Antivirus Software Roundup -- Protect Your PC From Guys Like This!
Posted 12/22/08 at 12:00:00 PM by Paul Lilly
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Behind every piece of malware—be it a virus, spyware, or any other form of hostile, destructive code—is a sneaky, scheming scoundrel, oftentimes someone you’d never suspect. Antivirus suites promise to defend your PC against all the baddies. We test 10 of the leading products to see which ones are best at keeping your PC safe.
You don’t need a military background to recognize that the Internet has turned intoa war zone. Not only are you always under attack, but the bad guys possess a seemingly endless arsenal of weapons that are constantly changing. Set foot in the wrong website and you might be stepping into a booby trap of malicious Javascript code. Toolbars and greeting cards come laced with spyware, hackers are finding new exploits faster than software vendors can patch the old ones, and rootkits have given virtual villains a way to stealthily penetrate deep into your system at the kernel level.
And if all that weren’t enough, social networking continues to sweep the web, making it even easier for morally bereft miscreants to spread their foul files. Can you really trust that MySpace page you’re viewing not to contain some hidden element ready to do you harm? You even need to be suspicious of IMs, and that includes messages seemingly originating from contacts on your buddy list. It’s enough to make you want to wave the white flag—and if you plan on going into battle alone, you probably should.
But you don’t have to fight the fight all on your lonesome. Several security vendors offer software packages that not only promise protection against viruses, but also purport to run off rootkits, stop spam dead in its tracks, and even circumvent websites from loading hidden malware before it has a chance to run amok on your PC. This got us wondering, just how much protection is actually necessary?
To answer that question, we hit up all the major security vendors and asked them to send us their most robust packages. We also gathered the most popular free antivirus programs for comparison. After all, power users know how to practice safe computing habits, which can go a long way toward PC safety. We’ll cut through the hype to tell you if the protection you get with a paid app is any better than what you can get for free—or if the paid programs, which have become so huge as of late, are too unwieldy and ultimately more troublesome than the viruses they’re meant to combat.
Our Testing Methodology
It doesn’t matter how effective an AV app is at catching viruses if it means we have to suffer through constant nagging or performance degradation in our day-to-day computing. We’ve identified the five criteria by which security apps should be judged.
System Performance and Scan Speed
We know you spent time researching components and toiling over your system build, so why let a poorly optimized program transform your hot rod into a horse and buggy? To gauge each AV package’s performance impact, we loaded up a series of action scripts in OSMark (http://tinyurl.com/OSMark), paying close attention to both memory and CPU activity. We then compared the results to that of a clean install.
We’re also interested in how long it takes to complete a full system scan. In today’s dual- and quad-core landscape, you no longer have to sit idly by waiting for a scheduled scan to finish, but if you suspect your system has become ill, you won’t want to do much of anything until your virus scanner produces a clean bill of health. With stopwatch in hand, we measured the time it took each program to run through its routine.
Annoyance
Whether we’re using our PC for work or play, we don’t want to be bothered with near-constant nagging from our security software. An AV app should integrate seamlessly with the OS and be able to do its job with minimal interaction from the end user, while still offering at least some level of customization. Otherwise, it’s no less obtrusive than the viruses it’s supposed to be protecting against.
In order to assess how much each app intrudes on our day-to-day life, we performed a variety of common tasks to see how the AV software responds, if at all. This includes web surfing, downloading files, running executables, playing games, and everything else you’re likely to do with your PC.
We also took into account how much harassment we can expect to receive when the subscription runs out.
Features and Implementation
Anyone who’s ever shopped for a new car knows what it’s like to be pressured into paying extra for all kinds of upgrades. And just because the salesman is attempting to increase his profit margin doesn’t mean you can’t both benefit from tacking on useful additions, but that only works if you’ll actually use the added amenities. Do you really need six cup holders in a two-seat sports car?
Likewise, there’s no point in owning a security suite stuffed with apps if most of them suck. Not only that, but you need to consider whether this added functionality is easy to use and how much pestering you can expect from disabling unused features. We take all this into consideration.
Pricing
Let’s be honest, nobody likes to pay for software utilities. It doesn’t matter that we spent an entire week’s pay on two of the hottest videocards so we can squeeze a few more frames per second out of Crysis or that we took out a loan to fund the fastest processor money shouldn’t buy (hey, it comes with an unlocked multiplier!), there’s just something about paying for security software that feels sacrilegious. Maybe it’s because the free alternatives have done so well in the past. Whatever the reason, these paid apps have to prove their worth in the bang-for-buck department. Higher-priced suites should come with a bevy of useful features, offer a high level of customization, be easy to navigate, and, above all, perform competently.
