Southern Spirit Hunters

Beyond The Spirits => Computer Clues => Topic started by: Jim on Aug 13, 2007, 09:37:36 PM

Title: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Aug 13, 2007, 09:37:36 PM
One of the first protections that everyone needs is from internet viruses.  Even if you only use the internet for email you need protection from viruses.  Email is the number one way that a virus is propagated, and it's usually through an attachment that has some sort of interesting title that just begs you to open it.

Virus protection software is not created equal.  There are good ones and there are bads ones.  I have experience with 3 that I will tell you about.

The first one is Norton Antivirus.  I used that software for 2 years, 2004 and 2005.  It worked well enough but in late 2005 it became a resource hog and really slowed down the operation of my computer.  From turn-on to clicking on a webpage was about 7 minutes; all that time waiting on Norton to load up all it's little watchdog programs.  I began to look for something that was better.

Next came Trend Micro PC-cillin 2006.  This was highly recommended and worked great.  It used practically no system resources and was touted as the best you could get by PC Magazine.  I would turn on my computer and be surfing the web in less than 3 minutes.  I bought a copy for Dianna's computer and convinced Aunt Bonnie to get it too.  In early 2007 I got an email from Trend Micro saying that my free upgrade to the 2007 version was ready for download.  I eagerly downloaded it and installed it and my computer came to a screeching halt.  There were so many integrated watchdog programs now I was looking for some indication that the Norton programmers were now working for Trend Micro.  Of course you could turn some of that stuff off but the CPU useage quite frequently still peaked out at 100%.  I finally found the process that loaded all the little monitoring programs and deleted it out of the start-up process and things got back to normal.  Except about once an hour the darn thing kept updating the virus definitions.  That became annoying real quick.  Earlier this week it began trying to update the Anti-spam code table which I had already disabled.  About halfway through it errored and said for me to contact on line support.  Instead I uninstalled it.

As of last night I am now running the free version of AVG Anti-Virus by Grisoft.  I read all the reviews and it appears to use less system resources, provides quality protection and it's free.  There are a couple of pay versions but for the most part all I was looking for was something to protect me from viruses and this does it quite well.  

If you are interested in AVG, You can find it here (http://free.grisoft.com/). I can assure you it will be on Dianna's computer as soon as the PC-cillin 2006 expires.

Bottom line is you must have some sort of virus protection if you are going to use the internet.  Does anyone else have any information on others?
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: jv on Aug 16, 2007, 11:50:34 PM
I have been running AVG free for about 2 years dumped mcafee for it never did like norton got my only virus because of them several years ago.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Pharmerphil on Aug 17, 2007, 06:37:45 AM
I have used AVG free edition since 2002, never have had a problem, low resource usage, and best of all, it don't cost a darn thing...
The problem with Norton is this.
Homeland security and symantec are in bed together.
HS asked symantech to leave a "backdoor" open so they could spy on us
(terrorist we all are)
AVG, either free or the paid edition, NOT being a U.S. company said NO WAY.
I repair computers for folks, I also refurbish them for kids who's parents cannot afford a computer for their kids. and in most cases ...give then away.
But, I've joked to Laura about this:
I am asked to REMOVE NORTON from so many puters that I've laffed and suggested a sign out by the road saying:
NORTON ANTI-VIRUS REMOVED HERE

and it's a beast to remove, you uninstall it, and your computer will still have over 119 files left in your system, the only way to get it is through regedit, one file, one Key at a time.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Aug 17, 2007, 07:10:05 AM
Boy howdy, Norton is definitely a beast to remove.   :Groaner: The longer you've had it, the longer it will take to remove.  I never had anything but the anti-virus software so it only took a couple of hours to get it off. 

I kind of shy away from the protection suites.  They tend to be resource hogs with all their real-time protection.  That's kind of the reason for this board.  Folks need to know that the package deal is sometimes not the best.  These free programs all do a pretty good job.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Wrennie on Aug 18, 2007, 01:26:34 PM
I use avg free too. Love it. no problems.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: christy on Dec 14, 2007, 11:11:15 AM
thanks jim !! i had norton for my last two computers n still got trojens thought if i paid for it then it would be better, guess not,
 i downloaded the free agv on this one, so far so good,
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Dec 14, 2007, 01:21:57 PM
Good deal Christy.  Dianna and I have been very happy with AVG.  She was looking for graphics one night and got a hit with some sort of java script downloader trojan and AVG stopped it dead.  She ran a complete scan and hasn't had any problem since.

Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Penny on Dec 14, 2007, 01:23:24 PM
I wouldnt use Norton again either, a few weeks back my tower froze, to the point that it wont even turn on, and when i would do a virus scan, it told me that it was running fine, even though it was slow and finally froze, thankfully we have a back up tower and hooked it up, but the other one still wont even turn on!!
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: christy on Dec 15, 2007, 02:51:41 AM
yep me either theres a free trial norton on this new computer but im not activating it, i had 2 trojans from norton n it only picked em up after it did a scaned.  im downloading avg right now ;]
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Dec 16, 2007, 08:24:28 PM
Norton was a good product once upon a time.  Of course they went the same way as many others have with the internet suite which is nothing but a system hog.  Most of the internet suites are that way.  All I need is a simple virus protection program like AVG and I am happy. 
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: blahblah on Feb 27, 2008, 01:55:45 PM
Jim, I use AVG and love it. 
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Hillhound on Mar 15, 2008, 01:19:13 PM
Do you still recommend Spy Bot S+D over the AVG Spyware free edition?
Cheers!
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Dianna on Mar 15, 2008, 01:21:37 PM
John, we use both programs, along with Ad-Aware and Crap Cleaner. We try to keep the computers squeaky clean.... :BigGrin:
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Wrennie on Mar 15, 2008, 01:21:48 PM
I like AVG too and also run spybot S&D and Ad-aware.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Hillhound on Mar 15, 2008, 01:29:58 PM
OK! I'm currently downloading AVG Virus, going to try it on the laptop first before this machine.
Does Norton need to be totally removed before installation?
I've just used the "Norton removal Tool" to get rid of it but there are still Norton bits and pieces on there.
Cheers!
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Mar 15, 2008, 01:34:41 PM
I've read good things about the AVG Spyware Free Edition.  In fact some of the techie boards recommend it if you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 over Spybot S&D.  Spybot S&D will still work on the older Win98 machines, where some of the newer software will not.

Yes, I would totally remove Norton.  Check Control Panel>Add Remove Programs and remove anything that has Norton or Symantec in the title.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Hillhound on Mar 15, 2008, 01:40:24 PM
Thanks Jim.
I've just got 78 percent of the download and then an error message saying Internet Explorer  can't download the file... and has reset the connection.
I'm going to close everything and try again.
Will try the AVG Spyware thing too, I am using XP. I'll let you know how it goes.


Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Tina on Jun 19, 2008, 02:52:24 PM
My avg free keeps giving me a pop up saying it will no longer be available after such and so date. Then it extended it until June25. It tells me I need to upgrade to avg 8 or something. When I have gone there, there appears to be a fee involved. A fee is out of the question right now. Maybe next month. Any help out there? I don't want to get caught with a naked computer.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Jun 19, 2008, 03:02:47 PM
They still have the free version.  They just try to hide it on you.  Here is the link.  I upgraded all of our computers to the new free one and it works great.

http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download?prd=afe
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Tina on Jun 19, 2008, 03:49:47 PM
Thank you so much, Jim. I am downloading now.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: landofoz on Jun 30, 2009, 10:24:08 AM
To resurrect an abandoned post here, how can you tell what is hogging up the system?  I have symantec but we get it for free (thanks, Dad's work!).  It's all we've ever used on this 4 year old computer.  Well, I've always used spybot and ad-aware.  It probably takes around 10 minutes from the time I turn the computer on to when it is fully functional, however I assigned that blame to the installation of Microsoft 2007 Suite, since the timing coincided nicely. 
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Jun 30, 2009, 10:37:27 PM
10 minutes!  :shock:  That's longer than I remember when I was running Norton.

I didn't realize how many resources they were taking until I changed to AVG.  You can do a CTRL/ALT/DELETE and bring up the task manager to see how much you are using.

The real resource killers are the internet suites.  The anti-virus by itself was a good product.  When they added all the other is when they killed the speed.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Skhilled on Jul 26, 2009, 02:53:31 PM
Norton is also a beast to remove completely. To totally remove it, you'll need to use the removal tool that can be found at the Symantec website. Sorry, but I cannot post links but you can google "Norton Removal Tool" to find it.  :BigGrin:
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Dianna on Jul 26, 2009, 03:27:15 PM
Symantec Removal Tool (http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039)

Is this the link you wanted to post, Skhilled? :grinnnn:

You will be able to post links when your posts reach a certain number. As an admin somewhere else, I am sure you understand why we have this in place... :wink5:
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Skhilled on Jul 26, 2009, 03:35:57 PM
Yes, it was, thanks. I understand completely. I actually run a number of sites other than those I've already posted and do support at a few other still. LOL
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: wimc on Jul 26, 2009, 05:02:51 PM
True best way to rid of Norton anything is format hard drive and start over, geesh I hate Norton products, of course, this may be over-kill for some.

Quite happy with the free version of Avast.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Skhilled on Jul 26, 2009, 05:17:10 PM
That is a bit drastic, imo. The removal tool will remove all instances of any Norton programs on your hard drive without removing or touching any other programs.

I have early version copies of Norton and McAfee from the early 90's in my attic on floppies. ;)
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Jul 26, 2009, 09:39:13 PM
I ran Norton when it was just a Anti-Virus program and it was quite good.  Once they went to the Internet Suite, it was all downhill from there.  Way too much overhead.  Trend Micro did exactly the same thing.

The removal tool does quite well.  I had to use it and it worked perfectly.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Skhilled on Jul 29, 2009, 08:34:29 AM
Yeah, the av was the best. The suite worked well for a number of years but others started putting out better products that weren't in a suite. Probably too much work involved in suites to make everything work well and work together.

