i dropped Zone Alarm Security Suite after ut's biult in antivirus (EZ Antivirus) let a bad one slip through and not even see it. now i am looking for a better one. I already have Spybot-S&D 1.4, and Ad-Aware SE Professional, as well as a very good firewall.

so this is my question:

WHAT IS THE BEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE AVALIBLE??

i dont need biult in anti-spyware just antivirus

thanx

older technology is the s---; keep it running

Probably Kaspersky.

JB

never heard of it but okay maybe

i would like more opinions though

i want THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND THOROUGH STAND-ALONE ANTIVIRUS WHILE NOT SAPPING A BUNCH OF SYSTEM RESOURCES BUT MORE IMPORTANT IS THE EFFECTIVENESS AT REMOVING VIRUSES AND THE MOST THOROUGH AT FINDING THEM WITH FEATURES LIKE AUTOMATIC UPDATE ETC

sorry for the caps lock but i really need an outstanding antivirus with all i have said, as i am very sick and tired of dealing with viruses

but i do not want to run more then one antivirus so just suggestions for the most effective and thorough stand-alone single antivirus program for PC

thanx people

older technology is the s---; keep it running

Kaspersky by far, and a two subscription makes it very competive in price too. Check this site out, it is based in Greece, so do not let the Greek/English enter feature stop you from checking out the latest test results. You will see why ETrust might have let you down in his tests, ETrust is terrible at detecting trojans.

I use Avast! and Sygate Firewall....great protection combo....haven't had anything slip through in quite awhile. Why pay, when free works great? Unless you are in an office environment, these two work great!

Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks

AVG pro is what Ive been using for some time now with no complaints at all.

" It'll Get Ya When You Aint Lookin "

Avg Pro
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1
Avg Free is also good
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

" It'll Get Ya When You Aint Lookin "

Just because it's free doesn't mean it's the best.Have you looked at any recent antivirus reviews.How come the top ones in each review aren't free?.As mentioned Kaspersky is highly rated, so is NOD32.Tried it and loved it but could only get it to scan Outlook Express and i prefer to use Thunderbird and incredimail.I have used a product for 2 years now and have left it a number of times just to see how a few others did.And you know what, i always go back to it.It's little know here because it's made by a company in Finland.Great product, and scans all 3 of my email programs.They supposely were the ones that discovered the Sony Rootkit fiasco.You can purchase the antivirus, or the entire Security Suite.I'm fortunate because it's offered free with my high speed subscription.
Tne name is F-Secure.Any one of these 3 products would do a great job in my opinion!.

You might want to check this very infomative article that tested all the major a-v's .I was surprsied that NOD32 let some scripts through.Looks like a toss up between F-secure and Kaspersky.AVG free beat most paid for programs :)

http://www.transceiver.co.uk/txt/av05.html

I have used F-secure for years and never had a problem.

how does AntiVir toss up??

just curious

older technology is the s---; keep it running

Extract from link below, I use Avast myself.
http://www.avast.com/i_idt_153.html
http://www.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe
Reregister after 14 months free use ( Still stays free )
http://www.avast.com/i_kat_207.php?lang=ENG
Home edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed for home usage. Our company offers Home Edition free of charge.
"By combining the free AVG anti-virus scanner, the free version of Ewido anti-Trojan scanner and the free Microsoft Antispyware scanner, I managed to achieve a 95% detection rate against a particularly nasty set of 104 assorted malware products that I had downloaded from P2P networks."
By combining the free AVG anti-virus scanner, the free version of Ewido anti-Trojan scanner and the free Microsoft Antispyware scanner, I managed to achieve a 95% detection rate against a particularly nasty set of 104 assorted malware products that I had downloaded from P2P networks.
Ewido Security Suite Setup: Version 3.5
http://rstones12.geekstogo.com/ewidosetup.htm
http://www.techsupportalert.com/issues/issue122.htm
http://www.techsupportalert.com/issues/issue123.htm
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
http://www.techsupportalert.com/issues/back_issues.htm
Trojan and Spyware Tool -- Ewido Security Suite
http://georgeh123.blogspot.com/2005/09/trojan-and-spyware-tool-ewido-security.html
Microsoft Antispyware
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4466.html

"never heard of it but okay maybe"

Heh - obviously you've done a lot of research on your own then.

It's completely unrealistic to expect 100% protection from any one application.

Currently, I use Kaspersky AV and am pleased with it, but also use a variety of other online and installed scanners

Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is not more a science than a heap of stones is a home

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

Have used AVG free for 3 years now with no viruses at all . I have many times gone out used an online AV from Trend Micro and it has not found anything that AVG missed. It uses very few resources too, I have a old 933 mghz machine with 192 meg of ram . If you have a decent AV along with the anti spam programs like you have you shouldn't have any problems . If you are getting a lot of viruses coming you should think about getting a different ISP as 99% of viruses should be picked off by your ISP before you even download your mail , if not then they are doing their job and keeping their AV up to date.

