Antivirus software comparisons

[Dan in Saint Louis]

For years I have enjoyed the Free version of Grisoft AVG because it tests well at various independent labs, runs fast, and is, well, free. Recently it has developed a so-far-unfixed interaction with other programs that requires me to reboot every morning when the new virus definitions file is installed. The gurus on the AVG bulletin board have not been able to find the cause.

I know that several here are very happy with ESET NOD32, and indeed it also tests well (http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=summary) and my evaluation copy is fast and unobtrusive. It will be from $20 to $40/year, depending on how many friends I drag along with me.

Another friend has recommended Avira Free AntiVir (http://free-av.com/), which also tests quite well (http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2008_02.php) and is said to be fast. The free version does not have direct testing of POP3 email (http://free-av.com/en/download/1/download_avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.ht ml) -- I assume it would test any attachment I tried to open, but this is not yet verified.

Does anyone here know more about the Avira product, or any pros and cons about it with respect to NOD32?

Thank you!

[ndebord]

For years I have enjoyed the Free version of Grisoft AVG because it tests well at various independent labs, runs fast, and is, well, free. Recently it has developed a so-far-unfixed interaction with other programs that requires me to reboot every morning when the new virus definitions file is installed. The gurus on the AVG bulletin board have not been able to find the cause.

I know that several here are very happy with ESET NOD32, and indeed it also tests well (http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=summary) and my evaluation copy is fast and unobtrusive. It will be from $20 to $40/year, depending on how many friends I drag along with me.

Another friend has recommended Avira Free AntiVir (http://free-av.com/), which also tests quite well (http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2008_02.php) and is said to be fast. The free version does not have direct testing of POP3 email (http://free-av.com/en/download/1/download_avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.ht ml) -- I assume it would test any attachment I tried to open, but this is not yet verified.

Does anyone here know more about the Avira product, or any pros and cons about it with respect to NOD32?

Thank you!


Dan,

I too use AVG Free with no problems in XP Pro, SP2. Recently I have noticed that an ad for 8.0 pops up which is mildly annoying, but no problems like you've experienced.

Anti-Vir, according to Duane White (sp), is an excellent freeware product, similar to AVG Free. I have it sitting around, but because AVG has been so good, haven't made the move.

[Guerri Stevens]

I too use AVG Free with no problems in XP Pro, SP2. Recently I have noticed that an ad for 8.0 pops up which is mildly annoying, but no problems like you've experienced.
I am also using AVG Free version 7.5 running under Vista. I too got the ad for 8.0, but I would not say it was mildly annoying, and it will be even more annoying if it continues to pop up. I was very annoyed when it appeared because it chose to invoke Internet Explorer, which is not my default browser, and when I shut it down, an error was produced (I forget the details). I don't mind much if such stuff comes up as a little balloon at boot, but the rest of the time the computer is mine and I don't like being interrupted by stuff like that! I think, at least with Vista, that there is software installed that allows other software to tap into it to produce various update stuff. And if one has the Internet turned on, there will be requests or suggestions or nagging to update or register. And do they ask first whether I would like to be reminded from time to time of updates or upgrades? And do they say we're going to do this, how would you like it done?

End of rant. For now.

[ndebord]

I am also using AVG Free version 7.5 running under Vista. I too got the ad for 8.0, but I would not say it was mildly annoying, and it will be even more annoying if it continues to pop up. I was very annoyed when it appeared because it chose to invoke Internet Explorer, which is not my default browser, and when I shut it down, an error was produced (I forget the details). I don't mind much if such stuff comes up as a little balloon at boot, but the rest of the time the computer is mine and I don't like being interrupted by stuff like that! I think, at least with Vista, that there is software installed that allows other software to tap into it to produce various update stuff. And if one has the Internet turned on, there will be requests or suggestions or nagging to update or register. And do they ask first whether I would like to be reminded from time to time of updates or upgrades? And do they say we're going to do this, how would you like it done?

End of rant. For now.

Guerri,

The company recently changed its name from GriSoft to AVG and with it initiated an aggressive PR campaign. I suppose you could say that they've reversed course from their previous understated presence.

:-(

[Guerri Stevens]

The company recently changed its name from GriSoft to AVG and with it initiated an aggressive PR campaign. I suppose you could say that they've reversed course from their previous understated presence.

I am assuming that version 8 is the paid version. I notice that if I click on the icon in the systray (under Vista renamed to "notification area"), I now see the ad for version 8. I have not seen the invocation of IE to display the ad since the original time.