Virus Detection
We don’t care what method each AV application uses to identify and disinfect viruses, so long as it gets the job done. The only way to find that out is to bombard each package with a multitude of payloads representing the thousands of viruses running rampant in the wild. Rather than scour the web trying to build up a repository of infected files, we turned to the experts to lend us a hand.
Virus Bulletin (www.virusbtn.com) is an independent testing lab whose certifications are sought after by antivirus vendors. We scrutinized the latest detection results for each AV app and paid attention to the percentage of viruses caught, which includes Trojans, polymorphic viruses, worms, bots, and more, and then we punished each app with our own collection of malware.
Malware Terminology 101
A computer virus is a piece of software or code capable of reproducing itself and spreading to other systems, but the term is often used to describe a multitude of threats. The effects of malware can range from mildly annoying to completely debilitating, sometimes costing corporations thousands of dollars in downtime and manpower to heal the outbreak. Let’s have a look at the different types of infections.
Trojan horse: Named after the mythological wooden horse used to sneak Odysseus and other Greek heroes into roy, a Trojan horse will masquerade as a legitimate program but will unleash a harmful payload once installed.
Worm: Computer worms are self-replicating programs that burrow into systems, seeking out vulnerabilities to exploit. The ability to spread all on their own makes worms particularly dangerous.
Spyware: Ever feel like you’re being watched? If your PC is infected with spyware, you just might be. Even worse, spyware not only monitors your activities but can also hijack your system with redirected web searches and other annoyances.
Polymorphic: To avoid detection, polymorphic malware constantly changes its own code, often using encryption with a variable key. This stealthy technique poses a problem for typical scanners.
How To Avoid Viruses
Captain Obvious says that the best way to prevent infection is to avoid viruses in the first place, but what he doesn’t tell you is how to do it. And even though hackers continue to get more cunning in both delivery and execution, you can tip the odds considerably in your favor by practicing safe and sane computing.
If you receive an unknown or unexpected attachment, don’t open it no matter who it came from. Not only are some viruses capable of emailing themselves to everyone they find in an infected user’s address book, but inexperienced computer users are just as guilty of passing along payloads as hackers are of distributing them.
BitTorrent sites and peer-to-peer networking clients are also common modes of spreading infection. When attempting to download a legitimate program—a Linux distro, for instance —use the link provided at the vendor’s website. Pirated software is a particularly popular source of malware, so if your moral compass doesn’t steer you toward the straight and narrow, the risk of infection should.
And finally, get in the habit of regularly checking for software updates. New exploits are always being discovered in Windows, QuickTime, web browsers, and other common programs.
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Submitted by dcy0588136 on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 6:41pm
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Submitted by yukiscamp on Wed, 10/07/2009 - 12:56pm
the best AV out there is not on here anywhere that would be Trend Micro (formerly PCcillin).
I started with Norton years ago, it drove me nuts with constant notifications, oh and about once a year it decided my network was a threat and blocked it out. I wasted so much time fixing Norton so it would let me do normal things, it drove me nuts. Maybe Norton has changed but do I want to take the chance? No, not when I have a perfectly good antivirus that never gives me a lick of trouble.
I discovered PC-cillin when it came preloaded with my current computer a couple years ago. Its been a dream to run, never causes a problem never hassles me, I couldn't ask for better.
Submitted by bzbuck on Tue, 07/21/2009 - 5:52pm
I use to use Norton, tried Kaspersky, then started checking out ESET.....all I can say is wow. They are great, a few downfalls, but great. I have to believe that Norton takes up more system resources then ESET. That is one thing ESET is know for...lowest amount of resourrces on your computer. Tried Avira, but man it brought any PC I used to a crawl. AVG is OK, and PC Tools I believe was actually bought by..hhhmmm let me think......oh yeah I believe it was Norton(Symantec). Kind of funny.
Submitted by jsps999 on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 3:03pm
In Year 1900 - 108 years ago - 1/3 of the motor vehicles in NYC were electric-powered.
Submitted by stretch2007 on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 1:13pm
After trying other antivirus programs, So far I have had the best luck with ESET. It does not slow down the
computer any even when doing a full system scan.
Submitted by MrBlonde81 on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 7:46am
I think NIS 2009 rating should be downgraded to 8 due to it's behavior of installing Firefox toolbars. I don't want the damn Norton IPS which installed when NIS was, or the latest Norton Toolbar which installed itself or updated and re-enabled itself today! Well, disabling the unwanted add-ons is easy, but you cannot uninstall them.
