General discussion

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  • #2220551

    the big decision

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    by systemcheck ·

    With all antivirus out on the market today, who to choose. What is the best antivirus out on the market, by start up time, updates, reliability, ease, speed, and options?

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    • #2830565

      just my personal choice

      by jck ·

      In reply to the big decision

      I have ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2009/2010 installed.

      I got 3 licenses for $50 or something like that.

      It loads pretty fast at start up.

      It has automatic updates if you want them.

      It has automatic scans too.

      It’s not hard to configure in basic mode at all, and you can set it to automatically handle stuff, or only do blocks with your approval.

      Lots of options.

      I’ve heard that it’s not as good as other ones from bigger companies, but I haven’t had a virus or anything in the 10 years since I started using the original ZoneAlarm Firewall on Windows 98 SE.

      • #2830498

        never experienced it

        by systemcheck ·

        In reply to just my personal choice

        never had a chance to use it, so far i’ve used AVG (aint bad), and norton, with all the new nortons out there, i feel they are system hogs and slow. so basically im looking for something good and fast, might look at zone alarm heard a lot about it.

        • #2830477

          A few home systems, or corporate environment?

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to never experienced it

          At home on a Windows system I happy with Microsoft Security Essentials. It’s free, with a small footprint, and updates via MS Update. Unlike some other free AV apps, it doesn’t nag and isn’t supported by advertising. I pair that with ThreatFire, a free heuristics-based utility, and one of the few malware tools that can be installed with other AV apps without causing problems. I use Windows Vista’s built-in firewall, but I was happy with ZoneAlarm on my XP system.

          At work we’re running McAfee VirusScan Enterprise, but we’re just beginning to move to MS Forefront since we’re already paying for the license anyway.

        • #2830475

          yeah

          by jck ·

          In reply to never experienced it

          if you’re doing it in the home…AVG and Avast are pretty good…ZoneAlarm does cost…but…$15 a PC? for like 2 year license? $8 a year isn’t bad per PC.

          I’ve got BitDefender on my new PC as well. It is a bit of a resource hog too. It’s a bit unwieldy as it tries to watch over everything. But, thoroughness is good in some cases.

          I wouldn’t go near McAfee or especially Norton. Both are decent, but bloatware deluxe IMHO

    • #2830470

      I test different AVs and security tools when I get bored.

      by ron k. ·

      In reply to the big decision

      I go ’round and ’round and still come back to AVG-Free.
      They screwed up a major update a year or so ago and it was s-l-o-w until you turned off the Link Scanner but that issue has been fixed.
      The best? I’m not one to ask. Not really. There are any number of criteria that you could pick that makes one the best in your eyes. For us here, for now, AVG is going to remain. It’s the only, highly-rated AV tool I’ve found that doesn’t slow us down.

    • #2830424

      That’s a lot of questions

      by nicknielsen ·

      In reply to the big decision

      Unfortunately, the answer to each is probably different.

      My personal favorite is AVG. I sprang for a license ($60/2 years, if I remember correctly).

      Check this site for various comparisons of AV software. http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

      • #2830421

        $60/2 years

        by santeewelding ·

        In reply to That’s a lot of questions

        And, consigned your soul to a devil you know not.

        • #2830369

          How is that more consigning than using the free version?

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to $60/2 years

          In plain English, please. How does paying for a product indicating dealing with the devil any more than using the free nagware version of the same product?

          I assume you don’t have a cell phone, which would certainly qualify as giving the devil even more money.

        • #2830318

          Only a stray thought

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to How is that more consigning than using the free version?

          Not paid versus free, but going from the devil you do know — attacks and infection (which are free, I suppose), to paid-for, crossing-of-the-fingers protection in the form of a package the efficacy and operation of which you don’t know.

          There. I think that’s it.

        • #3035966

          I think…

          by mafergus ·

          In reply to Only a stray thought

          For a lot of people, both are devils you sdon’t know.

    • #3036113

      How often does this question get asked?

      by tink! ·

      In reply to the big decision

      Well anyway, my 2 cents:

      I use Avast! at home for 4 PCs

      At work we’ve been using Kaspersky since it’s a cheaper and less laggy option over Norton or Mcafee

      Only had 1 problem and that’s because one of my users accidentally installed “Ultimate Anti Virus”. He thought the popup was from the Kaspersky program. What a pain! (Popups have since been taken care of)

    • #3035996

      My personal choice

      by jfuller05 ·

      In reply to the big decision

      is AVG. The free version works great for me and the paid version is great too. The version you pay for gives you a feature called ID Protection which is kind of like advanced Internet protection.

      • #3035988

        I prefer

        by dhcdbd ·

        In reply to My personal choice

        Avast. Of the free AV programs, however, Avira is rated the best.

    • #3035967

      Test test test

      by mafergus ·

      In reply to the big decision

      Regardless of what suggestions are on here, you need to test the crap out of any anti-virus product you deploy (assuming it is for a business/enterprise). I have seen many compatibility issues which have crippled many attemted installations.
      I have worked with most major products and they all have issues. The key is getting the product(s) with the issues you can live with and having a contigency for those users and groups who can’t live with the issues.

    • #3035961

      My choice for a perrsonal PC

      by router boy ·

      In reply to the big decision

      Is a combination of the free version of Zone Alarm and Avast. I have been using both for years and had zero problems on my Windoes PC. I have used this combination on countless PC’s that I work on and all my clients seem to be problem free.

    • #3025093

      Norton works for me

      by adunkin ·

      In reply to the big decision

      I know it’s not original, but I haven’t had any problems with my Norton system.

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