I may be a "novice" with only a degree and a minimal amount of in field experience (5 years.)
The "best" AV software I have used personally is Kaspersky. One of the computers I worked on was bogged down heavy with malware, spyware and virus'. I installed Avast first because they didnt want to pay for AV. I ran avast and it took care of A LOT of the issues, but not all of them. Malwarebytes cleaned it up some more, but there were still some nasties left... I suggested that before I format, they run the trial of kaspersky... It cleaned up the system to almost new. A few registry errors that I had to go in and sort out, but it picked up 15 more threats than Avast and Malwarebytes were able to.
If I have a computer come in with the "I think I have a virus" sticky note... Kaspersky is my go to AV after I clean it out. I dont usually have any complaints since "I am the computer nerd"
(I used malware and spyware as if they were different... technically, some would consider malware a virus. but I consider malware to be nag ware or something along those lines... anything thats not technically a virus, but still disrupts the use of the computer)
I tried out bit defender, but found that I had too many calls asking "whats this" or "whats that" for someone who knows their way around a computer, it would be great I am sure...
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^ 1+ On kaspersky. Get the Internet security if you have no idea what you are doing on a PC, and get the AV if you do know what you are doing. I'm a firm believer in the fact that AV is NOT something you want to skimp out on.
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The real nice thing is, there is a 30 day trial... and sits not limited in functionality.
I "fix" a computer, I put it on there and tell them to activate it, if they dont, they will be bringing it back to me and it will cost more.
usually works.
Yea, if I ever get to the point where I'm helping strangers with their PC, I'll start charging, but 90% of the people, I know, and that they I help will listen to me. The other 10% of people that don't, well, I don't help them again. I'm very set in my ways, and if someone I'm helping tries to tell me how to fix it, I usually lose my cool. Something along the lines of," If you knew how to fix it, you wouldn't have picked the phone up and called me".
I was a Norton user until Jasonw showed me the error of my ways. Then again, I didn't have that large of a need for AV considering up to a year ago, we didn't have high speed. Just spotty dialup. Once I started having issues with what norton caught, I made the change. As long as Kasp keeps on the route they are on, I'll keep giving them $60.00 a year for AV protection.
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And I bet you have a Mac, lol. I have 4 puters my best a dell 730 h2c gamer, and 3 xps 410's with mcafee, norton, and 2 with avg anti's. Been hard core gaming for 6 yrs and never had problems with avg or any security system. And spyware does harm your computer and it will even freeze it up, not mine, cause people like you and I are on top of all that. I've fixed 100's of PC's with all types of security systems, they are all the same. PC problems are from people who do not know what they are doing, and going to porn or bad sites with garbage can sponsors who load your PC with advertisements, and not just viruses but multitudes of cookies and spyware. You should never keep cookies, they clog up your system and slow it to a crawl. I delete them every chance I get and still have a very fast system with no problems. I can delete ALL cookies and keep my history to get to every site I have ever visited, and also keep logins and passwords, cookies have nothing to do with how how fast you get to a previous site. What they do is load compounded garbage and advertisements for your pop up blocker to work extra hard. My 730, not the fastest, but fast, 28,000 on the benchmarks clocked at 4.40 GHz's but runs all day long at 4.0, and on W7 RC Ultimate with free AVG. All security systems have their ups and downs, but AVG is free, and easy to use. It is your opinion that AVG sucks sir, plz tell me what problems you've seen with it, I'd sure like to hear what makes the others better, lol. That PC with a 177 viruses/spyware, which is it because they are two different animals? The MAIN job of a security system is to prevent harmful viruses from taking over your PC and sorting through the good and the bad cookies. You also have to set security systems up to your desire, as well as your firewall, and some people don't know how. And while Mac may be a good PC because they have their own security as well as some internet companys do, Dell has the best warranty/extended warranty service in the business, and I wouldn't own a Mac PS, My security system scans over 700,000 objects in 10 min, it would be very interesting to know how fast your security system scans. I can also get to any site within the blink of an eye and with no cookies attached, lol. It is my opinion that AVG 8.5 "is" of the best they offer, it's FREE, what other systems are out there that offer free versions for the poor?
I know someone will bash me for this but dell is overpriced CRAP!!!!(not a personal attack)
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Dell is not necessarily always overpriced, but they are a lot of the time, and they are definitely usually crap.
