I'm embarrassed to admit this

[Motorheader]

Wow...just wow.:disgust: I am no newbie when it comes to computing by a longshot.

Computer was acting "weird" recently. I've faithfully been running Symantec AV Corporate for the past 2 years. I WAS on the latest 10.x patch. This version has built in spyware protection and e-mail scanning as well. Full system scan, nothing to note in the Event Viewer, no Blue Screens, system up to date, etc.

So I uninstall SAV and install Anti-Vir Free Classic. Found 12 trojans and backdoors.

Why oh why didn't I listen to the advice I give to the rest of my friends, family, clients, etc.

System now back to being a bit more "snappy" and I've got a cute Umbrella in my system tray.

BTW - I run Anti-Vir Free Classic on my wife's/daughter's Compaq Armada M700 laptop and have for several years without incident.

Hangs head in shame.

 

[Miramonti]

Good to hear it. You're forgiven.

Do you have a firewall as well?

 

[Turkish]

Kaspersky (sp?) is the best I have experienced.

 

[Motorheader]

KAS - I got a key and am tempted to try the Free AOL/KAS one, but right now system is working fine again.

 

[VIAN]

2 Hail Marys.
4 Our Fathers



Good to hear you've repented to the light side.

 

[40sTheme]

Mmm, I love AntiVir!
Almost silent in the background and very thorough.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

I LOVE ANTIVIR! It's arguably the best all around AV (because of the free version, and uses very little resources).

It's passive scanning is awesome.

Of course, If I just want to pay for an AV, KAP is awesome, although i noticed a small resource hit, but not as insane as others (panda, SAV, NAV, although I did have a pleasant experience w/ SAV corp edition? :: shrugs :.

 

[Lemon law]

To some extent it goes to show over reliance on just anti-virus product may not be a good thing. And before you go willy nilly to one grass is greener on the other side of the fence product--it pays to remember that one can do free on line virus scans at quite a few different places---and what one AV product misses another may get and vice versa.

Its a way to hedge your bets for no cost.---but beware of rouge sites that will claim you are infected no matter what.---stick to the ones with good reps.

 

[Motorheader]

Just the simple fact that a product that I relied on let me down AGAIN (this goes back a several years) where another picked up the pieces and would have prevented it in the first place. The other time it was CommandCom AV that came to the rescue.

In my research recently I found an article alludes to the fact that virus writers code to avoid and subvert Symantec, McAfee, and TrendMicro AV products - the top 3.

 

[lxskllr]

I used to use Symantec Commercial AV. I didn't like the way it used up resources so I tried Antivir on a whim one night. It found 1 virus that Norton let through, and never found on a scan. I've been using Antivir ever since, except for my Vista machine which I use AVG on. I don't think Antivir supports Vista yet, but I guess I should check out their site to find out for sure

 

[Rottie]

I had same problem with NAV 2006 never care about virus inside Outlook Express. AOL Virus sheild found 12 email viruses dated back to 2001!!! Can you believe 2001 when I have used NAV 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 versions!

 

[Zenoth]

Is it better than NOD32 ? If so I might give it a try.

 

[Turkish]

I am sorry if there are any fans here but Norton AntiVirus sucks. It doesn't have a good detection rate and is a memory hog!

I recommend AVS for free, and KAS for paid services.

Cheers!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

That reminds me... I bought KAS and never installed it... (computer is down right now with memory problems). I'll have to uninstall NAV and install that when new RAM gets delivered tomorrow.

 

[imported_eppenoire]

Is there such a thing as a Symantec fanboy? I wonder if they talk smack to McAffe fanboys? After I had to fix an enterprise version of McAffe, that destroyed an Exchange server and another that wiped out the prepriatory app on 200+ client systems, because McAffe made a mistake in their updates. I refuse to recommend either Norton or McAffe. I have had good experience with Avast!, which works great on 64 bit systems.

 

[meltdown75]

Good stuff. I'm thinking of ditching AVG for Kapersky or AntiVir.

I'm also considering getting rid of ZoneAlarm to give something else a try.

 

[imported_pendragon]

I've been using Avast for the last month or so after using Norton for years.
Avast works well, updates regularly, uses less resources and is free.
Avast found four virus in my sons pc that Norton had not.
I got sick of Norton for being a resource hog so I tried Avast.
I was surprised to find Norton had missed the 4 viruses and am pleased with Avast so far.

 

[Frintin]

I ditched AVG for CyberDefender Free on my main computer. Just updated AVG Free to 7.5 and using it on my other computer.

Have never used Symantec or Norton products for bloatware reasons. The Norton Internet Security product is a great product though.

 

[mechBgon]

Motorheader, here are some more suggestions for you to ignore and later hang your head over http://www.mechbgon.com/build/security2.html

Also, if you had backdoors and Trojans, change any important passwords that you've typed on the computer (e.g. your bank's website, eBay, PayPal, credit-card, webmail, etc). The goal of many of the backdoors is identity theft of some sort.

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Good stuff. I'm thinking of ditching AVG for Kapersky or AntiVir.

I'm also considering getting rid of ZoneAlarm to give something else a try.

Getting rid of zonealarm is a BAD idea!

 

[DannyLove]

All those Top AV programs do more harm then good. I never touch those.

 

[wetcat007]

Norton Internet Security is even better than AntiVirus, it protects the internet from you! Disabling internet access until you use the symantec removal tool ftw..

 

[Motorheader]

Originally posted by: wetcat007
Norton Internet Security is even better than AntiVirus, it protects the internet from you! Disabling internet access until you use the symantec removal tool ftw..

Hehe...

I've been in that boat with both Norton and McAfee at times. Even ZA and Tiny did that at times. The only one NEVER did that to me once was the original Sygate Personal Firewall.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Motorheader

Originally posted by: wetcat007
Norton Internet Security is even better than AntiVirus, it protects the internet from you! Disabling internet access until you use the symantec removal tool ftw..

Hehe...

I've been in that boat with both Norton and McAfee at times. Even ZA and Tiny did that at times. The only one NEVER did that to me once was the original Sygate Personal Firewall.

When I used a 3rd party firewall it was Sygate. I now use the XP and Vista firewalls depending on what I'm working in, and I like them the best. No hassle, and they work just fine.