Which Antivirus?

[Opus4]

Is there any sort of general consensus on which antivirus program is considered the preferred one to use? I'm looking for stability, least likely to interfere with my other apps, and least likely to give false positives.

Thanks.

- Andy

[Brent]

I use AVG. Not sure if its the best anymore, but haven't had any problems with it. As a general rule stay away from Norton.

[Motofreak75]

Symantec End point is a great one, I work as IT Consultant and when I see any computers running that free AVG version, It makes me so happy , that free AVG is completely useless and fills my wallet with cash every time I go to a office with cheap boss that won't pay for a yearly sub to any anti virus company.AVG doesn't do much other then let you know your computer is fubar, because it can't clean half the time or doesn't detect a lot of current security risks etc.

With re guards to other anti virus companies. Most do a above average job if you get their enterprise version. I find most retail /home user software pretty much bloatware.

[gmijackso]

I too run the AVG software.

I think Motofreak is probably somewhat correct in his assessment, but I think a lot has to do with the users and the environment the pcs are in. I have had no problem in my home running 5 pcs with AVG, however I put it on my moms pc and AVG isn't effective enough for her lack of skills/knowledge about what to click/install.

I like the AVG because there is very little cpu usage compared to Symantec. I had purchased (before switching to AVG) a group licence for my home of Symantecs personal software (I don't remember exactly what it's called) and it would drag P4s to their knees for minutes when it boots and runs the initial scan.

just my two pennies

[scavenge]

I run Avast home (another freebie). It's played nice with Sage over the years, although I do exclude my media drives from on access scanning.

I personally find AVG to be more intrusive with it's ads and default e-mail signature etc.

Originally Posted by Opus4

Is there any sort of general consensus on which antivirus program is considered the preferred one to use? I'm looking for stability, least likely to interfere with my other apps, and least likely to give false positives.

Thanks.

- Andy

[QueOnda]

Here is a Wiki list. Not sure how accurate it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antivirus_software

I don't actively run antivirus on my machines. I periodically test with online software web sites like micro house calls and such. Sometime I use Clamwin antivirus on a usbstick and check that way.

Also, depending on windows or Linux or other, there are some free and paid options for you. I know there is a website which rates different antivirus software but cannot find the website.

Sometimes the virus program is writting to try to disable the most popular antivirus programs.

[mbowling]

I've used Trend Micro and Sophos at work. At home I like the free products. I've used AVG in the past but I currently use Avast. I can't really comment on their detection or virus removal because I've never had a virus problem. Avast runs without any noticable impact on my system so the performance is fine for me. I've never had a false positive. When deciding which to use I read the reviews and make a decision based on the majority of user opinions.

Sometimes I wonder why I run antivirus software. I have a hardware firewall and use common sense when clicking in email and on the web. Maybe antivirus software is not needed in some situations?? But I run it anyway just because it's good practice.

You can read the Avast reviews here.
http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-E...-10019223.html
http://reviews.cnet.com/internet-sec...-32425819.html

[evilpenguin]

I also run AVG, I just have it scheduled to do its business between 3-4am and make sure it only watches the OS drive.

[Opus4]

Thanks for all the comments so far.

I just realized, based on at least one post, that I forgot to say that this is for Windows XP Pro.

Oh, and:

Originally Posted by scavenge

I personally find AVG to be more intrusive with it's ads and default e-mail signature etc.

I'm curious: Is this only for the free version & the paid-for version gets rid of those things?

I have no problem paying for software, but I won't use anything "free" that has hidden strings like ads & nags... that's not really free.

- Andy

This message brought to you by Chew-It, the worlds favorite gum for professional level jaw workouts.

[MeInMaui]

I use Avast! as well. I've been happy with it for a few years now.

Aloha,
Mike

[david1234]

Originally Posted by mbowling

Sometimes I wonder why I run antivirus software. I have a hardware firewall and use common sense when clicking in email and on the web. Maybe antivirus software is not needed in some situations?? But I run it anyway just because it's good practice.

I ran without any av for years without any problems, but I didn't allow anyone to IE or Outlook the system. Lately I've had Avast running, and it seems to do a good job catching things- it complains about a couple of messages I get emailed to me from web-forums that use funky html email, but otherwise no false positives.

If you're smart about what you click on. then it probably isn't necessary, but it never really hurts to run so why not.