They haven't always been this way, but around the time right before they started selling in retailers like Best Buy, Officemax, Staples, Walmart, etc. is when they started their down hill trend.
There is a reason Dell has dropped to #3 computer maker in the world. Acer surpassed them a little while ago. BTW, I don't recommend Acer. Their overseas models are supposed to be better, but the ones they sell here in the USA are usually cheap junk. #1 in the world right now is HP, usually good, solid PCs. I will recommend Toshiba and Apple laptops over HP, however, in most cases.
For the best AV programs, please see my posts earlier in this thread.
Now, for responses...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kensai
Microsoft finally came out with their own Antivirus/Antimalware program called "Microsoft security essentials". It's free. It works great as a basic first line defense and it will not clog up your hardware resources.
Just like Windows Defender is a decent anti-spyware program, right?
Microsoft Security Essentials is based off of Windows Live OneCare, which was M$'s attempt at antivirus a year or so back. It was horrible. It looked nice, was pretty light weight, but had horrible detection ratings. Microsoft Security Essentials may be nice to have as an additional line of defense, but if its your only one, you will be getting viruses.
Quote:
Just use your common sense and stay very aware of what's going on when you are surfing on internet and when you are opening emails. That is the best defense against hackers and viruses.
Fine and dandy for us computer gurus, but what about people who aren't so handy with a PC? Maybe they just browse the net and get email, look at a few photos now and then.
For example: every once in a while, an ad will have malicious code in it that will download a virus to your PC if you don't have AV software to block it. I've had an ad off of Facebook do this before, among various other sites. The ad was quickly taken down, but not before many peoples' computers were infected.
Quote:
If you have to surf or do things in a very hostile environment, I would recommend to use another pc to surf those areas so if you get hit, you can simply reformat and rebuild the old pc.
Once again, not a bad suggestion at all, if you know your way around a PC. Like I said before, though, not everyone does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suiseiseki
I use AVG for normal web browsing and Mcafee's stinger to root out the heavy stuff. Any firewall/antivirus is good enough as long as you keep up to date on the windows updates.
Incorrect. Windows updates patch security flaws, sure, but those are mostly just to stop hackers from getting in, or worms to let hackers in. Trojan horses are hardly affected at all by windows updates. AVG sucks. If you absolutely have to use a freebie, do what Altair does, and use Avast. Its the best of the freebies.
Don't use McAfee. They are currently near the bottom of the AV pool. If you use that to "root out the heavy stuff", it may be missing quite a bit.
And I bet you have a Mac, lol. I have 4 puters my best a dell 730 h2c gamer, and 3 xps 410's with mcafee, norton, and 2 with avg anti's. Been hard core gaming for 6 yrs and never had problems with avg or any security system. And spyware does harm your computer and it will even freeze it up, not mine, cause people like you and I are on top of all that. I've fixed 100's of PC's with all types of security systems, they are all the same. PC problems are from people who do not know what they are doing, and going to porn or bad sites with garbage can sponsors who load your PC with advertisements, and not just viruses but multitudes of cookies and spyware. You should never keep cookies, they clog up your system and slow it to a crawl. I delete them every chance I get and still have a very fast system with no problems. I can delete ALL cookies and keep my history to get to every site I have ever visited, and also keep logins and passwords, cookies have nothing to do with how how fast you get to a previous site. What they do is load compounded garbage and advertisements for your pop up blocker to work extra hard. My 730, not the fastest, but fast, 28,000 on the benchmarks clocked at 4.40 GHz's but runs all day long at 4.0, and on W7 RC Ultimate with free AVG. All security systems have their ups and downs, but AVG is free, and easy to use. It is your opinion that AVG sucks sir, plz tell me what problems you've seen with it, I'd sure like to hear what makes the others better, lol. That PC with a 177 viruses/spyware, which is it because they are two different animals? The MAIN job of a security system is to prevent harmful viruses from taking over your PC and sorting through the good and the bad cookies. You also have to set security systems up to your desire, as well as your firewall, and some people don't know how. And while Mac may be a good PC because they have their own security as well as some internet companys do, Dell has the best warranty/extended warranty service in the business, and I wouldn't own a Mac 
PS, My security system scans over 700,000 objects in 10 min, it would be very interesting to know how fast your security system scans. I can also get to any site within the blink of an eye and with no cookies attached, lol. It is my opinion that AVG 8.5 "is" of the best they offer, it's FREE, what other systems are out there that offer free versions for the poor? 