It's still a good program. I'm glad I paid for it (well, I sent in the MIR from frys and haven't recieved that back yet... that's another story)but this toolbar instalation isn't cool.
Submitted by jesicajame on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 8:09am
If you are like me and tired many different scans in the past looking for something that will protect and clean your computer, give Search-and-destroy Antispyware a try. I found that the antispyware solution from Search-and-destroy (http://www.Search-and-destroy.com) is an excellent choice. It’s less expensive than many of the other scans I’ve tired but it finds the same type of bugs that can damage and ruin my computer. I am so happy with this scanner that I want to tell everyone about it so you can give it a try to. I’m sure you will love it.
Submitted by Max PC Rox on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 4:38am
Hey,
Do you mind updating the article to the new version of avira av?
It now has free antispyware and free anti adware.
-Matt Oakville, On, Oakville
NAV 360
Submitted by OvenFresh on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 1:29pm
The article was about NIS 2009 not the dreaded 360. You bought the wrong stuff.
Notron AntiVirus 360 2.0
Submitted by nemsis7377 on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 9:32am
After reading January's artical on Antivirus software, I went out and bought Norton 360 2.0. I am tech myself. So I know how to install software. My PC is new and very stable. I installed 360 and it compleatly destabilized
my machine. A right click on any folder would send windows into tail spin! This is not the first time I tried Norton, but it will be the last. And I am out $70 bucks plus tax!
Submitted by Woofa on Sun, 02/01/2009 - 1:58pm
Yeah, it makes you sound cool to dismiss Symantec's products, however your coolness is not reality.
I could leave my comments at that but I won't and yes I'm going to rip into fools that think NIS is junk and that their beloved this or that is great. Most of you show how little you know with your comments. To paraphrase some "my Avast doesn't look like that", are you stupid? Did you pay attention to your install? Get rid of your junk Avast anyway. Glad to see that this roundup brought out PC Tools for what it is, complete and utter junk, no matter the version. NIS features that don't work in Vista 64, the right click scan is the ONLY one I know of and apparently that MaxPC knows of as well or they'd list them. If there's more then MaxPC you need to list them not alude to there being more. Anyone know of more? Name them and lets see how crucial they are. I was disappointed in the right click scanning missing but it's not a make or break item. BIG DEAL. More to that is NIS (and obviously the AV alone as well) still tags a fair number of false hits. The fewest number of false hits I've gotten is with ESET. NIS doesn't work with Zone Alarm? So what? YoPa, you need a clue buddy and someone else already clued you in that you don't need nor would you want to use ZA with NIS. You can use either suite but I'd choose NIS of ZA anyday currently. Kapsersky, well this is another once very good product that's turned garbage, much like BitDefender which has become junk and unfriendly to knowledgable users.
Now here we come to the real meat on this issue. I don't see anywhere in the MaxPC's roundup here any mention of false hits. False hits are a huge issue. To keep down panic and refrain from trashing something that is harmless you don't want false hits to be very high. ESPECIALLY for any AV or Suite that doesn't give you an option to not delete or quarantine an item. Well NIS doesn't give you full control over this, so it's made for or dumbed down for stupid users that don't know what they are doing. This is a glaring fail point for me, it takes what I know NIS to be a very top notch and resource stingy suite to being at very best an 8 on the scale here. ESET is my choice. The biggest problem I have with ESET though is that they are now gouging on price with single user licenses costing what almost everyone else gives you 3 licenses for. Wake up ESET, your pricing strategy keeps me from successfully recommending your product to customers.
Acknowledge the reality that Symantec has once again made Norton products recommendable and just short of excellent. Get rid of taking away my control of all supposed risks and get the false hits in check and I'll use it again on my own systems. If you look you will see that MaxPC's results here fit right in with Virus Bulletin's. Like it or not all you Symantec haters, they actually do make a very effective tool and lately it has become a lot more system friendly making it a very good product except for what I noted above about full control over actions on all hits and false positves. Still on my personal systems that I have full control over I use ESET and the family currently gets NIS. Again speaking of VB, you'll notice that there are a lot of AV and suite venders that no longer want to take part in VB's testing. They like to paint it as if it's unfair or tainted but in reality their junk product just doesn't cut it so they don't want it scrutinized.
way to much fanboy anger
Submitted by jihnn on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 5:37am
dude
way to long like maybe 2 people actually read your post
should be headed
TOTAL FANBOY I'M RIGHT YOUR WRONG
bty i went back to the current norton product and find it a compelling and user frindly product that i recomend
Submitted by Jims45wow on Tue, 03/31/2009 - 7:29am
Let us textually stick our chins out that we may lash at one another. Parties separately feeling unreached and unreachable. Fallaciously minimized or superiorized as our delusions dictate. Keeping our teeth which grow in ways unseen by the biter.
