Anti Virus Selection

[Glynda]

I ordered and received the surprise Dell laptop for hubby for Christmas. Having read so many negative comments about Norton and McAfee over the years, I ordered it without an antivirus.

What's the best one to get?

Thanks!

 

[TUGBrian]

I use AVG...its free also.

 

[Blues]

I've used the free editions of both AVG and Avira. Both are excellent choices.

 

[timeos2]

If you want a box under the tree

I've had great luck with Trend Micro Internet Security and recently upgraded for 24 months of the Pro version. Isn't obtrusive, doesn't tie up resources and offers full protection of a firewall, anti-spam, anti-spyware not just anti-virus.

 

[Jaybee]

We use the free AVG on all of our computers.

 

[Art]

I bought BitDefender AV 2008 because it was a good deal and had good reviews. It has turned out very well for me, and the reviews have held up for 2009.

It seems to be pretty easy on system resources.

This is a good source to check for AV reviews:
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Art

 

[KCI]

We have both been using AVG free for several years. Our computer club at Sun City Hilton Head has over a 1000 members and after many studies they highly recommend it. The link you need to download it is
http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe
Just make sure you set it to update everytime you turn it on your computer and do a computer search at least once a week. You'll have no problems. Good luck.
KCI's Wingman

 

[bogey21]

We have both been using AVG free for several years.........Just make sure you set it to update everytime you turn it on your computer and do a computer search at least once a week. You'll have no problems.

I like Free AVG also. The first thing I do every morning after signing on the internet (I use Verizon boradband) is update AVG manually. It takes maybe 60 seconds.

George

 

[Icarus]

Glynda,

The best paid product, IMO, is eset nod32. I have it on my M1330, and it's great. It's better than any of the free products. (It just always does it's thing and never bothers you at all.)

I moved away from AVG Free A/V, since they have had some very high profile problems recently. I don't recommend AVG Free A/V anymore for multiple reasons. (If you have it and like it, that's fine. You can keep using it if you want to.)

Avast is a very good free A/V product, if you want a free one. (And/or you can research the other one that Blues recommended.)

Those of you that want to replace AVG with Avast, download Avast first, then exit all browsers and programs, then remove AVG free (reboot when it says to), then install Avast.

-David

 

[Icarus]

I like Free AVG also. The first thing I do every morning after signing on the internet (I use Verizon boradband) is update AVG manually. It takes maybe 60 seconds.

George

George,

It should be updating the virus definitions itself several times a day. If it is, there's no need to do it manually. All of the A/V products, free or paid, have an automatic update feature.

-David

 

[Icarus]

You can get eset nod32 for $9.99 from newegg with a promo code, EMCBCBBBH.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832114005

Enter the promo code at checkout, the price should be $9.99 + tax, and you can select free shipping if you live on the US mainland. It's physical media, not a download.

Source: Post #85 in this FT thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/812627-bailing-avg-antivirus-3.html

(The link in post #85 in that thread doesn't work, use the one I posted in this post.)

As with all paid A/V products, it's a subscription. You will eventually have to renew it.

-David

 

[Glynda]

AVG

I use AVG...its free also.

I remember quite a few liking that one and I wondered if it is still popular.
Hubby had some difficulty downloading it on to his old computer so am not certain he will want to do it again.

 

[Glynda]

Thanks...

You can get eset nod32 for $9.99 from newegg with a promo code, EMCBCBBBH.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832114005

Enter the promo code at checkout, the price should be $9.99 + tax, and you can select free shipping if you live on the US mainland. It's physical media, not a download.

Source: Post #85 in this FT thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/812627-bailing-avg-antivirus-3.html

(The link in post #85 in that thread doesn't work, use the one I posted in this post.)

As with all paid A/V products, it's a subscription. You will eventually have to renew it.

-David

Thanks! That's a new one to me. I'll read about it! I would like to have a box to open and something to install right away as we'll be in Florida on dial-up for almost two weeks and I know he's going to want to play with it before getting back to broadband and easy downloading.

 

[Glynda]

Forgot...

Thanks! That's a new one to me. I'll read about it! I would like to have a box to open and something to install right away as we'll be in Florida on dial-up for almost two weeks and I know he's going to want to play with it before getting back to broadband and easy downloading.

Ah, I forgot. I didn't order a modem for dial-up on his new laptop anyway!

 

[Icarus]

If you want to download one right away, download it on your computer, and put the .exe installer on a usb memory stick. You can copy it over or run it from there on the new computer.

You can use Avast until you get the media from newegg, if you want to go that way. Or you can download and use the nod32 free trial until you get the physical media with the registration code. In theory, you should just be able to use the registration code and not have to re-install it.