[GKusnick]

I run a Trend Micro small business product that I picked up a few years back. For me the deciding factors were reasonably low price on a five-seat LAN license, and the ability to install it once on my server and administer everything centrally from there. It's been pretty much trouble-free, with very few false positives. Few true positives either; I'm careful enough that my machines almost never get infected, and my wife's rarely, but it does catch maybe three to five infected emails a month in my server's spam bucket.

[davephan]

I use McAfee since it is free with the Comcast Internet service, it is effective. We use Trend Micro at work, that is effective too. There are some free

I tried AVG a few years ago, it did work, although the GUI was pretty crude. Maybe the GUI improved since then. I did hear of some cases where AVG caused serious system problems.

Sometimes it's helpful to scan for viruses and malware with software that is not resident on your computer. Leo Laporte's web site has links to three free web based scanners: F-Secure, Trend Micro Housecall, and Panda's Activescan. Here's a link to Leo Laporte's web site:

http://techguylabs.com/radio/Main/Anti-Virus

Dave

[remmy925]

I gotta say...this is a good question these days. I have been using AVG. I have been finding that the newest version is somewhat of a resource hog. My Sage box doesnt really need email scanning or any of the extras. I just need a plain simple antivirus. I am getting to the point that I am almost tempted to run ClamWin antivirus and tell it to scan at 4AM every morning when there really isnt anything good on TV anyway. The only downside with ClamWin is that it doesnt do any realtime scanning. It may not be as safe, but it sure would cut down on resources.

[gmijackso]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Oh, and:
I'm curious: Is this only for the free version & the paid-for version gets rid of those things?

I don't know what he's talking about about ads. Maybe he can clarify? I don't get anything that I would call ads, and I don't use it for e-mail scanning so I don't know about the tag lines in e-mail. For the most part my Sage pcs are media center devoted and don't do much of anything else.

AVG has increase the resouce uses a little, but once you turn off all the stuff you (or at least I) don't care about (e-mail scanning, web page link scanning, etc.), it's not bad and either way it's far better than Symantec in my experience.

[SHS]

There are only two that 100% Free and full feature Clam AntiVirus or Moon Secure AntiVirus most other are free version but in order to gets rid of those auto pop ads (Nagware) things or doesn't provide full feature or some don't do real time scanning or some other type junk carp so you have paid for a full version.
Stay away from Norton and McAfee at all possible costs. It has one of the lowest detection rates in the industry and biggest hogs system resources in plante.
Free one are
Avira AntiVir Personal (still one of best freeied)
Avast! Home (I don't care fo it interface)
AVG Anti-Virus (I look at ver 8 and one big download)
BitDefender Free Edition "if ask me it a joke doesn't provide any real time scanning"
PC Tools Free Edition
Comodo AntiVirus

[stuckless]

I run clamwin on my kids windows box. But in the past I've I've also run freeware versions of AVG and AntiVer, and I've found them to be ok. I've never had a virus, so they must be doing something right. I also disable access to internet explorer, outlook express, and msn messenger.

I would question the need to run a real time virus scanner on a Sage Server though. I would think that the IO would be throttled alot when using a virus scanner on a media server. Not to mention, how would you even get a virus on a dedicated media server?

[SHS]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I would question the need to run a real time virus scanner on a Sage Server though. I would think that the IO would be throttled alot when using a virus scanner on a media server. Not to mention, how would you even get a virus on a dedicated media server?

It eazy to get virus all it take just one internet video or picture or some other media

[remmy925]

Actually, in todays world, any networked PC is vunerable. I dont remember the name, but I do remember a virus that intruded into the company I work for not to long ago. It actually had a built in transport system so it could send itself to other PCs over the network. As the programming in our operating systems becomes more complex, it also tends to become easier to find vulnerabilities. I admit that the built in firewalls and constant updates from the OS vendors does help, but you cant be safe unless that PC is unplugged from the network and no media (ie DVDs) are ever inserted. That would be a drag. Still, one would have to think "Is taking the risk or a non realtime scanner or no virus scanner at all worth the payoff of better performance?"

[stuckless]

It eazy to get virus all it take just one internet video or picture or some other media

I don't know what to say. Why do people run this OS, they call Windows, if viewing an image can transport a virus? I am so glad I run linux on all my primary workstations