I also have a lot of old Windows 3.0, MS Word, old betas of frontpage pre-releases before it was integrated into Office (actually before there was an office, LOL), and a ton of shareware among other things. Hmmm, maybe it's time I cleaned the attic...  :yikes:
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Jul 29, 2009, 09:22:09 PM
AVG is my choice for anti-virus for now.  It has worked well for me and on my wife's computer.  I still just use the free version.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Skhilled on Jul 30, 2009, 08:57:45 AM
AVG is really good. I've used it for a number of year but am trying out Threatfire, atm.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: dodge on Jan 18, 2010, 07:31:49 PM
 :duel:

Norton VIrus protection 360 3.0 wont update for me , now says it is for Speed internets not my slow dial up.

Anyone know if I can have Avg an Norton on the same time? Or will one kill the other?

dodge :badmood:
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Jan 18, 2010, 07:50:27 PM
Normally you will see a conflict when you have 2 virus protection programs running on the same machine.  Norton is probably the worst one for complaining about other programs too.  I would remove it and use the AVG free edition.  It should work fine on dial-up. 
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: wimc on Jan 19, 2010, 08:33:43 AM
Avast and AVG work well together, personal experience, especially on a computer that get used by anyone (some don't care what they do), so had 2 AV's going to be safer, now just Avast free, mine too has only Avast free (no one but me touches).

Avast or AVG will work better over dialup, just disable auto update.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Bonnie on Feb 04, 2010, 04:51:23 PM
Jim where do you go to download adaware and spy bot?  I'm not sure which ones to download.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Tina on Feb 04, 2010, 05:01:36 PM
Adaware http://www.lavasoft.com/ (http://www.lavasoft.com/)
Download the free one.
Spybot http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html)
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Bonnie on Feb 05, 2010, 10:59:04 AM
Thanks Tina, I have downloaded them. I am about as dumb as dirt when it comes to this kinda stuff.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Tina on Feb 05, 2010, 11:06:21 AM
Me too. I learned a lot here.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Feb 05, 2010, 07:23:23 PM
Those links are in the first post of the Spyware topic. 
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Bonnie on Feb 06, 2010, 01:14:47 AM
So I'm blind as well as being dumb as dirt.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Feb 06, 2010, 11:26:28 AM
Actually, the links are hard to see.  I need to make them bold or underline or something because I looked twice before finding the link to AVG that is in the first post of this topic as well.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Tina on Feb 06, 2010, 12:00:49 PM
Dumb as dirt here.  :wavey:
I knew they were there and still went crawling all over the internet looking for them so I could link you.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Dianna on Feb 06, 2010, 12:19:53 PM
So I'm blind as well as being dumb as dirt.

You are neither blind, nor dumb, Aunt Bonnie. A little nuts, perhaps, but that is all. :giggle: The links are hard to see. I will check to see if Jim bolded them now, so others don't have the same problem...

Dumb as dirt here.  :wavey:
I knew they were there and still went crawling all over the internet looking for them so I could link you.

Ditto what I posted for Aunt Bonnie except for substituting your name. And thank you for taking the trouble to look for them for her... :NewHug:
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: duh on Apr 24, 2010, 09:20:10 AM
I downloaded avg but now it wants money.  If there is a free version I didn't find it.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: sunsoaker on Apr 24, 2010, 10:42:10 AM
This should do it Tammy.  The AVG site makes it hard to find the link to the free version. This is from CNET.

AVG free version (http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html)

You might want to uninstall the "paid" version before installing this one.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: duh on Apr 24, 2010, 11:32:56 AM
thank you for finding the free link for me.  And the advice to uninstall the paid version.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: sunsoaker on Apr 24, 2010, 11:52:37 AM
You're very welcome.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: duh on Sep 12, 2013, 07:31:40 AM
I have the security essentials on the new computer.  I know it doesn't catch everything because I had that on the last computer.  What should I add and will I have to take off what I currently have?
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: bestofour on Sep 12, 2013, 09:19:36 AM
I have Avast and Malwarebytes.  So far so good.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Sep 12, 2013, 09:58:24 AM
Reading through this topic you will find various opinions on which programs to use.  AVG and AVAST are good and are still free.  They both have paid versions but I've had really good luck with the free versions so far.  For a free anti-virus program either one will work.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: sunsoaker on Sep 12, 2013, 06:36:28 PM
I use AVG and Malwarebytes myself. Not had a problem yet.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: bayou girl on Sep 12, 2013, 07:12:14 PM
avg and malwarebytes.  i put it on my mother in law's computer to replace the norton that she had that was letting viruses through.  she still had some but they got caught and eliminated before they were a problem.  she's almost in top notch shape now :)
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: duh on Sep 20, 2013, 09:16:33 AM
Can you put those on if you have Essentials?  They are always saying that these types of programs interfer with one another.
Title: Re: Virus protection
Post by: Jim on Sep 22, 2013, 12:49:39 AM
Sure just keep in mind that there may be a conflict at some point.  Usually just one is sufficient.  If Essentials is working for you I wouldn't worry about adding the others.  If it's not then try something new.
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