I feel ya, but now as a KAV user, I can tell you this much; nothing gets past this troll. BTW you must have done a pretty shabby research for you to NOT have heard of KAV (Kaspersky).

If just having an AV program is all you need to prevent virii, there will be very few virus related posts. Unfortunately this isn't the case and almost all of the PC's that get infected daily have some sort of AV (free or paid) program installed, while having a reliable AV utility is very important too much emphasis is focused on that and so little on definition updates. You are only as protected as your updates.

With that said having a firewall in-place (even for dialup users) is now very important be it hard or software, because not having one of these increases your risk of trojan or dialer entry, some that can even turn off valuable protection on PC's without your permission leaving it wide open, you also have to have programs in-place to deal with all those obnoxious scumware and be well aware what you put on your PC, a lot folks think simply installing AV, anti-trojan, and scumware tools makes them immune to anything and everything and could care less what they download, install or subsequently add to their machine, that is nothing but false security.

Lastly most AV program will do the job OK!, scanning and detection preferences, compatibility issues and even mundane things like interface layout is usually what really makes some better appealling to some people and not to others. I have used Norton for AFBAICR and was OK with what it did for me until resources became a big priority to me and in between switching from NAV and finally settling for KAV, I would say I tried almost every other program out there (including NOD) but KAV has all that I wanted, would that still be the case later down the road ?. Only time will tell.

Whichever you finally settle for, make sure it suits you needs, ensure the definition files are constantly updated; because that for the most part is what keeps you safe and also scan the system on a regular basis. However, for people that get virii from things like porn and warez, AV is not your solution, your problem lies in something else.

There is only one satisfying way to boot a computer.

"I have a old 933 mghz machine with 192 meg of ram"

that is not very old, dude. a 486 based comp is old. a Pentium 2 or Pentium 3 based comp is still quite decent, and even Pentium 1 and Pentium MMX based machines are still good for basic apps

anyway my decisions:

- AVG Free for systems that i sell (i do alot of that)

- Kaspersky 5.0 -OR- F-Secure 2006

my question to ya'll now concerning Kaspersky (5.0) or F-Secure (2006) is which of these is less of a resource hog? and is there a differance in the effectiveness of each??

older technology is the s---; keep it running

As i mentioned before, i use F-secure and it runs fairly smoothly.Have not tried KAV but read nothing but good things about it.Just read the review responce #8 mentions.Sounded like a very fair test and F-secure and KAV were included in the small group that detected everything.Even though the entire security suite is excellent,i recently added a different firewall that had the lastest web blocking features.Don't get me wrong, the F-secure firewall does a great job but only has the browser protection and popup blocking features.Some of these web sites are really ticking me off with the ads flying around and those stupid talking icons that don't shutup.I think KAV also has an entire suite but not sure if its firewall has all the lastest features.Maybe the KAV user could elaborate on its resourses.Or maybe a reader who has tried both.

And how many running processes does F-Secure have?

JB.

You know i'm not sure.I was just saying that it doesn't slow your computer like Norton does on alot of machines.Where do i look for the number of resourses?.

okay hear from F-Scure user...

how about from a KAV user??

older technology is the s---; keep it running

dont worry about the processes...

i appreciate all the responses guys...

now one more thing before my decision i would like to hear from a KAV user on it's features resources etc

older technology is the s---; keep it running

F-Secure wants me to remove Zone Alarm firewall and Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE!

????

older technology is the s---; keep it running

First of all.The spyware scanner in F-secure looks like its based on the Lavasoft one so don't worry about that.My girlfriend still uses both without problems.Zonealarm asked me to do the same with F-secure.What i recommend doing is uninstall those things and add back what you want.I have the entire security suite installed, but just disabled a few things i thought might conflick with Kerio firewall.F-secure will give you everything you need including system control and a good firewall.The firewall just doesn't have the lastest web blocking features i wanted which is why i added in kerio.By the way, great firewall.

Here we go, you can see the resource allocation for KAV and other tasks as well, that should clarify things for you.

**If you did not see any screenshot right above this text, you need to enable images in your "computing.net".

There is only one satisfying way to boot a computer.

Just finished reading the january 2006 review and testing of 10 antivirus products at PCWorld.They do this once a year and here are some of the results.Detection was worth 50% of the score and 10% for other categories such as ease of use,responce time of virus updates,etc.Bitdender was #1, #2-sorry can't remember, #3-KAV, #4- F-secure.These were the only ones to receive the detection rating of-SUPERIOR.Included in these tests were the 3 free antivirus products and for the AVG users out there, yours finished dead last.