Jim
Submitted by Jim Lee on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 4:46pm
As far missing the right click to scan, you can always make a "short-cut" to NAVW32.exe and put it on your "Sendto Menu" for quick custom scans of individual files/folders.....works for me. And YES, I too wish I had more control over false-positives.
False Hits At home Anvir
Submitted by nekollx on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 9:51am
False Hits
At home Anvir flaged of all things City of Heroes once (thats MMO)
Nod32 flaged at work Combofix (from the malway search and destroy article here on maxPC)
another interesting not to those dinging Nod32 because only "NIS and Anivir let me disable scanning with a right click of the system trey"
Open Nod32
Click "enable advanced options"
Now right click your system tray, real time scaning disable and a host of other options become available.
Submitted by YoPa on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 2:01pm
Normal
0Normal
0I am surprised given a known major incompatibility with Zone
Alarm Pro that Maximum PC wouldn't have mentioned this in their article.
With the only knock in the article review being some
features not working under Vista x64….
I feel Maximum PC dropped the ball on this one....
While Symantec should get some well deserved credit for the
NAV 09 product with its glorious new User Interface , resources management,
improved installation, configuration, and functionality the incompatibility
with Zone Alarm Pro really should have put the Kick A$$ award out of
reach.
Give it a 9, but leave the Award off..
NIS 2009 and Zone Alarm
Submitted by One4yu2c on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 4:05pm
The paid programs in our roundup were all-in-one suites, the point of which is to not have to seek additional security software. Given that NIS 2009 falls under this category and includes a capable firewall and spyware protection, there's no reason to run Zone Alarm Pro, or any other similar program, at the same time.
If you already own and/or want to run Zone Alarm Pro for whatever reason, your better bet for AV software is to install Avira's free AntiVir.
Ok, I'll give Norton another try (doh)
Submitted by piddler2 on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 3:57pm
I was surprised and delighted to see the review about Norton. I had used NAV quite a ways back but it became a resource hog and I ditched it for a free AV (Avast). So, I spent the money and purchased NAV, since I really don't mind paying money for a valuable piece of software, like AV protection. Well, that speedy scan the first go round (in the mag) took over a couple of hours on my machine (which is moderately loaded since I just did a complete system reinstall recently). Then the problems started, screwy stuff that I couldn't figure out, like why my machine mysteriously restarted in the middle of the night, then I would lose internet connection and Firefox would mysteriously crash and burn. Hmm, wonder if it could be Norton? I opened the program and saw all types of blocks that it had applied without my knowing it. Unknown processes it had stopped, Spybot it had blocked from accessing the internet, and dozens of other unexplained blocks which could not be undone. So, I unloaded Norton and low-and-behold my machine is back to normal again. Hmm, so much for your review. Back to Avast, which I love. Yes, the first real-boot time scan is slow and the interface looks hokey, but other than that it just works well. But, hey you can opt out of the real-boot time scan and do a regular scan before you go to bed.
Submitted by Christian Hart on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 6:41pm
Great article and useful comments, too. The comments led me to realize that I'd really not paid attention to the part on Norton. Like many of you, both Symantec products and technical support--should be called technical aggravation--left me repeatedly dissatisfied (to say the least).
But comments, and re-reading, caused me to question my bias about this new version. So, I downloaded it and tried to install--tried. Error message: Zone Alarm Pro is incompatible with NIS 2009. Well, OK, maybe NIS has it's own firewall. So, I then downloaded NAV 2009. Same error message.
And what is the solution offered (for both products) by the installer? Uninstall Zone Alarm Pro. I realize that installers don't have a sense of humor, so no joke. One might accept such arrogance from a company with a stellar track record. My experience with Symantec is anything but.
Still, maybe the message is simply terse, and I can reinstall Zone Alarm after installing NAV 2009? (I know, I'm hopelessly optimistic.) I waded through the chat support swamp but they confirmed that the products are incompatible. I can accept that *this* version is super new & improved. But in a battle for supremacy between two products, where one has a fairly solid history of reliability and the other has consistently elicited my contempt... You get my drift.
My conclusion: New product perhaps, but same old company.
Ironic punchline: the process of uninstalling current antivirus, attempting to install two products, and finally returning to baseline was all made much simpler by...Norton GoBack, a product that has served me flawlessly going all the way back to when WildFire first released it and is now slowly dying in the Symantec graveyard of purchased product lines.
Submitted by dallas7 on Sun, 01/04/2009 - 12:08pm
This review smacks of a transportation review that would go something like this: The fleet Ferd T-155 is the baddest, toughest most powerful pickup in the group. The Ditge's forty foot trailer allowed us to haul several cords of wood. The GMZ's leather seats and satellite radio kept us comfy and entertained. Three points for the Ferd, eight for the Ditge and a Kick Ass for the GMZ. While the free shuttle got us to the airport on time, it exposed us to food wrappers, sticky gum and smelly people. The $60,000 Licksus drove us in smooth comfort, luxurious appointments and... no riff raff!
All we gwet from this is a free single-task app won't do as well as an pricey full-blown suite. DUH.
Comparing the performance of packages with a "yes" under every feature (McAfee and Symantec) to AVG with three and those in between was absurd. BTW, did anyone notice that, according to that comparison chart, PC Tools does... nothing.
This article is a shining representation of what has become the dumbing down of Maximum PC, more in tune with the likes belonging in the publications catering to the computer illiterati. ("An AV app should...be able to do its job with minimal interaction from the end user, ...some level of customization." Oh yeah, that's why I buy MAXIMUM PC.) We geeks would need an analysis of stand alone apps and how well they protect and behave together. Say, Avira and Threatfire with Spyware Doctor and/or Comodo Firewall and BoClean?
Seems here that instead of a article on assembling a killer vehicle built on the best chassis with the most useful components, we get a review of assembly line cars and trucks picked from the catchiest commercials after a round of channel surfing from those expert at pushing a remote button.
Finally, I don't believe for a minute that PC Tools provided an AV-only app as their "the most robust" package. A simple visit to their Web site would reveal PC Tools Internet Security fits that bill (followed by Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus and the Email Guard and Behavior Guard add-ons). If indeed Maximum PC did receive only AntiVirus Free from them, it should have raised a red flag, the very least being some kind of miscommunication. I singled out PC Tools here as the most blatant misrepresentation in this review. Obviously, there were several others.
__________________________________________________
"Machines making machines! How perverse..." -3CPO
Submitted by David44010 on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 7:20pm
as previously stated, I've used norton products since the 3.1 days, but also as previously stated they lost their kinghood from around 2004 to the present, and in that vein, I would like to ask for a little suggestive help.
listed above in this artical are some choices for Antivirus protection, in the comments a suggestion or 2 for fire walls, which is also good.
what I would like now is either links to articals/reviews for firewalls, and utility suites, namely defrag and registry fixing utilities, things that work as well as the Norton Systemworks suites used to work, or maybe better?
have there been any suit reviews on MaxPC? if so what are the links please.
thanks, this is an awsome mag'
Submitted by b00tpwnz4ll on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 6:32am
Ignorance is bliss I guess... lol... Anyways, I started using Eset NOD32 on my AMD Duron 850 back in the day and was shocked at how lightly it loaded even that system. Now I run Smart Security 3 on my Q6600 running Vista Ultimate and it's just as light and efficient. Plus I can keep idiots who use my machine out of social networking sites and whatever else. I'd not even know it was there were it not for my Raptor X 150, lol. Occasionally I do go to some fairly unscrupulous websites but I tend to do that in my Windows 7 Ultimate Beta partition running in Sun Microsystem's Virtualbox (Shameless plug).
Let's see... Other than that, please don't fool yourself into thinking your machine is virus free with nothing to detect anything. That's just folly. Take care everyone and happy new year!
Submitted by supplystud on Wed, 12/31/2008 - 1:16pm
I was surprised to not see ZoneAlarm in this article. ZoneAlarm has consistently been listed as a top notch firewall, but Pro has a built in antivirus as well. I dumped Norton about three years ago and have been running ZoneAlarm only on five different machines. I was excited to see this article to get an opinion on the antivirus...but it was left out. I wonder if there is a reason for that?
Submitted by Batman on Wed, 12/31/2008 - 11:29am
Batman
I used to use Norton for the first half of this century (2000-2005) but it was getting to be a resource hog and slowing down my computer. Since I jumped on the Panda Antivirus wagon I haven't had a problem yet to date. At work the only thing they use is McAffee for the last 8 years and still going strong. My question is why wasn,t Panda included in this roundup of antivirus tests? I'm pretty sure it will hold up pretty good with the best of them.
