Computer Scanning Questions,

[jeff black]

I'm curious what program(s) people use to protect against viruses, trojans, and a few other lovely things that royally fuck your computer.

Anyone want to share?:wink:

 

[D_Tintagel_Demondong]

If you know a bit about PC's then I'd recommend:
AVG for viruses. It's free and not to invasive.
Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. Also free and not to invasive.

If you are a computer retard then I'd recommend Norton or McAfee since the monitor your every move (but slow down your system and give you many popups). You can also turn on Ad-Aware's Adwatch, which will monitor your activity in the background.

Anti-virus software will protect you against viruses, like worms and trojans, and anti-malware software will protect you from spyware and adware. Generally, anti-virus software doesn't look for adware, so you need anti-adware software too.

Also, use a current browser since most of them have anti-phishing technology built in.

 

[cockoloco]

I use AVAST

 

[invisibleman]

I use AT&T Internet Security Suite.

 

[beretta8]

AVG Free--haven't had any issues, updates with new patches daily and is not a memory hog. I also use the built in Windows firewall, I used to use E-Z firewall through my cable company but removed it since it worked a little tooo well......

 

[Jason]

None.

I've not used anti-virus for about 4 years. I'm online maybe 4 hours per day. No viruses. I use a dial-up which might have something to do with the lack of problems.

 

[D_Rawkesbye Deadheade]

AVG or Avast work well and consume minimal system resources. If you have a powerful system and prefer a more prominent name, for whatever reason, go for Symantec as it is rather impressive at keeping threats at bay. It is, however, quite shit for removing threats once you're infected so it's your call.

 

[CALAMBO]

TREND...protects 4 systems i manage...wonderful...yes it does cost..but no free lunch guys and girls...

 

[B_Think_Kink]

All of the following:
AVG
Avast
Ad-Aware SE
Spybot Search and Destroy
SUPER Anti Spyware

 

[8wayup]

I have been test driving PCTools v6. Nothing has snuck by it yet.

I used Norton until it took up more space and executed more instructions than the OS.

 

[midlifebear]

I'm stuck with a PC (would rather have a Mac), but 1st I installed Mozilla's Firefox browser (not perfect, but much better than Internet Explorer), then I disabled Internet Explorer (impossible to completely remove, but not impossible to disable), I have Norton's 360 package installed (which slows down performance substantially, but can be turned off when necessary), and use CCleaner (a freeware that's rather amazing at cleaning up junk files and fixing registry errors), Ad-Aware SE Professional (free, but worth buying the $15 upgrade to get rid of popups), Window Washer (another freewarea to clean the Recycle Bin and actually erase as best as possible unwanted and untraceable files), and XoftSpyeSE (a spyware product, also free, that does a reasonably good job of keeping spybots at bay). I also have disabled Microsoft's Outlook e-mail product that comes with their office bundle. I doubt there's another e-mail product on the market that is so rife with bad programming and susceptible to viruses and malware.

And if you've ever wanted to get rid of those SPAM specials where someone in Nigeria has billions of dollars waiting for you, simply respond with a curse such as, "If you do not remove my e-mail address from your database list(s) I beseach the power of Kalimah to curse you with poor health, legal problems, and bad digestion. This I say: Nehtal yezwaw kamin!

It's amazing how superstitious the folks in Africa are about receiving curses via e-mail. :smile:

 

[Industrialsize]

NONE.........I have 3 Macs and have never had a virus

"Once you go MAC you'll never go back"

 

[vince]

Thanks for the reminder! This computer is 3 months old and the trial McAfee expires tomorrow. I don't think it's a bad program, certainly not as annoying as Norton! :headache:

I've use AVG before and it was as rec described, free, fairly light on the system and not very intrusive. I should download it tonight.

I also like Zone Alarm as a firewall.

In my opinion, Kaspersky Labs anti-virus is the best I've used.

Or get a Mac. (I just wanted to beat Phil to it :wink: )

edit- LOL, I see Indy was here!

 

[vince]

NONE.........I have 3 Macs and have never had a virus

"Once you go MAC you'll never go back"

Not true. I started on an Amiga 3000. Then I was a Mac head for 10 years. I switched to PC in 1999 because I needed to learn and use AutoCad. Now I have Vista.

So it's been a steady downhill progression in terms of good computer hardware!

 

[Pecker]

I use Comcast for internet connection and they provide McAfee. It works very well.

Previously I've used the free editions of PCTools, AVG, ZoneAlarm and others and they've all been excellent. Worst of all for constant notices and questions was Comodo.

I still use AdAware and SpyBot Search and Destroy for adware.

To clean up the drive once a week or so I also use CCleaner.

 

[Deno]

Avast Home Edition
Malwarebytes
Ad-aware
Search and Destroy
Plus Vista's Defender and Firewall
I also use Hijack this for investigating

 

[HazelGod]

For the Windoze boxes on my home network, I've installed a very old version (7.1) of McAfee's VirusScan Enterprise. The only thing it does is sit in the background and scan for viruses...comparatively lightweight and streamlined without that "suite" of other shit they're cramming into the home user versions these days to justify their price tags. It uses the same scan engine and DAT signatures as the more modern packages, so it's just as effective at stopping nasties.

The other machines I use all run various flavors of Linux, so I don't bother with prophylactic software. Just a good iptables configuration is all that's needed.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

Get a mac.
Like Industrial, I currently have 3 macs... ( one at home)
But these are only the latest 3 in 9 Macs I have owned over the years...

20 plus years now, and not one single virus.