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  • #2173138

    Antivirus?

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    by sanwardak ·

    Hello
    I work in computer repair shop many times my custmers asking me for antivirus application. I mean they are looking for free ones. I do know there are many free antivirus app.. for peronal use only. So can I download it for them in our shop because some time they dont know which one and where to get it? Offcourse II will be not charging or selling to them , but I want to know if this will be still legle? For now all I do is that I tell them to google for free antivirus if you like then buy the paid versoin if you like.

    Best Regards

All Answers

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    Replies
    • #2880811

      Clarifications

      by sanwardak ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      Clarifications

    • #2880795

      Provided you are installing on Domestic Computers

      by oh smeg ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      There shouldn’t be an issue with doing this.

      Personally I like Avast

      http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

      But I have some clients who insist on using AVG as it’s easier for them.

      http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free

      Col

    • #2880786

      Antivirus

      by sanwardak ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      Thanks for your info. Yes I was thinking the same because as long as I am not selling to them the free version. I thought I could be wrong So now I will download for my customers who is requesting for. Also I am using claimwin an open source it not bad too it do the job.

      Regards

      • #2880777

        Reponse To Answer

        by seanferd ·

        In reply to Antivirus

        Note that Clam does not have a resident scanner (“real-time protection”). It is only an after-the-fact scanner.

    • #2880760

      Check their EULA

      by ittech77 ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      I think it is OK if you download and install a free anti-virus tool for your customers. Read their EULA, I think it doesn’t prohibit this type of use (most often they allow you to distribute their free software but not to resell it). By the way, you can’t charge your customers for a free software license (it is illegal according to most EULAs), but I guess you may charge them for your service of installing and setting up things.

    • #2880753

      Use the MS default

      by silvatek ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      If I’m asked by a member of the “public” which A/V should they install, I’ll always recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. It’s virtually a part of the Windows operating system these days. You can’t go wrong with MSE. Personally, I use Avast and Panda, but that’s an informed choice depending on the specific machine.

      • #2880747

        Reponse To Answer

        by robo_dev ·

        In reply to Use the MS default

        Ditto, MSE works reasonably well.

        I hate to sound defeatist, but your A/V is like a bullet-proof vest..it’s your last line of defense and it only works under very specific conditions.

        My experience with the freebies such as MSE, AVG or Avast is that they all work OK, but they are not particularly fast.

        Personally I use Sunbelt Vipre on my machines….it’s not free, but it is VERY fast, even on an old 1GHZ PC running XP.

    • #2880702

      Depends on Operating System and here’s why…

      by smartacew0lf ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      For Vista andor Windows 7 I prefer Microsoft Security Essentials unequivically. The only reason I don’t use it on XP machines is because there is a supporting file within MSE that sets and chews up memory worse than a web browser. That is not to say that it does it on every XP machine. Nonetheless, it has occured enough times that I simply install Avira Personal on XP machines. Avira has held a magnificent track record with me. Small footprint and does the job better than any other I have found for over 10 years now. The only thing I have ever run across that has the small footprint and negligible drain on resources as Avira does is Nod32. But it is not free.

      A technician can usually tell when cleaning up the system of a given user whether or not they are particularly prone to infections fairly soon after the machine leaves the shop. In these cases I encourage them to purchase Malwarebytes Anti-Malware at the extraordinarily reasonable cost they ask for it. This extends as well to any client whom I feel has returned to my shop with the same computer a bit sooner than I would normally anticipate. While MBAM uses a considerable amount more memory than say Avira, it is an acceptable trade-off. Lest I be misunderstood here, allow me to emphasize that I run both MBAM and Avira or MSE on the troubled machines. And while I feel MBAM to be on the front line of defense, (due mostly to it thwarting the newest vectors sooner than the others) I do not feel it suitable to be used alone or as a replacement for a good AV scanner.

    • #2880689

      Norton Antivirus for payers MS Security Essentials for cheapskates

      by gharlow1 ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      In terms of effectiveness and minimal system impact Norton Antivirus is back in the king position. Microsoft Security Essentials is free and I have not had problems with it.

      Keep in mind while Antivirus tool companies use words like “protected”, “safe” and “secure”, which lull people into thinking they are impregnable. I tell my customers it is like wearing a bullet proof vest, but the bad guys are armed with 50 caliber weapons… at best they catch some 80% of threats. This means a 1 in 5 chance a new threat will get through! The best security comes from personal awareness. What are you downloading? Is that site safe cracks and warez are asking for trouble.

      • #2880629

        Reponse To Answer

        by smartacew0lf ·

        In reply to Norton Antivirus for payers MS Security Essentials for cheapskates

        With a 15 plus year long track record of crap that Norton has behind it, any tech worth their salt stops listening to any further input you may have by endorsing them. Every year someone reports that Norton is new and improved. I don’t doubt that that it has improved yearly. How could it not? So this year its a step up from the garbage it was last year. Who cares? Its still garbage.

