I need an Anti Virus program better than NAV2005

[Stumps]

As the title states, I need to replace my irritating Norton Antivirus 2005, I have used NAV for pretty much forever and never really had any issues with it until 6 months ago when I upgraded from 2003 to 2005.

Since then I have nothing but performance issues with it ranging from slow bootup (it can take upto 5 minutes to load the taskbar) to slow start up of OE and IE.

AVG has been reccomended to me by some friends who swear by it.

Is AVG better than NAV2005?

can anybody else reccomend an Anti Virus (preferably freeware if possible)?

 

[flexy]

Kaspersky or NOD32 <-- you chose

btw. setting up a web site for THAT kind of questions right now

 

[spacelord]

AVG has worked great for the past few years. I recommend it to all family and friends. I don't doubt that NOD32 is bit better, but free is best in my book.

 

[Schadenfroh]

see my sig

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
see my sig

I had a read of those, but they don't mention(unless I missed something) how the free stuff compares to the big comercial AV software (Norton, Mcafee etc).

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
see my sig

I had a read of those, but they don't mention(unless I missed something) how the free stuff compares to the big comercial AV software (Norton, Mcafee etc).

It should have links to detection rate tests from virus.gr and av-comparatives.

 

[Frodolives]

AntiVir personal classic is free, and has performed well for me. I use it along with Spywareblaster, Hijackthis, and Adaware. I also use Ccleaner frequently. If in any rare case I have doubt, out of an abundance of caution I also like to use microtrend Housecall online or Kaspersky online scanner for a second opinion.

About ten days ago a new virus definition file started warning me about a trojan, pointing to my irc client exe file. Though I did take all precautions, I felt it was pretty likely a false positive and emailed AntiVir the file that very night. The next afternoon when I logged in, not only had they affirmed the file as clean, but had already edited the vdf update.

Regardless of any other opinions about AntiVir, I have to give them high marks for such diligent service. I think most of us are more accustomed, even where we are paying customers, to the first couple of volleys of email consisting of us begging them to refer to our original correspondence instead of just spamming us

http://www.free-av.com/

 

[QuantumPion]

You don't need antivirus software as long as you have your windows firewall settings set correctly, download windows updates when they come out, and aren't a moron that opens every attachment and link you get.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Stumps
Is AVG better than NAV2005?

can anybody else reccomend an Anti Virus (preferably freeware if possible)?

Yes, but AVG is still offers inferior detection and removal. Please read this thread for a current post on What's the best free Anti-virus?

 

[John]

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
You don't need antivirus software as long as you have your windows firewall settings set correctly, download windows updates when they come out, and aren't a moron that opens every attachment and link you get.

Not to be rude but that is the worst advice I have seen all month and it's only the 3rd. As long as you run as an Administrator you should have AV software installed. Even those with common sense and are extremely savvy users fall off the wagon once in a while. Not to mention you forget to lock your system down and a "foreign" user sits in your place.

 

[QuantumPion]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
You don't need antivirus software as long as you have your windows firewall settings set correctly, download windows updates when they come out, and aren't a moron that opens every attachment and link you get.

Not to be rude but that is the worst advice I have seen all month and it's only the 3rd. As long as you run as an Administrator you should have AV software installed. Even those with common sense and are extremely savvy users fall off the wagon once in a while. Not to mention you forget to lock your system down and a "foreign" user sits in your place.

Really? What mechanisms are there for contracting a virus?

a) direct IP attack
-have an admin password and firewall
b) email attachments:
-don't open executable attachments
c) hostile website/instant messenger hacks:
-don't visit/click suspicious links
d) unauthorized physical access
- OK, if you have room mates or family members that use your computer, AV might be a good idea. If a hostile person wants to sabotage your machine though, AV software is hardly going to stop them.

I've never used antivirus software and have never contracted a virus. I used to live in university dorms, which are notorious for the rapid spread of direct ip attack viruses. I also worked for a student IT service at the same university. We occasionally had to lock down entire dorm buildings, shutting off all network access, due to some rapidly spreading viruses. Yet my machine was never compromised.

Now I admit, for the average user, anti virus software is a good idea. But this is mainly due b) and c) above. I would think most gamers would be savvy enough to avoid these.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, even normally-safe websites can become compromised. One of my favorite instances of that is when the servers at Interland got compromised. My employer's website was hosted by Interland at the time, and it was amusing to find OUR OWN WEBSITE trying to feed malware to OUR OWN COMPUTERS

And guess what website I'd set our browsers to use as a homepage...? Yep, you got it. Because I figured it would be safe. :roll:

For a current example, look no further than the recent MySpace worms, with the latest being the ongoing Quicktime-powered QuickSpace worm. Last I heard, it's still on the move, and looks like it's going to successfully phish a boatload of MySpace logins.

I've never used antivirus software and have never contracted a virus.