To view running processes on Windows XP hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys to bring up Task Manager.

Did you say that you are running the firewall in F-Secure's suite AND Kerio?
Running two software firewalls is asking for program conflicts.
FWIW.
JB

"for the AVG users out there, yours finished dead last."
I find this very hard to believe, I have been using AVG Free ,now AVG Pro for 3-4 years now with NO problems at all,
I have had a few close instances where it caught a virus but never infected.
Look HERE

" It'll Get Ya When You Aint Lookin "

At this test site AVG finished 15th, it had a 77% detection rate. Kapersky had a 99%
detection rate, F Secure finished in second place having a 96% detection rate.

http://www.virus.gr/

The site is based in Greece and he does a very thorough testing procedure.

Bob, I just went to your link, and IMHO any site that would have an ad for "STOP SIGN", is not a place I would trust for any kind of product rating or other information.

Bob
Firstly, let me say that i didn't mean to offend you or any other AVG users out there.And could you let us know the difference between free and pro.I want to stay protected the best i can so i try to read the lasted reviews.Some reviews are so biased towards a product that you should just discount them which i do.But this review was current and the test looked fair and unbiased.And it was a good test including testing using 1&2 month old definitions.AVG free received a fair shake and finished last and its detection rate wasn't very good.
Now some people have no choice but to use a free antivirus and that is completely understandable.And it appears no antivirus currently on the market can detect everything 100% of the time.If you are careful,don't surf very much and watch your email, AVG would probably do the job.But there are better products out there with much better detection rates, so if you can afford it, it should be done.The only problem i had with the test was that detection and removal was only worth 50% of the score.Isn't that the reason for using an antivirus in the first place?.It should have been worth more than that.I will try to find and post the link.

Here is the link.

http://www3.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,124163,00.asp

"No offence taken murr"
Thanks for the link !!,
Avg has been good to me over the years , But it looks like I should do a bit of research on this and look into a better AV to protect me like Kaspersky?

" It'll Get Ya When You Aint Lookin "

Please Post back to let us know if we helped!!

i have read that BitDefender 9 is also very good, and rated a Best Buy by PC World.

opinions on it??

older technology is the s---; keep it running

I can't believe this thread is still going.Anyways, i've never tried it but here is my opinion.There are 4 tests you can look at listed in my poorly spelled thread- Latest Antivirus Testing.Look at all 4 then decide.I did and to me KAV was the one that scored consistently well followed closely by F-secure and BitDefender.I don't think you could say that about any of the others.It was given Best Buy Award because they took into account other factors like price and i'm sure is KAV was the same price as BitDefender, KAV would have been the Best Buy.And KAV is the quickest for definition updates which is extremely important as the Pcworld test showed when they used 1 and 2 month old definitions.The detection rates dropped drastically!.Some much worse than others.Man!.You would think the way i'm talking i was using KAV.But i'm not.This is just the impression reading those 4 tests left on me and at least i now know what i'm using is close.

I use KAV and reiterate it's an unyielding TROLL between you and those baddies out there.

The updates are also updated daily.

There is only one satisfying way to boot a computer.

Security is a combination of best practices. All must be used properly to avoid problems. Don't rely on any single application. Even MS's one care forces you to install while logged on as an Admin while online. Sheeze! Talk about poor practices.

I used to swear by Norton, but now I just swear at it.

I use Zonealarm free, AVG Free, Spybot, Spyware Blaster and The Cleaner on all my systems including my Nat Router which runs 98 , the others dual boot 98 and xp. since using these combined I have had NO infections. The last infection was about 3 years ago when i accidentally ran an exe that loaded my system with 23 instances of trojan dropper, Norton didn`t even pick that up when i scanned the file or when it was run, The Cleaner picked it up the instant it was run thanks to the registry monitor. A colleague at work instaled norton and found 9 virusues (or should that be virii?) on his system, then he installed AVG and found a further 100+ instances . . . . . He uses AVG now.

The reason I use a free av is due to Nortons terms and conditions which basically state that if their product misses a virus or screws up your system while attempting (usually unsucessfully) to remove it then tought sh**!!! If a product is going to do that to me then I don`t particularly want to have to pay for it to do so.

Personally I think its disgraceful that a product you have paid for can limit its makers liability in such a fashion.

Woof

Always proof-read carefully to see if you any words out.

I have had AVG Free for 2 years and it is awsome. The free edition will get every virus and works great. If any virus is found it will be deleted. It can be downloaded at www.grisoft.com I really recomendthis to you. Norton sucks.

home built computer
windows 98SE
200mb ram
intel celeron@500mhz
8 mb Korea Data Systems Visual Sensations VS-5/VS-51/VSx-5 on SiS 620 video card
10GB HDD