Submitted by David44010 on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 8:38pm
I personally have been a Norton user for over 15 years, ever since windows 3.1, I have for the most part up untill the last couple of years been very happy with them, however over the last couple of years, as previously griped by others, it has become a resource hog with configuration issues, one of the biggest gripes I have had with Norton AV is the ability to tell it weither to ignore a file on the auto protect warning, it used to have an option that if a virus was found to ask the user what to do, but over the past couple of years that option for the auto protect feature was gone, and I lost several files that I knew were good and legit to the auto delete, has that option been returned?
I have been looking for alternitives to norton for sometime, the bad thing is you never know how good your av is untill you get nailed, and by that time it's to late, and by the same token you assume it's working if you get no flags.
McAfee has been a major gripe of mine for ages, I once had to un install it from a system for a client, it trashed the system to the point I had to completely redo the system, this was around 99 or 2k, seems the scanner created a kind of "gateway" to everything, in order to install or even run a program this gateway had to be there, even in safemode I was not able to even get into the registry to fix it, what a nightmare.
another popular program is bitdefender, it has been rated pretty good, but I didn't see it here either, although I tried it's online scanner a while back and thanks to a virtualization program survived that experiance, it deleted and lot of stuff with out even asking, and some of it was innocent stuff includeing 2 batch files froma batch file training program I had from DOS days, I had the distinction in my school of being the only guy to write a 4k byte batch file, and all it was was a self growing batch file used to demmonstrate what a worm would do.
anyway to make a long story short, I was very happy to have found this article, and am going to put some of it to good use.
is there a simular artical on firewalls and utility suites? not to happy with Norton speed disk any more, and the 2007 firewall wasn't to thrilling either.
any way keep up the good writing, and Happy New Year to all
Submitted by nekollx on Wed, 12/31/2008 - 8:52am
go with Anvantir, i recently switched from AV 8 to Avantir because of this article.
The system impact is negligible, i do get nagged every so often on what to do with "keygen.exe" an i tell it to just ignore it. So it will flag virus files and not delete the mbut it won't ourright ignore them compeltly so your "psudo worms" woudl be fine.
Now before anyone asks i have keygen as sort of my lazyman backup. Sometimes i loose a keep for stuff i already own, or i typed into my paskword bank wrong. Rather then hunt around for the original i just fire up keygen to get my legally obtained softwhere to work without the hedach of looking for some stupid 16 caracter alpha numeric key.
Submitted by chuckyBob on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 2:48pm
I noticed that "the lack of identity protection" was a negative comment about ESET's proggy, but was never mentioned in the discussion of McAfee and Norton products.
Just A question: what would an "identity protection" thingy be? And, how would it work?
--Chuck
Submitted by BobK2007 on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 8:18am
Just a dig here guys.....
I don't run any antivirus nor any antispywere....YET.....on my Linux box! Two years strong, no infections to report.
BUT on my Windows boxes I DO have protection and it pops up a warning now and then. AVG free on one box, Avast free on another box. Comodo firewall on both. I dumped ZoneAlarm ISS when my subscription ran out. Too many problems with runaway scans sucking 100% CPU time..
Funny story: I was surfing the inter-tubes one day and hit on a reputable site that had obviously been hijacked. A warning suddenly popped up on my screen saying a virus had been detected and AntiVirus 2008 was doing a scan for me. I knew this to be a known trojan but I let it play out. After 15-20 seconds another box popped up saying my "Microsoft was infected" and for $$$ I could download the program to fix it. Interesting event. At the time I was on my Linux box running PCLinuxOS2007 and my WindowsXP box was OFF. That's some strong scanner, it works on machines across the network that are not even running. Wow........ Closed the window, moved on to other things. No problems, no worries. Love my linux box!!!! I still use Windows....just not for mission-critical work.
Submitted by roninnder on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 6:24am
So if you don't use a virus scanner how do you know that you don't have any viruses?
Submitted by nekollx on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 10:23am
he just KNOWS
or psychic powerz...
OBVIOUSLY
AVG
Submitted by winmaster on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 5:48pm
I still use AVG 8. Yes, it is much more bloated than 7.5 was, but it offers good protection and is free. It also runs fine on my old Pentium III. I also use Zone Alarm Pro because I got a free one year license. Seriously, who wants to buy a piece of software to protect their PC, then buy it again next year because it "expired".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Submitted by Kaldor on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 7:28am
I dont need to spend $60 to get good AV. Use Avast, tweek it slightly, and be happy. Maybe the new Norton is better, but is it $60 a year per PC (I have 4) better? Doubt it.