How do you know that you've never contracted a virus? After-the-fact scans? A rootkit can hide stuff from after-the-fact scans, making it appear that your system is squeaky-clean. If you're relying on online scanners, also realize they may not be scanning system memory for user-mode rootkits or memory-based worms. While I agree there are ways to make infection very unlikely, I haven't seen you name my favorites yet (non-Admin accounts and disallowed-by-default Software Restriction Policies), so I'm just sayin'

 

[Stumps]

the main thing I want to is if AVG is better than NAV.

 

[mechBgon]

Oh, and back on topic, I would use AOL Kaspersky, or else AntiVir as a second choice. Using a non-Administrator user account for daily-driver stuff like IM, email and web browsing is also a nice enhancement to your system security, no matter what antivirus/browser you use... keeping the ammo separate from the gun makes it really hard for someone to swipe your gun and shoot you with it

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Stumps
the main thing I want to is if AVG is better than NAV.

If you mean detection-wise,

1) Go to http://www.av-comparatives.org/

2) click on Comparatives at the left

3) click on 11. On-demand comparative > Online Results

4) take a snack break while looking at how AVG compares to other antiviruses

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Stumps
the main thing I want to is if AVG is better than NAV.

If you mean detection-wise,

1) Go to http://www.av-comparatives.org/

2) click on Comparatives at the left

3) click on 11. On-demand comparative > Online Results

4) take a snack break while looking at how AVG compares to other antiviruses

thanks...I didn't think that NAV would be that high up on the list.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Stumps
the main thing I want to is if AVG is better than NAV.

If you mean detection-wise,

1) Go to http://www.av-comparatives.org/

2) click on Comparatives at the left

3) click on 11. On-demand comparative > Online Results

4) take a snack break while looking at how AVG compares to other antiviruses

thanks...I didn't think that NAV would be that high up on the list.

It looks like they're testing with one of the most recent versions of NAV. Having up-to-date definitions on NAV2005 is probably still not going to give you the same capabilities as NAV2007 or Symantec 12.2 like they're using there.

If you dabble with downloaded stuff that might not always be safe, keep these sites bookmarked:

Jotti online multi-scanner
VirusTotal online multi-scanner

You can upload files up to 15MB at Jotti, and up to 10MB at VirusTotal, and they'll scan them with a whole pile of current antivirus software and show you the results.

 

[Stumps]

I was always happy with what NAV could detect (yes even 2005 has a good detection rate), it sjust that I hate everything else about it....especially the heavy system resource drain.

 

[Kriz]

I like Active Virus Shield, which is from Kaspersky and AOL. it's nice and light on the system, and (according to virus.gr) has the highest detection rate available.

 

[VIAN]

Pc-cillin Internet Security 2007 for full PC protection.

AVG free for just an anti-virus.

 

[letdown427]

Use AntiVir here. Free, doesn't hog resources, and is pretty high up the lists for detection etc.

 

[Medea]

Recent AV Comparison Results:
http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=82

That should help you make a decision.

 

[Mem]

There's no reason not to use Anti-Virus software nowadays,especially since there some very good free ones around(like meantioned above).

I use Bitdefender 10 Plus which is great, has a nice firewall too and low on resources,(have tried Kaspersky,Anti-Vir,Avast,AVG,Panda,etc.. in the past)I did notice AV-Comparatives are still using the old 9.5 version of Bitdefender for AV roundup testing,about time they started using 10 version which has been out for quite awhile.

This is my recommendation for paid versions, Kaspersky,Bitdefender or NOD32 ,for free versions, AOL-Kaspersky or Anti-Vir.

Remember to have some good anti-spyware software too and use common sense .

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Stumps
NAV ... heavy system resource drain.

I always thought that's how it kept viruses off your system, by taking up so many resources that nothing else can run?

 

[John]

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
Really? What mechanisms are there for contracting a virus?

a) direct IP attack
-have an admin password and firewall
b) email attachments:
-don't open executable attachments
c) hostile website/instant messenger hacks:
-don't visit/click suspicious links
d) unauthorized physical access
- OK, if you have room mates or family members that use your computer, AV might be a good idea. If a hostile person wants to sabotage your machine though, AV software is hardly going to stop them.

I've never used antivirus software and have never contracted a virus. I used to live in university dorms, which are notorious for the rapid spread of direct ip attack viruses. I also worked for a student IT service at the same university. We occasionally had to lock down entire dorm buildings, shutting off all network access, due to some rapidly spreading viruses. Yet my machine was never compromised.

Now I admit, for the average user, anti virus software is a good idea. But this is mainly due b) and c) above. I would think most gamers would be savvy enough to avoid these.

Your OP contained very little information. I don't get viruses either, but that doesn't keep me from recommending prevention tools and techniques to others. You can still get infected at legit links as Mech provided a perfect example. How about all of the WoW players that downloaded the mod with a keylogger? The list goes on and on.....

Having a resident AV is always a good idea when you have a PC, no matter what kind of user you are. I'd be curious to see what Kaspersky or a rootkit revealer would find hiding out on your pc.