-David

 

[The Conch Man]

I totally agree with your Norton (Symantec) statement but not McAfee. Been using their product for many years now & they always caught anything that might try to enter your puter & I've never had one problem with using them!

Their software has a menu to set-up that's way far better than any anti-virus out there but I have used AVG in the past as I have with Trend Micro & liked it, still use it to scan puter but McAfee comes with my ISP provider & some years ago McAfee didn't have a strong hold on the Internet, as it does now.

Having read so many negative comments about Norton and McAfee over the years, I ordered it without an antivirus.

What's the best one to get?

Thanks!

 

[JeffW]

For those using AVG, are you using the older version 7 (think 7.5), or the newer version 8? I originally heard issues with version 8 (supposedly workable by tweaking the installation), but I didn't want to deal with that, so I've installed v7. I'm wondering if they've been corrected so that a standard install install of version 8 works fine.

I've read good things about nod32, I might give that a try.

I used to use NAV (Norton), but the 2009 version caused issues on two of my computers. I removed it and replaced it with AVG v7 (at least for now). My father though runs NAV 2009 supposedly without problems, so I'm not sure what the deal with it is.

Jeff

 

[Makai Guy]

For those using AVG, are you using the older version 7 (think 7.5), or the newer version 8? I originally heard issues with version 8 (supposedly workable by tweaking the installation), but I didn't want to deal with that, so I've installed v7. I'm wondering if they've been corrected so that a standard install install of version 8 works fine.

Have used AVG8 (free version) for quite a few months now. Only problem I've had is that it installs an extension called AVG Safe Search into my Firefox installation. This created some problems for me with the way tabs opened up, and if I remember right, problems with entering URLS directly in the URL bar. All that was required to fix this was to deactivate the AVG Safe Search extension.

 

[Icarus]

Doug,

You should install it without the safe search option for best results.

Read this post for instructions (command line switches when running the installer):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/9959582-post61.html

Yes, you have to have that switch twice.

I had it installed that way (unchecking the optional features at install time) on the computer that I moved to Avast last week. Basically it worked fine that way, and was fast and unobtrusive, but I just don't trust them anymore.

-David

 

[Icarus]

For those using AVG, are you using the older version 7 (think 7.5), or the newer version 8? I originally heard issues with version 8 (supposedly workable by tweaking the installation), but I didn't want to deal with that, so I've installed v7.

...

Jeff

If you are still getting updates for v7.5, it's not going to last long. For the licensed version, updates will end at the end of the year, unless they changed that. I'm not sure if you're getting any updates for the free version anymore.

Are you still getting virus definition and program updates for v7.5? virus definitions are usually updated daily these days, maybe even more frequently. Well, even if you are, you are going to have to do something soon. Your choice, I guess.


-David

 

[Kal]

I've been using Trend Micro Internet Security for years and am totally happy with the product. I just got the 2009 version for $16 and it allows use on 3 computers. Hey, for that price there's no need to fuss about going cheap with lesser products. It's already downloaded 12 updates in the last 5 days....automatically.

 

[Jbart74]

I have to chime in here. As many of you know, I had a complete computer failure less than 4 months ago. I was running Trend Micro Pro with daily auto updates. It failed me and I lost the majority of my archived work from a 15 year career. It was, to say the least, a horrible experience. As I have stated before, I wasn't backing up like I should have been, and that is my fault, but Trend Micro Pro let the most horrible sort of virus into my computer. And I sure did pay for it.

I now use Symantec Endpoint Protection for small businesses as recommended by the 19 year old co-worker of mine who recovered some of my files before wiping my computer clean and reinstalling Windows. This kid has been an assistant to me for 4 years while in high school because he could understand the computer systems that I needed to use in my business. It's amazing what our children know about computers!

Just my HUMBLE opinion... as always.

 

[easyrider]

We use McAfee and it seems to work well but does seem to slow our computers down when it auto scans. It cost over $50.00 but you can protect 3 machines with one subscription.

 

[JeffW]

Looks like I missed the boat on the $9.99 price, the discount code is no longer valid. Maybe I'll give version 8 a try until I find another sale on nod32.

Jeff

 

[Kal]

...I now use Symantec...

Interesting experience with Trend. Like I said, I've used Trend for many, many years and there has never been an instance where it did not perform flawlessly.

For Symantec, I'll NEVER, NEVER buy any software with their name on it. Absolutely miserable customer service experience where their answer to a problem with the software was to purchase another copy even though I was using a fully licensed software that I purchased from Symantec.