Which is the best Antivirus?

[TWD-Tony]

Originally Posted by essexboyracer

use linux.

That's a bold, and quite frankly reckless statement to make... Sure Linux has better file permissions and security which means that viruses (virii?) are very thin on the ground and can normally do little damage but seeing as most people on this forum will be using Windoze and their software is designed for MS environments then just "using Linux" isn't the answer...


There is also a mis-conception that Linux is bullet proof - it isn't

Common sense, good anti-virus software and a basic knowledge of the net and the dangers are good enough for most people. I have always said (and been slated for it) that all pc users should have to pass a basic test before being allowed to use / own a pc - this should be a few hours course on downloading crap, phishing emails and basic security

[monaghan]

Tony, you need to add "PC users should be prevented from buying automated registry cleaning tools", I've spent hours getting systems operational again after these things have done their worst (at the customer's expense of course!)

[TWD-Tony]

Originally Posted by monaghan

Tony, you need to add "PC users should be prevented from buying automated registry cleaning tools", I've spent hours getting systems operational again after these things have done their worst (at the customer's expense of course!)

Registry cleaning tools are covered by "downloading crap" I think... Along with internet speed boosters, RAM boosters and other "fix it" tools

Everyone should take the test to get their "PC Licence"

[Secure Data Destruction]

I must report very bad experiences with Panda antivirus. We had it and some eastern bloc virus infiltrated its nightly virus up date visits to the Panda server. It nuked our server and its two hard drives. After a fashion we got our money back but total time wasted was about 5 working days. It was in inverse on an information security product. Have had symantec since.

[bumfluff]

Originally Posted by essexboyracer

use linux.

Good grief..

Linux isn't an option for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons. In my case, it's because of industry standard software not being available for it. For others, it might be ease of use, or familiarity or whatever. Fact is, if the original poster has Windows, it's not really that helpful to suggest installing and learning a whole new OS.

Talking of original posts... using Avast! here and have done for years. I also use SpywareBlaster, a couple of spyware scanners and a rootkit detector which I run every now and again.

Norton is basically a no-go for me. I do a bit of PC troubleshooting and repair work and I always suggest that people have it removed because of the amount of trouble it gives. I keep a number of installers for replacement programs (free or trial versions) on a USB stick when I do work like that.

[lin robinson]

My buddy who does my computer work (a Microsoft certified whatever they call it) put me on to AVG, which I found useful.
But this time when he tore yet another Vista off another new laptop and put XP back on (getting harder to find drivers all the time) he said AVG has gotten so cluttered and clunky he no longer reccomends it.
So he installed Avast And it's great.

[Profitxchange]

I use Eset, very good so far, no contamination in 2 years. much easier to use than trend pcillin - much lower overhead that Norton etc. can also get good support. Use Malwarebytes for the other stuff. ( also suggested by eset!)