Okay.. so here’s one.
I have recently wiped my laptop clean because of all the viruses and spyware.
I am using my laptop primarily for a single program which is memory intensive and can crash easily. I know virusscan prgrams can take a lot of resources and traditionally can make things crash sometimes.
BUT.. I don’t want those things again.. my friend who installed my new version of XP pro for me says I don’t need it and that windows firewall really does the trick.. claims he never gets virusses.
What’s your take? And if I do get one.. what one is the least intrusive?
ESET NOD32 Antivirus
I downloaded a freebie version of ESET NOD 32 after the sales team at MicroCenter raved about the ‘quiet’ nature of its performance on XP/Vista systems. They did not lie. As I previously posted elsewhere, my workstations had become dead mules because of Comcast’s add-on offering of MacAfee as part of its home broadband service. Both Norton and MacAfee completely take over your computer and make it so that it’s impossible to get anything done. Once removing all pre-install and popular apps in favor of ESET NOD I had a completely different operating performance. The weekly scan runs light as well. Also, I haven’t had any viruses yet. 🙂
For approx. $60 over two years it’s worth it. I think some retailers are offering better deals if you circumvent online.
GRISoft
I’m a fan of GRISoft (low-cost, low deployment) and ClamAV (free, but slower updates).
I hate hate hate the big commercial virus scanning programs… they kill performance dead.
I don’t run antivirus when I have an AV workstation setup… that computer stays disconnected from the network if possible.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
I Second AVG Virus
AVG Virus (Which is the product GRISoft offers for anti-virus) is what I install on people’s machines if I work on them or their virus subscriptions from Symantec/McAfee run out. It’s simple and gets the job done.
Friends don’t let friends pay for anti-virus.
I shudder when I hear people have Norton SystemWorks or whatever that beast is that is supposed to protect your PC. I guess it does, because a PC that’s bogged down so much it’s not running is pretty safe.
And if this application you’re running on your laptop doesn’t need the internet, why bother with antivirus at all? Keep it disconnected and don’t bother…
My $.02 Weed
Weed My Brutha
I’m your friend. And my Norton SystemWorks subscription just ran out.
*nudge nudge wink wink*
— Ben
AVG
That’s what I use. It’s free, and it has a very low footprint.
As for Windows Firewall be sufficient for Internet Protection and Antivirus, here’s my initial knee-jerk reaction. “OMG MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SURE IT’S GOOD ENOUGH UNTIL YOUR QQ-ING OVER ALL THE CRAP ON YOUR COMPUTER…”
That being said, I could genuinely be wrong. And it’s possible that he meant Windows Firewall was sufficient for Firewall needs (which is not the same as Antivirus protection). While I use a basic freeware internet security program on my PC (along with AVG for antivirus), I have to agree that when it comes to things like Norton, Symantec, and Macafee, you’re better off with no Internet Security than one of their memory hogs. (certainly at least for personal use)
Again, I could be wrong, but my understanding is that you don’t need a firewall program, but you DEFINITELY need antivirus.
Also, Ad-aware is a great low-footprint program. With its freeware version, you have to run the scan manually, but it catches just about all your adware, which is usually the primary cause for system performance degradation.