Anti-virus/ firewall what to use and what not to use

[fusionx449]

i want to know if bullguard is a good antivirus program

also id like to know what you guys use, why its safe and why you think it was agood in the first place.

furthermore what makes a good anti virus...ie updates, visual updates (pop ups to show whats changed, how your pc was at threat etc)

thank you

edit: my pc had norton first...funny how norton claims to be so good and i had 4 viruses :S

[Punkster]

i've been using norton and i think it worked fine in getting rid of and preventing viruses, but it really used up all my CPU resources so i often found myself switching it off and not bothering to uuse any anti-virus software at all.

I'm not sure, but I haven't got any viruses in ages even though i don't technically have any anti-virus protection (i don't think so anyway). Perhaps it's because i only download from sources i trust? I do use limewire sometimes to get music. Or perhaps i'm lucky.

If i were to get anti-virus software i think i would use kaspersky. From reviews, it appears to run quite nicely in the background without slowing down the PC. Norton is rubbish tbh.

[Head_Shot_FPSK_1UP]

yuh norton is bad i had it wen i had my 98..it mested with all my controls didnt really stop any viruses but i heard about kaspersky its sounds good from reviews.

[MurdersGalore]

Kaspersky is good. I used it for about a year. Then I switched to NOD 32. It uses barely any resources and has daily updates (sometimes multiple small updates usually no bigger then 50k in size). I would say that NOD 32 performs better then Kaspersky as far as taking less resources is concerned. Kaspersky does have it whipped on user friendliness and having a nicer interface. For the most part the performance difference would hardly be noticed.

[Punkster]

Yeh, the next time i think i've got a virus i'll get kaspersky and it should solve my problems. Norton is also annoying in the way that there is no easy way of switching the bloody resource-wasting program off.

The only way i know of to completely have it switched off is to go into msconfig and uncheck all the boxes that have "symantec" next to them. Very annoying, so i have it switched off nearly all the time now, and yet i still haven't had any viruses in ages.

[freezeflamer]

Yeh, the next time i think i've got a virus i'll get kaspersky and it should solve my problems. Norton is also annoying in the way that there is no easy way of switching the bloody resource-wasting program off.

The only way i know of to completely have it switched off is to go into msconfig and uncheck all the boxes that have "symantec" next to them. Very annoying, so i have it switched off nearly all the time now, and yet i still haven't had any viruses in ages.

Kaspersky? It's alright, but I really recommend Grisoft AVG. It's free and has kept my system safe for absolutely ages. And In conjunction with SpyCatcher, Spybot S&D and Spyware Doctor (all free antispyware programs), my system doesn't have many problems.

As for firewalls, we have a hardware firewall, and we use Windows Firewall to keep out any nasties that get through.

[halo-fan-4ever]

try AVG or Avast for anti virus and use spy bot search and destroy for malware

[Punkster]

oh right, i didn't know grisoft AGV was free. I might use that once my norton finishes.

[zaminder]

For me it's NOD32. Uses very few resources and seems very good at catching and blocking potential problems. Haven't had a virus since I started using.

[halo-fan-4ever]

For me it's NOD32. Uses very few resources and seems very good at catching and blocking potential problems. Haven't had a virus since I started using.
yeah i use that, coz i bought my pc in spain and i think NOD32 is spainish so it came as standard, it detects stuff pretty well and even most trojans (which helps alot if u like to download stuff from limewire)

[fusionx449]

i see lots of comments aimed directly at me, which is right however im asking also for some sort of small review for other users, which again is happening...can anyone explain to me how to maek a vote for the most use or prefered anti virus?

if you guys know explain please thank you

[Punkster]

i'm trying to uninstall norton anti-virus software and it's taking bloody ages. it took ages to install in the first place as well. pisses me off.

I wana use AVG instead as its free and i'll probably use some other free anti-spyware software.

EDIT: it's so bloody difficult to uninstall properly!! it's almost as bad as the viruses! I hate Norton now. It's done nothing but take up space on my PC, slow down it down and been a pain in the arse in general.

[fusionx449]

never thought norton is so bloody bad...

could it be norton is actually owned by ms?

i figure this because most PC users (non hardcore internet/gamers users) are offered norton

[Punkster]

i can't believe this. I have to d/l a separate norton removal tool coz it's impossible to uninstall it from add/remove programs list!

ARGH! Why won't it just go away?!

EDIT: this norton removal tool better work or ima be very angry!!

is it possible to uninstall norton, by going to program files and simply deleting the norton directory??

EDIT2: WOOT! finally uninstalled it! I swear after restarting the PC, it works so much faster now, even though techinically i never had norton running anyway, coz i switched it off?! probly psychological effect!

[fusionx449]

try to defragment your pc now :D works wonders even if its little

[Punkster]

yes i need to defrag my PC, coz i've been installing and deleting so much crap lately. hopefully, it will make games smoother and decrease loading times.

probly won't make a difference though.

However, getting rid of Norton really did increase my frame rate in the game of Timeshift! that's how crap Norton is.

[spike2937]

i recommend kaspersky :D

it's really good

i used to have nortan and it slowed down my pc so much, my pc was faster when it was turned off...

when i changed from nortan to kaspersky it found viruses that nortan didn't even know about

so yeh...kaspersky is awesome :D

[ipmart_computers]

Yes if you want to know Kaspersky AV is on top of the chart compare to other Anti-Virus software nowadays. You can find people selling it on ebay like crazy with price at USD 200 per box for 3 licenses. From my own experience since using the Kaspersky my pc is having peace till now. The best things about Kaspersky is its simplicity of the interface which can run under minimum processing machine and less complicated but yet effective.

Any viruses external viruses that comes from USB flash drive, diskettes, cdrom can be automatically detected before you transfer the entire file from the media. Making your pc completely safe. Kaspersky also updated its database once every 24 hours to keep their virus database up to date against trojan, worms, malwares, etc.

[Shooting Palanx]

Pretty much what the others have said, Kapersky.

I used to have Norton but it was too annoying for me, changed to AVG, and now I have Kapersky which runs more smoother and doesn't affect the speed of my pc :)

[ipmart_computers]

Pretty much what the others have said, Kapersky.

I used to have Norton but it was too annoying for me, changed to AVG, and now I have Kapersky which runs more smoother and doesn't affect the speed of my pc :)

I used Norton before and it didn't even detect a minor trojan that live in my windows system32 for so long. I was wondering why something my PC go crazy deleting and selecting icons on the desktop automatically. I turned to AVG because its free, but instead of removing virus it storing virus without my knowledge and quite plenty of them. It can only do quarantine but refuse to remove the viruses because it does not know how lol :D

[Punkster]

i think i've been using my computer for over a year without any anti-virus software running in the background now and i haven't had any major problems in that time. i think i did accidentally download some adware, but quickly got rid of that using AVG free edition.

i think that it's not absolutely necessary to have anti-virus software. so far i've either been lucky or just intelligent for not falling into the trap of clicking on the wrong things.

i reckon you can avoid most viruses if you just be careful what you click on or download. i've got loads of stuff from peer 2 peer sharing protocols and i'm still safe.

[kkid]

i use the most recent norton, What i like about ti is that if there is a complete software update during the time you have a subscription, you get the new software fromt he net, free of charge and your subscription is continued.

and it is updated int hings like virus research thingys all the time.