It makes sense, of course, to direct ads to existing customers. I just wish they had been less intrusive about it. I can live with the ad showing up when I bring up AVG.

One thing about Vista, and maybe even with earlier versions, is that there is all kinds of stuff running more or less silently in the background that I don't know about and this worries me.

[davidh]

One thing about Vista, and maybe even with earlier versions, is that there is all kinds of stuff running more or less silently in the background that I don't know about and this worries me.
When I bring up the Task Manager in XP by pressing Ctrl Alt Del I see 36 processes running. That's even after I've used the startup tab in MSCONFIG to weed out unnecessary programs from the startup list. (Actually I use the startup feature of Spybot Search and Destroy to do the weedout, since it actually tells what most of the programs do [whether they or required or optional, etc.]).

David

[Jeff]

(Actually I use the startup feature of Spybot Search and Destroy to do the weedout, since it actually tells what most of the programs do [whether they or required or optional, etc.]).

David

I have that. It does? Where and how? I see it all, but the only detail is the startup pgm's command line.

- Jeff

[ndebord]

I am assuming that version 8 is the paid version. I notice that if I click on the icon in the systray (under Vista renamed to "notification area"), I now see the ad for version 8. I have not seen the invocation of IE to display the ad since the original time.

It makes sense, of course, to direct ads to existing customers. I just wish they had been less intrusive about it. I can live with the ad showing up when I bring up AVG.

One thing about Vista, and maybe even with earlier versions, is that there is all kinds of stuff running more or less silently in the background that I don't know about and this worries me.

Guerri,

I too assume that they are referring to the paid version. I do think they will also soon have a AVG Free v8 out also. I don't much like the ad though.

[davidh]

I have that. It does? Where and how? I see it all, but the only detail is the startup pgm's command line.

- Jeff

On the menu bar click "mode" and choose "advanced mode".

Then in the side pane on the left click "tools" and choose "startup" under "tools".

Beware:

Some file names can be either valid system files OR spyware. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DELETE. READ THE FINE PRINT. :eek:

David H.

[davidh]

I don't much like the ad though.

Ask Doug G. about LINUX. Maybe he doesn't even need anti-virus :D

david h

[Guerri Stevens]

... (Actually I use the startup feature of Spybot Search and Destroy to do the weedout, since it actually tells what most of the programs do [whether they or required or optional, etc.]).
OK, where/how do I get Spybot? I got pointed to www.castlecops.com but I didn't spend enough time there to track down all the unknown (at least to me) stuff that's running on my computer.

I did have a chat with a helpful technician at Toshiba (my computer is a Toshiba) who identified some of the stuff, and told me that the Norton applications were not installed by Toshiba, but were likely to have been added by Best Buy (where I got the machine). They are now history.

Last night I was poking around and found something called Consolidator. Initially I assumed that it was a disk consolidator, one of those things that recovers lost space and makes the disk work more efficiently. But it's not that at all. I wish now I had written down the exact information, but it was something that runs when the user consents to participate in Microsoft's customer experience improvement or some such thing. I do not recall having ever consented, and I would love to know what the thing was doing - was it collecting information to send to Microsoft automatically? Collecting stuff to help out when a problem arises (you notice that I say "when", not "if")? I think I managed to disable it.

[sidney]

OK, where/how do I get Spybot? I got pointed to www.castlecops.com

castlecops has a download section, but there so much there it is quite confusing.

Here is the home page of Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/)

-- sidney

[Jeff]

On the menu bar click "mode" and choose "advanced mode".

Then in the side pane on the left click "tools" and choose "startup" under "tools".

Beware:

Some file names can be either valid system files OR spyware. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DELETE. READ THE FINE PRINT. :eek:

David H.

Ok, I've discovered green, yellow, and red. I have a little green, lotsa yellow, and no red. But I also have white, and I see no description for that.

- Jeff

[davidh]

Ok, I've discovered green, yellow, and red. I have a little green, lotsa yellow, and no red. But I also have white, and I see no description for that.

- Jeff

I assume you clicked "help" and read this:

"The entries will be displayed in different colours:

"Green: legitimate program
Yellow: unknown, unneeded or unambiguous program (e.g. malware programs might use the same file name as legitimate programs)
Red: malicious program "

BTW, I've never paid much attention in the past to the colors (mostly out of my own ignorance). Instead, I just read the item descriptions to decide what to do. Usually if there is no description of function then I leave it alone.

Also:

Did you click the small vertical bar with the two triangle shaped arrows on it, to the immediate right of the vertical scroll bar? That will open and close a panel on the right side, which panel contains the description of the currently selected item.

