[Archived] Anti Virus Software

[colin]

A couple or years ago our home computer was infected and it caused us no end of trouble to get the thing cleaned up and working again.

We then installed MacAfee which seems to have worked fine, until it expired a couple of days ago. So we paid £40 and downloaded their super-dooper version which completely screwed up our access to the internet.

Despite hours of faffing and fiddling and talking to MacAfee we simply couldn't access t'net. So we've done a reset to 7 days ago and everything is OK, going to get a refund but we don't now have any virus protection.

I've noted that there seems to be a few free download from t'net for anti virus software (AVG for example.)

Does anyone have any recommendations on this or any other solution?

Grateful for any suggestions.

Cheers guys & gals

Colin

[den]

  colin said:

A couple or years ago our home computer was infected and it caused us no end of trouble to get the thing cleaned up and working again.

We then installed MacAfee which seems to have worked fine, until it expired a couple of days ago. So we paid £40 and downloaded their super-dooper version which completely screwed up our access to the internet.

Despite hours of faffing and fiddling and talking to MacAfee we simply couldn't access t'net. So we've done a reset to 7 days ago and everything is OK, going to get a refund but we don't now have any virus protection.

I've noted that there seems to be a few free download from t'net for anti virus software (AVG for example.)

Does anyone have any recommendations on this or any other solution?

Grateful for any suggestions.

Cheers guys & gals

Colin

I ran Norton for three or four years - it came free with the computer. problem was that almost immediately it was out of date and not covering all viruses. I would have had to pay to keep up to date.

So I switched to AVG free edition and have been using it ever since. It picked up a virus that Norton had missed immediately and has been running quietly in the background for the last year or so. It updates every night free of charge and I've had no problems with viruses or anything else.

Give it a go Colin, I'm sure you'll like it. Dead easy to install and use.

[colin]

Thanks Den,

We'll give it a try.

[dave birch]

Col, I used to use Mcafee, until an upgrade fouled up my system, then used Norton, upgraded to a multi user package, without any problems, then at the last update, they couldn't supply me with a multiuser pack.

I've switched to AVG multiuser and it's going great. As others have pointed out it's not as resource needy as Norton Systemworks and turned out a fair bit cheaper.

[rock steady]

norton is like a virus in its own right, the amount of crap it causes. who knows why its bundled with every computer. i've been running no AV software for a while now and have had no problems. but if you download stuff you should scan it before you run it. for this i use clamwin. apart from that just use a little common sense and be careful what you click and you should be ok. plus never use internet explorer.

having used most AV programs that are out there, i think nod32 is my favourite as it uses very little system resources, but avg is great as well. and you can get a free version which is obviously a bonus.

[OhmiBRFC]

AVG Free is what we reccomend to customers and put on our systems

It doesnt take over your system and slow it down, and is very good at finding viruses

[Paul]

  colin said:

So we paid £40 and downloaded their super-dooper version which completely screwed up our access to the internet.

colin, if you are still pepared to spend £40 try this.

I've been using various versions for 5-6 years without any problem. There's a 30 day free trial you can opt for to test it. The thing I like is it just downloads, installs and works - once you've got used to the software you can fiddle around to change things but there's no real need. Trendmicro will cover security, anti-virus, anti-spy, phishing and plenty more.

I wouldn't go near McAfee or Norton again, both have caused endless probelms, usually greater than the actual virus itself

[LeChuck]

There is absolutely no need to spend money on virus-protection software for a home computer, you'll just be wasting your money. Install AVG Free Edition, it will do everything you need and is easy to use.

Every other product is a rip-off unless you are protecting a network or EXTREMELY valuable information.

[colin]

Thanks everyone,

Looks like AVG is the solution at a price that is in my range - £nil

[philipl]

There is also Ewido anti-spyware from AVG as well. You have to manually update and run it in the free version but unless yyou are coming into contact with naughty sites and e-mails, running it overnight once a week or so is fine.

It usually picks up a tracker or two coming from somewhere.

[AndyH16]

AVG seems to work for most people.

The one I use is Avast (http://www.avast.com) Home Edition, which is also free.

[American]

Col - it might not hurt to check out CNet.com, they have a lot of good reviews. We used it when deciding what to do about virus software.