running firewall but no antivirus = risky?

[jjyiz28]

i didn't think so before. for a year now, with no reinstall of OS, been using w2kpro. always used a password when i logged on, made it difficult with special key, etc.. but never changed it. run firewall zonealarm before i dialup to ISP. smart enough not to download crap. i had a norton utilities 2002, and install AV for kicks. found out i had 3 trojan horses. rated mild, all found in my internet cache. now im gonna just leave it installed, but i turned off the autoprotect. just gonna do full scans every month or so.

 

[MDE]

I run NAV with autoprotect and don't really notice any speed loss. IMO, I'd rather have the peace of mind of having it run than unknowingly have my system infected and lose valuable data (like essays\projects that have hours of work poured into them).

 

[FoBoT]

why not use antivirus?

 

[Epsil0n00]

I have NAV installed, but all autoscanning disabled! I hate norton autoscanning! I just let it run a manual scan once a week or so, and live update every week as well. I have had a couple viruses, but no big deal... I would have gotten them either way--Autoscanning would have told me that I had a virus, but I could tell that I had one already.

 

[Kadarin]

If you choose not to run antivirus software, you should also choose to use Mozilla or Opera in place of IE.

 

[dfi]

I run WinXP and its native firewall. Then I shutdown all services I don't need. Check open ports on my computer. Close off certain ports on my router as well. Port scan myself. Make sure I check windows update on a regular basis. Basically get the system to a point where I feel satisfied. But no antivirus software. I have never gotten anything malicious yet. Let's hope I keep it up.

dfi

 

[TwinkleToes77]

I use NAV and my system doesnt slow down due to it. I have it auto scan every 3 days in the middle of the night so it doesnt interrupt me. I also have it auto check for updates whenever it wants.