David H.

[davidh]

I assume you clicked "help" and read this:

"The entries will be displayed in different colours:

"Green: legitimate program
Yellow: unknown, unneeded or unambiguous program (e.g. malware programs might use the same file name as legitimate programs)
Red: malicious program "

BTW, I've never paid much attention in the past to the colors (mostly out of my own ignorance). Instead, I just read the item descriptions to decide what to do. Usually if there is no description of function then I leave it alone.

Also:

Did you click the small vertical bar with the two triangle shaped arrows on it, to the immediate right of the vertical scroll bar? That will open and close a panel on the right side, which panel contains the description of the currently selected item.

David H.

I forgot to add:

When you update the spyware signatures, you may or may not also have to select the update of startup descriptions because it may not always be automatically selected for you in advance.

DH

[Jeff]

Did you click the small vertical bar with the two triangle shaped arrows on it, to the immediate right of the vertical scroll bar? That will open and close a panel on the right side, which panel contains the description of the currently selected item.

David H.

That's it! It never occurred to me to click on that double triangle bar, as I had no idea what it was intended to do and I usually don't go where I don't know where I'm going. Thanks!

- Jeff

[ndebord]

Ask Doug G. about LINUX. Maybe he doesn't even need anti-virus :D

david h

David,

It was hard enough making the move from W98se to XP. No time to learn yet another OS right now, no matter how secure it is. I've locked down XP as best I can and am knocking on wood all the time now.

<weak grin>

[davidh]

Lance Ulanoff, Editor in Chief at PC Magazine claimed just this week that he still uses Win 3.1 on a 486 PC. I don't know if that was a April fool thing or not. But I'll bet Win 3.1 could run real fast on my PC if only the USB drivers existed. And no need to worry about malware.

[Mike]

Win 3.1 on a 486 PC... no need to worry about malware.
Hmmm. Then why did many of us spend money on virus checkers when we were using DOS 6 and Win 3.1?

[davidh]

Hmmm. Then why did many of us spend money on virus checkers when we were using DOS 6 and Win 3.1? Of course, such MS-DOS viruses or macro viruses exist somewhere in the world, but the chance of being exposed to them is probably vanishingly small.

David H.

[davidh]

In fact, unless one uses additional safety measures above and beyond anti-virus, anti-spy, & firewall (e.g. a browser sandbox) on a Win XP or Vista computer these days one is probably more in danger of being a victim of a zero-day attack on such Win 32 pc's than on a 16 bit Windows (Win 3.x) pc with NO protection.

David H.

[ndebord]

In fact, unless one uses additional safety measures above and beyond anti-virus, anti-spy, & firewall (e.g. a browser sandbox) on a Win XP or Vista computer these days one is probably more in danger of being a victim of a zero-day attack on such Win 32 pc's than on a 16 bit Windows (Win 3.x) pc with NO protection.

David H.

David,

Well much thanks to you and others here I now run DropMyRights with all my internet apps.

[davidh]

David,

Well much thanks to you and others here I now run DropMyRights with all my internet apps. I wonder if it has ever caused you any inconveniences that you might care to tell about?

David H.

P.S. Currently I only use it with Firefox. BTW, I have not tried to "sandbox" any of my browsers yet.

[davidh]

Lance Ulanoff, Editor in Chief at PC Magazine claimed just this week that he still uses Win 3.1 on a 486 PC. I don't know if that was a April fool thing or not. But I'll bet Win 3.1 could run real fast on my PC if only the USB drivers existed. And no need to worry about malware. It was an April Fool joke, but he did actually boot up his old PC and get some of the software working in the lab (apparently to make the story more plausible to some of his co-workers, or something).

David H.

[ndebord]

I wonder if it has ever caused you any inconveniences that you might care to tell about?

David H.

P.S. Currently I only use it with Firefox. BTW, I have not tried to "sandbox" any of my browsers yet.

David,

Yes. So I have two sets of shortcuts to all my browsers. One with rights restricted and one not. IE, in particular, is picky, particularly when you try to go to MS websites for updates.

[davidh]

David,

Yes. So I have two sets of shortcuts to all my browsers. One with rights restricted and one not. IE, in particular, is picky, particularly when you try to go to MS websites for updates. I suppose that is to be expected since IE is not merely an application but integral to the OS itself and absolutely required for OS updates.

David H

[ndebord]

I suppose that is to be expected since IE is not merely an application but integral to the OS itself and absolutely required for OS updates.

David H

David,

To avoid stoopidity, only the dropmyrights icons are on the Start Menu.