Got new laptop... now need a better AV | The Coffeehouse

Raghavendra_Mudugal
This is how it feels when you do not upgrade to the latest technology...

Finally got this toshiba... really nice and I am loving it.

And with the AV selection.... Norton is not my choice... kaspersky, heard a complaint from friend on "license key blocked" when update the AV definition and restart the system... McaFee, no idea... AGV... heard some good words....

?:confused:? to pick one; so which one will be better choice amongst all AVs?

/Edit: the lappy runs on vista home premium SP1 64bit, and not sure of the AV compatibility.

harlock123
Tall, Dark, and Gruesome

Personally I run AVG
on Vista 64 Ultimate...

Love it, and have never head a problem with it. I would avoid Norton and McaFee like the plague, each are WAY WAY to intrusive IMHO, having had problems with them both in the past. Don't knopw much about the others as AVG has suited me just fine so I stopped looking.

Raghavendra_Mudugal
This is how it feels when you do not upgrade to the latest technology...

In reply to harlock123

#Jan 20th @ 4:33 AM

solid answer. thanks a lot Smiley

spivonious

We just switched from Sophos to McAfee here at work (corporate mandate) and on boot McAfee's scanner is using over 500MB of RAM. The machine is also noticeably slower. So I'd stay away from McAfee.

I hear that Norton has greatly improved with their latest version, and actually lets you uninstall the program without jumping through some hoops.

I've had success in the past with Avast (it's completely free for home use).

I hear good things about AVG and Kaspersky, but haven't used them myself.

I'm not currently running any AV program on my home machine because it's been 15 years and I've never gotten a virus. I think being a smart user is much more helpful than some scanners running in the background.

edit: Oh, and I'm 99% certain that all of the above companies offer 64-bit versions.

BlackTiger
If you stumbled and fell down, it doesn't mean yet, that you're going in the wrong direction.

New Toshiba laptop - good. I like Toshiba.
Screen 1280x800 - it sucks.
Intel "Genuine Monitor Adapter" aka "GMA"- it sucks too.
5400rpm HDD - not the best option, but definately faster than 4200rpm...

Sorry...

JeremyJ
The pioneers would be appalled!

I would go with NOD32. It is a solid AV solution. It is very light-weight. You won't even know it is running.

phreaks

In reply to JeremyJ

#Jan 20th @ 8:47 AM

++;

I agree, switched from Symantec to ESET last month, and the world is so much better now.

androidi

In reply to spivonious

#Jan 20th @ 6:49 AM

I used to think the same but malware has changed in 10 years and there's much more of it so my current preferred (and possibly unique) approach is to not run AV software but run a clean virtual machine where i have allowed a read only access to the host HDD. Then I run the AV softwares under the VM scanning the host HDD. This has the advantage in that if there's a bug in the AV software that leads to exploit of the AV software then it can do no damage due to the read only access. Depending on how the VM's IO and hypervisor is implemented it may also able to access the host in some form of shielded manner that would prevent non-hypervisor aware malware of intercepting the IO, making possible to detect rootkits without booting. (this is just speculation, I haven't investigated on how they are actually implemented)

La Bomba
Boing!

In reply to androidi

#Jan 20th @ 1:59 PM

f-secure.com

littleguru
<3 Seattle

In reply to JeremyJ

#Jan 20th @ 8:47 AM

NOD32 is the only one that I would use... just because it seems to be the only one that was completely optimized for performance.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

I use and paid for AVG. However it's been getting worse in terms of bugs (hey lets delete a windows system file) and lack of support (I have an outstanding issue where it would no longer tell windows it was running, thus causing alerts from the OS which has been open for about 10 days now.)

cheong

In reply to blowdart

#Jan 20th @ 4:03 PM

I'm also AVG Free 32-bit version user but had not experienced that problem.

So far it works great, and I found that Spybot S&D is nice companion for it.

CreamFilling512

In reply to cheong

#Jan 20th @ 5:53 PM

I don't install anti-virus software, all degrade performance, most have a bad reputation for stability, and I don't think they're necessary for a secure system.

cheong

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Jan 20th @ 7:14 PM

I agree, but with most people who disable UAC immediately after the OS installation, antivirus software is still a necessary safety net, especially if you have any messaging client running, or you form LAN with computers owner by other family members, who you don't know whether they'll follow the security practices you have (almost certainly not in most cases).

CannotResolveSymbol
{insert caption here}

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Jan 20th @ 7:14 PM

I've used AVG for a few years now and I've been quite happy with it. AVG 8 was a pretty big improvement over the previous version: the UI's a lot better and updates happen in the background (7 would pop up an obnoxious dialog while updating). Free, no pop up ads (Avast's free edition has the occasional pop-up ad).

I did not, however, get bitten by the bug where AVG detected user32.dll as a virus and quarantined it (must have missed that update). Kinda makes me reconsider using AVG, but I don't want to spend money on anything else (although NOD32 seems like it might be worth it).

I'm quite firmly in the "antivirus is essential on any PC" camp. I've never downloaded any viruses or anything (I'm careful about what I download), but I almost got a virus from a flash drive a few months back (my own flash drive, even-- the virus was dumped on it by a kiosk at a photo printing place). Thankfully, AVG detected it before it ran... otherwise, I'd have had a nice mess on my hands.

Raghavendra_Mudugal
This is how it feels when you do not upgrade to the latest technology...

In reply to BlackTiger

#Jan 20th @ 8:27 AM

thank you,

but it is a gift from my uncle... so something is better then nothing.... Wink

La Bomba
Boing!

In reply to Raghavendra_Mudugal

#Jan 21st @ 1:19 AM

Cheap uncle Wink

j/k

Raghavendra_Mudugal
This is how it feels when you do not upgrade to the latest technology...

In reply to La Bomba

#Jan 21st @ 1:45 AM

okay.

but I am not happy with your comments. Sad

seriously.

BlackTiger
If you stumbled and fell down, it doesn't mean yet, that you're going in the wrong direction.

In reply to Raghavendra_Mudugal

#Jan 21st @ 1:19 AM

Oh, in SUCH case - it's VERY good laptop!!! Big Smile

Ian2
Proud to geek ..

In reply to BlackTiger

#Jan 22nd @ 5:22 AM

And you try and tell them that we only had 1k of RAM and they won't believe you ...

ChZ

My bet goes to ESET NOD32 too. Its way light, intuitive and safe. Kaspersky 7 is my 2nd choice. And btw the locked licence key problem is because theres 2 or more users with that key (blacklisted).

If you need a free solution try Avira home. Its really nice for a free AV.