AVG, in fact it barely goes up when scanning. (Barely over 5k scanning.)
 
waterproofbob

waterproofbob

Junior Administrator
Wol said:
Can I put in a vote for common sense, and just avoiding getting the virus in the first place like .... arse I'm on the wrong page to remember who said it...... Haven suggested. Using firefox with approprate addons gets rid of a *lot* of the crap on the internet. I am always suprised when I see facebook with ads on when using a different computer!

I've not bothered with an antivirus for years now and haven't had any problems. Learn to setup firewalls correctly, and not open up your entire computer for anonymous access etc...
Click to expand...

I'm with Wol and Haven on this one.
 
Wol

Wol

In Cryo Sleep
Getting a virus, whilst you have a virus scanner, special!

If you learn to get by without a virus scanner, I'd say youll learn to be a bit more sensible, rather then ending up complacent in thinking that you can just click on what you like cos "my virus scanner will catch it".
 
Taffy

Taffy

New Member
Wol said:
If you learn to get by without a virus scanner, I'd say youll learn to be a bit more sensible, rather then ending up complacent in thinking that you can just click on what you like cos "my virus scanner will catch it".
Click to expand...

Much like my theory of 'if I tell the dentist I don't want anaesthetic, he will probably be much more careful'. Seems to work well :)
 
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