Submitted by One4yu2c on Sat, 12/27/2008 - 2:16am
To clarify, NIS 2009 is good for up to 3 PCs per license.
Submitted by SpaceyJacey on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 5:06pm
Dustn525 Doesn't Even Have an Antivirus Installed - and hasn't had an virus in 2 years. How do you know that you don't have a virus if you don't have an Antivirus program? Some viruses aren't obvious and your computer could be compromised and you wouldn't even know it.
Submitted by Dustn525 on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 2:44pm
...i don't even run antivirus software. I haven't gotten a virus in 2 years now, and the trojan I got back in '06 was from a piracy site that I was suspicious of in the first place. The best weapon against viruses is common geek sense. I pitty the common fool who responds to the "click here" pop-ups. Come on, think.
Submitted by lwreynolds on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 8:05am
Why wasn't F-Secure reviewed? It is widely included with Charter Communications and I have seen it in past reviews.
Submitted by jihnn on Wed, 12/24/2008 - 8:36am
i am currently using kaspersky, i got the 1 puter disk off amazon for hmmm seems like $25 after rebate
it stays in the background pretty much, no complaints here. hope its working lol
norton norton norton just scares me. it is probaly the program that has given me the most grief over the years. i have actually used lots of different flavors of it. always an adventure
one install somehow set a password (i didn't) pretty much mucked my puter up, then it wouldnt let me uninstall without the password WTF thank god for system restore (the box that lets you change password, as the csr was telling me wasn't there)
one year i was renewing my scription and was told i had to uninstall old and it wouldn't, had to use some registry cleanup tool
another time i bought the 3 puter disk, installed on my puter then when i went to install on 2nd it only had 4 months left, guess it was my fault cause i couldn't read print that small.
then there was the year that an install was only a few months old and it kept telling me it was expired and wouldn't update. dealing with norton csr's is a learning xp.... ha i said xp
i actually bought uninstall software at some point in time just so i could get norton out of my computer sometimes it worked sometimes not, i actually tryed a few diff ones
whats with all the garbage it leaves in your puter when you do get it to uninstall
i actually manually did updates every day it will let you do that or at least it did, hmmmm kap sometimes updates a couple times a day oh well
this is just a personal burn for me this may be true now or not been awhile since i have used norton, if you just have the basic av there was always a box in red saying that your puter was at risk, guess what follow the links it takes you to website selling the spy-malware software ( i use 4 diff vendors for spy-maleware just so i get diff data bases to protect myself) how many people fell for this offhanded advertising
the truth in the goop is i will never ever ever, did i mention never ever yet, use norton again i have been burned way to many times with bulky nasty bloated horrible norton software best thing about norton is it comes in a yellow box
maybe i'm still a nub all i know is i have spent way to many hours trying to somehow get norton to do what it should have right out of the box
Submitted by Hg Dragon on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 1:35pm
Guys, I don't know where you got your copy of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, but everywhere I've seen it at retail, the $80 version of the suite says quite boldly on the box "3 Users," not just the online version as your article suggests. You can always give any extra licenses to friends/family like I did. I have also installed it on my machines at home and I do not remember having to perform more than a single reboot. Now, I also went and downloaded the latest build available on their site (freely available without having to pay for it, create an account, or navigate through multiple links) before I installed. I ran the installer and applied my key and only had to reboot once.
Granted, some of the interface elements are a bit... "finicky." Adding in exceptions to the firewall and trusting applications can be a bit confusing. This is probably due to some translation issues as the product is originally Russian, but it is worlds better than previous versions (in the interests of disclosure, I administer our AV at my company and we are running Kaspersky.) The web monitoring performance is much improved over previous versions as well. The spam handling interface could use a bit of work, though as there are very few option other than "Delete." The "Spam/Not Spam" buttons are in the main Outlook/Outlook Express windows only.
They also release updates every hour, while most other vendors are every couple of hours/daily. I've seen them release updates to quash new threats much, much sooner than Norton or McAfee. Their CSR's are also some of the better ones I've dealt with for when I've had issues that I simply couldn't resolve on my own.
Submitted by nekollx on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 1:59pm
that may be true but there are better AV suites avaible as the article clearly states
AVAST!!