    • #2880686

      As others…

      by gechurch ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      As others have said, your basic options are AVG, Avast and Microsoft Security Essentials. There are a few more, but they are either manual scanners only, or not good enough to warrant mentioning.

      To add to what others have said though, Avast requires registering. So unless you want to spend time registering it for every customer, I would go with something else. It also has a confusing interface. You can put a more normal skin on it, but again if you are doing this for your day job I wouldn’t recommend going to that effort.

      When I was in the same line as you I always recommended AVG and installed it for clients. I actually prefer the free one over the paid one – the paid version has all sorts of extra crap that just slows things down. The free one has real-time protection and email scanning (and also a browser addon, but I never installed that). The free version of AVG is for non-commercial use only, and the other limitation is that updates are delayed by 24 hours. If you are installing it a lot, I recommend getting the offline installer and putting it on a USB stick. Then create a batch scipt with the following:
      avg_free_x86_all_2011_1170a3265.exe /UILevel=Silent /InstallToolbar=0 /DontRestart

      That runs the installer in silent mode (no need to press next, next, next finish). It also doesn’t install the browser addon using that command, but you may like that (remove the /InstallToolbar=0 bit if you do).

      If I was still doing tech work these days I think I would recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. It’s detection rates are surprisingly high (higher than AVG), it is very silent and consumes little resources. And unlike AVG, it can be installed on business machines (up to ten per business only).

      One last thing to note with all these products; generally the EULAs prohibit you installing the software for the client. Technically the client is meant to be reading the EULA themselves and accepting it. Personally, I never bothered about this. My company did start looking down the track of having a form clients sign saying that they are happy for us to accept the EULAs for them, but we never bothered. I just didn’t care enough about technicalities of licensing, and we were only a very small shop so flew under the radar.

    • #2880683

      Another AV

      by florante ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      I am using ESET as my antivirus and it has served me for 2 years.
      I like the simplicity of the system and its user friendly plus it is not heavy for your processor.

      • #2880641

        Reponse To Answer

        by gechurch ·

        In reply to Another AV

        I agree ESET NOD32 is great. And it and Kaspersky are consistently at the top of detection rate tests.

        Eset is not free though.

    • #2880675

      AVG

      by strayer ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      I had trouble with AVG on production machines. I couldn’t remove all of it. I did go to great lengths to get rid of the files, but not everything was taken off. It was the free version. The machines were running XP.
      Using disk cleanup and a defragmenting application on a regular basis are very helpful for keeping a computer from slowing down.

      • #2880642

        Reponse To Answer

        by gechurch ·

        In reply to AVG

        This is a relatively common problem with many anti-virus systems. They are a pain to remove if the uninstaller doesn’t work, because they inject themselves into so many places in the OS.

        AVG have a removal tool for when the uninstaller fails. Google “AVG removal tool” to get it. Most antivirus systems have the same, and can be found using an equivalent google search.

    • #2880606

      MAC

      by cx34extt ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      What do you recommend for a MAC computer with a separate Windows XP partition?

    • #2880598

      Kasper/MSE

      by sergei.t ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      Choosed Kaspersky Anti-Virus for myself (to check it first) and then bought it to my Mom… Once configured it, no Viruses, Mom’s PC is clean. For my Wife I’ve installed MSE – she is near me, so in case something goes wrong – I’m here to do the job 😉

    • #2880575

      Avast or VIPRE

      by rhmccool ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      It’s hard to go wrong with Avast if you’re looking for free AV. If you – or your customers – are willing to pay a bit more (and the prices are pretty reasonable, especially for the home version of a site license) then VIPRE works extremely well.

    • #2882831

      COMODO INTERENT SECURITY

      by rich1987 ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      i’m surprised no one mentioned comodo internet security. antivirus, firewall, and with the built in hips, and included option for a filtered dns service I’d say that will shore up defenses quite nicely(not impregnable mind you but still fairly fortified) and the training mode will help with the initial setup.
      even a monkey can gum up the best defenses by simply downloading one really bad file

    • #2882677

      Just something I noticed and didn’t like with Security Essentials

      by oh smeg ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

      Yesterday I was in the process or reloading a 7 system and I used M$ SE on it at the very beginning before updating anything.

      Then as some of the updates most noticeably SP1 and IE 9 where getting installed I was prompted to allow the Installer to Turn Off Security Essentials while the Auto Updater continued to download Windows Updates. If you didn’t allow the Installer to kill SE it stopped working and rolled back the current install. So to get the Update Installed you had to turn off SE.

      It did happen with one or two of the others as well but they where relatively small and SE wasn’t off for that Long. However with both IE9 and SP1 SE didn’t come back till after the restart and continued to show as Switched Off.

      That to me is a wide open Vector for Attack that is a very bad design. 😉

      Col

    • #2892779

      Also if considering SE you may like to read this

      by oh smeg ·

      In reply to Antivirus?

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