9 replies to this topic

[Monalisa]

Which antivirus software provide maximum security to one's computer and is best to use ? Kindly answer me as I am sick of these virus attacks to my PC

[kmillerusaf]

I don't think there's a best per say or one that is going to stop everything from getting in. BUT some FREE recommended A/V programs would be AVG 8, Avira Antivirus, and Antivir.

The best way to stay safe against viruses is safe surfing habits. Know what websites to go to and which to avoid, always scan files first after downloading them before opening, and make sure you have a firewall on (Windows Firewall is sufficient if you have a router)

[tcoffeep]

This question has so many answers its not funny.

I, personally, use F-Secure with ClamWin as a backdrop, while I also have MBAM, SUPERanti-Spyware, Spybot, and Spyware Blaster.

[edit] : Ninja'd!

[Keithuk]

Welcome to Piriform Monalisa.

Monalisa, on Jan 28 2009, 11:25 AM, said:

Which antivirus software provide maximum security to one's computer and is best to use ? Kindly answer me as I am sick of these virus attacks to my PC

There is a pinned topic on this subject you may have seen it, have a read.

http://forum.pirifor...showtopic=17628

Which system you have installed at the moment? If you are saying you are sick of these virus attacks then it isn't working very good, I would think. I've used McAfee for 12 years without any problems then it wouldn't do updates 18 months ago so I changed to AVG 7.5 Free Edition. That found a virus that McAfee never found. AVG updates are becoming a pain this year it just stops reponding with errors. I installed a later version of 7.5 and that updated for a week now that stops reponding.

There are a few free ones and plenty if you want to pay to use them, the choice is yours.

[Andavari]

I personally like Avast Antivirus Home Edition out of all the free av's currently available simply for the fact it doesn't have any update issues like some of the others, and it has various shields to protect the system. The only thing though is disabling the installation of skins gives it an easy-to-use traditional interface.

[kmillerusaf]

Andavari, on Jan 28 2009, 08:46 AM, said:

I personally like Avast Antivirus Home Edition out of all the free av's currently available simply for the fact it doesn't have any update issues like some of the others, and it has various shields to protect the system. The only thing though is disabling the installation of skins gives it an easy-to-use traditional interface.

I forgot about Avast! Also noted, I've never used any other A/V outside of AVG. I was thinking about trying some of the others but I know for a fact they are among the most recommended on forums!

[YoKenny]

I use avast! Free and Avira Antivirus on my old PIII because I could not get avast! to run on it.

Malwarebytes MBAM is not an anti virus application but is a very good application to have.

I would not have Norton nor McAfee even if they gave me a system to run either of them on.

AVG has become a bit bloated and the forum for it is terrible and one of the reasons I switched to avast!

Chose one and keep it updated at least daily.

[DennisD]

I would also suggest Avast simply because I've used it almost exclusively for the past couple of years, and as Andavari points out, it's updating is usually daily and completely trouble free.

You also need to have a Firewall running. Make sure you at least have the inbuilt Firewall active. If you have XP, you won't do much better than Windows Firewall for an inbound only protection.

[Humpty]

As a non antivirus user I would recommend Avira or Avast with Malwarebyte's Antimaslware and SuperAntispyware as on demand.

Below is a sample of a rogue antivirus, Winiguard, which was zero day yesterday, meaning no av/as detected it at the time and re-uploaded to Virus Total a day later to see who was detecting it.

Yesterday:

Quote

File setup.exe received on 01.27.2009 23:19:42 (CET)
Current status: finished
Result: 0/39 (0.00%)

Virus Total

Today:

Quote

File setup.exe received on 01.28.2009 23:53:59 (CET)
Current status: finished
Result: 2/38 (5.26%)

Virus Total

[Andavari]

DennisD, on Jan 28 2009, 05:13 PM, said:

You also need to have a Firewall running. Make sure you at least have the inbuilt Firewall active. If you have XP, you won't do much better than Windows Firewall for an inbound only protection.

I'd like to add to that for anyone that uses the ISP Qwest and is using a Qwest Actiontec DSL modem. My model has a built-in hardware firewall which has to be manually enabled. When coupled with Windows Firewall together they offer solid firewall protection.