Submitted by wk on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 10:56am
So is Avast that bad?
in my experience no. I used AVG 7.5 and it was decent. upgraded to AVG 8 and a lot of problem arise.
then I installed both Avira (on Vista) and Avast (on XP). Avira is really good except for long and slow updates. Avast despite of its strange interface (that can be changed) is also very good, i use it to scan every cd, flash ram, ...etc. at work and it kept my laptop clean and eliminating all hazards, beside that i don't think it is a system hog, i played few games (mainly fallout 3) with Avast installed and never notice any influence on performanc.
c'mon guys Avast at least desirve 8. just try it and u will see.
MPC is my home page
I'm running the latest OEM
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 1:46am
I'm running the latest OEM version of NIS 2009 90day trial and it's really cool. I really like it. I was using the McAffee internet security suite that Cox Cable offers free to it's customers.
I never thought that there would ever be a Norton AV product let alone a suite that feels lite weight while being extremely powerfull.
Norton Internet Security suite 2009 feels very lite. It's extremely easy on your resources. And it's only $49bucks on the website to extend my subscription.
(I'm running an OEM version that offers a 90subscription that came with a cheap laptop)
I can get used to this.
Thanks for the great article Paul. I think I mentioned before that you did an excellent job on this article and I'm very impressed. Big pat on the back for Paul Lilly. Great Job.
Will please give this man a Kudos on this article. It's one of the best written and layed out in a little while.
norton hate
Submitted by Gailim on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 11:33pm
yeesh people cant read. THEY COMPLETELY RE-BUILT THE PROGRAM!!!!
that means that you need to erase any preconception you had about norton. if you had it and it sucked that has no bearing at all on this new version. belive me I was right with you. before this article I would literally laugh at anyone using norton.
so they have the best AV now. good for them. good for your average joe because a lot of people have norton preinstalled.
time to adjust your perception. I can't belive you would rather acuse MPC of being on the take then belive Symatec (a company with a budget in the millions) could put out a good product. shame shame.
Submitted by theevildarkmage on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 9:03pm
Why would you compare AVIRA AntiVir FREE to the other AntiVirus programs? Could you not afford the Premium version which has every option that Norton has. If you had read www.av-comparatives.org you would have seen that AVIRA AntiVir Premium beat Norton hands down.
Submitted by shellpc on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 12:13am
Prolly because of space and time constraints. This article was published in this month's issue.
It would've been nice seeing an extended review here that included the for pay versions of AntiVir and Avast! though. Plus where are the benchmarks?
Avast!
Submitted by dankers on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 3:29pm
If I remember correctly (and I probably don't) theres an option in the installer for full (with skins) and minimal (without skins) I used to use the minimal and I know for sure that it didn't have that interface (which isn't all that bad guys c'mon). I use avast! on all of the pcs I build for friends and I'll tell you why; no one likes to run virus scans. I don't care if the scans take 10 minutes or an hour, people would rather have on-access protection. The registration thing is a bit of a hassle but it takes 2 minutes and once you get a key it seems you can install it on as many pcs as you like, I must have installed it using the same key on at least 5 machines.
Submitted by kc7wbq on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 9:33am
Awesome article guys, thanks for doing all that research.
I'm also using Avast!. I used AVG for a while, but wanted to try out Threatfire when you recommended it about a year ago. You said AVG and Threatfire don't work well together so I switched to Avast!.
It does take a long time to scan my system. My solution is to use logmein and start the scanner while I'm at work. I don't care if it does take a couple of hours becuase it's always done by the time I get home.
Submitted by winmaster on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 5:24pm
Your right. AVG 8 and Threat Fire don't work well together. Install them both on the same machine and your only option is to boot into Windows Safe Mode and remove one of them. Its funny though, because AVG 7.5 and Threat Fire worked fine together.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Surprised
Submitted by XxGhostKillxX on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 1:14pm
Before I believed that Norton was going down the drain, since 2007 to me was an annoying piece of software. Now look at it! It looks great and runs efficiently, well as said in this article. I have McAfee and it works great however I have a vast amount of archived data and just to scan my computer it takes somewhere around a few hours to finish it's scan. McAfee also is somewhat a system hog, and IT WILL perform a scan even while you're gaming; very, very annoying. Overall I really want to check out Norton 2009, perhaps I'll get this as a Christmas gift.
Submitted by gibsurfer84 on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 1:02pm
I don't have any anti-virus, no anti-spyware, nothing. I know what not to click and I know what a phishing site is/how to avoid it. I understand that this article is really more for the average Joe and not for the Super User but it makes me sad that we still need AV in the first place - users being stupid!
And just for kicks, Norton sucks, I will never give them a good rap, even if they did fix their cruddy app for 2009.
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