Virus protection software?

[HoustonHorn93]

I have a house full of Mac's. I needed a PC for one program so I bought a cheap Compaq laptop last night. Other than this one program I may use it from time to time to surf the net. The computer is preloaded with Norton but I seem to recall hearing that it's a memory hog and really clutters things up. Thus, did not start the trial period when I setup the computer last night.

What options out there for virus protection software? Preferably something that doesn't muck up the system with useless junk. Free opensource would also be good.

 

[JohnnyM]

avg or avast (or both)

 

[brntorng]

Just curious, why don't you run Windows on one of the Macs? I, too, had one Windows program that I wanted to run and it works great with Fusion+Windows. Or you could just use Boot Camp for free with Windows.

 

[14tokihorn]

* 01/19/10*

Avast has a *available today* new, Free version. I like the ability to turn ON/OFF various protection "providers" .. as they call it. Example: Enable Web protection, Instant Messaging, EMail / Disable the others (do them manually).

Just put on the new V. 5 the lappy - their verbage "provider" seems to have disappeared, but the functionality is still configurable.


(New) Version 5 - Free

www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

The Praise (blah blah blah):
blog.avast.com/2010/01/19/avast-free-antivirus-version-5-0-%E2%80%9C%E2%80%A6nothing-short-of-a-miracle%E2%80%9D/

 

[wherzwaldo]

I can recommend Avast or Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

[HoustonHorn93]

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[hellbunny]

Almost any anti-virus package will work fine. I've used AVG in the past because it was lightweight and free for personal use. As of late it's grown a bit more bloated. The key features you want are automatic updates, scheduled scans, and active protection (scan on file access). You can throw in email and website/spyware protection if you don't trust the web habits of your users.

In the past stuff like Norton and McCafee were horrible because of bloat but they've gotten *much* better in recent years. There are several comparison reports done by supposedly independent groups and there really is no consensus 'best'. You'll see the big names along with Avast, AVG, NOD32, Kaspersky and many more.

 

[jmatt]

Avast.

A comment on something said earlier, my understanding is that you should only ever have one anti-virus program on a computer.

Also add a good anti-spyware/malware program, I recommend using both Malwarebytes and SpywareBlaster.

 

[HoustonHorn93]

Thanks all. I ended up loading Microsoft Security Essentials last night. It seems like it will do the trick.

 

[RayDog]

Run firefox with the adblock plus and noscript addons and use and e-mail provider that scans attachments and you won't need an anti-virus program.

Anti-virus programs don't do any good anyway, since they usually warn don't warn you until after it's too late.

 

[01 grad]

I think you made a very wise decision about not using Norton. I would have selected Avira free version.

Simply uninstalling norton through add/remove programs is not sufficient to remove all the bloat. YOu need to download and run the Norton Removal Tool from Symantec. Norton Removal Tool

 

[texascoder]

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[HoustonHorn93]

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[the actor]

i also have all macs. i have yet to find a program that doesn't run on windows through boot camp or parallels.

on the windows 7 side i run ESET Nod 32 antivirus. i have tried them all and switched from avast and AVG before that. norton is the worst program i have ever used. it can be effective but is the biggest bloated hog ever and is next to impossible to delete all of its files.

i agree with the poster above in that you should a good anti-spyware/malware program, I recommend using both Malwarebytes and SpywareBlaster. i recommend both of those as well.

 

[ACuriae]

I'd also recommend prevx for the spyware side.

 

[YoLaDu]

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[01 grad]

Malwarebytes is not a real-time monitoring program. It is for removing nasties after you've already got them. Real-time spyware programs are a waste of resources, run them independently weekly. Just use firefox w/ adblock and a good anti-virus program.

You should only have one real-time monitoring program in use. I'd recommend Avira if you are looking for a free one. It consumes very little system resource.

I'd also recommend a program like CCleaner, run Ccleaner every couple of days. YOu will be shocked to see how much it clears off your pc the first time you run it, probably in neighborhood of 500Mb-1000Mb.

 

[Joe Fan]

The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming