Anti-Virus Question [Archive]

oogabooga

3rd March 2008, 21:35

Hey guys. I was wondering what do you think is the best free anti virus software. AVG, Avira, or Avast! ?

scruie

5th March 2008, 17:34

-=MOVED=-

Moving to TECH SUPPORT.

Personally, I recommend AVG. I've used and tested all of the ones you mentioned; AVG, AVAST and Antivir. And, found AVG to be slightly better than both of the others.

Only, real problem with AVG is that it can be a tad too sensitive over what it classes as malicious. Certain, cheat tools are detected as malware and thus deleted, which isn't ideal if you like to cheat and develop stuff.

beastmasta

11th March 2008, 00:46

I'd get ClamWin because it's open source. Only one i would trust.

scruie

11th March 2008, 16:16

I'd get ClamWin because it's open source. Only one i would trust.

Problem with ClamWin is that it doesn't have an on-access real-time scanner that the other AV suites do; thus you need to manually scan files/folders for infections.

Not a problem for a technically minded PC user but for a beginner it is.

m4steroo

11th March 2008, 16:39

kaspersky ftw

scruie

11th March 2008, 19:13

kaspersky ftw

The thread is about FREE anti-virus not paid-for products. Try and stick with the topic at hand.

beastmasta

11th March 2008, 21:59

I agree with you scruie, but in the upcoming release (which i think is soon) it will include that, and more.

Also, have you even heard of common sense, it's a good program ;)

scruie

12th March 2008, 16:35

I agree with you scruie, but in the upcoming release (which i think is soon) it will include that, and more.

Also, have you even heard of common sense, it's a good program ;)

Not arguing about it being a good program. Just that in my experience of running a PC consultancy business there are too many ppl that forget common-sense and just expect software to work.

Lost count of the number of times I've been forced to repair a malware infected machine because the client either, forgot to update their AV suite, clicked on something without think and/or looking at what they were installing, fell for one of those scams that tell them their machine is infected and they need to download this super-duper AV program to remove the infections (Smitfraud/Vundo), or they haven't paid for a subscription renewal.

You have to remember that most PC users just use a PC; the same way as most car drivers can drive a car but know nothing about how it all works.

Ok3

14th March 2008, 18:52

I would say Avast would be the top of a free antivirus. But to tell you the truth i wouldn't recommended any to anybody and if your serious of protection just by a anti virus like kaspersky or nod32. But like scruie said just don't download stuff you don't know or click on things or site you don't even know about it. But overall i think avast is the best then AVG.

Ok3

27th March 2008, 03:39

Since this is an anti-virus post, i might as well ask something. hoping to hear from scruie or any one else had try it. Running KAV 7 as an real time protection and everything, outpost firewall pro as firewall with hardware firewall. In addition i had tried recently for 2 months now with Nod32 AV as an on-demand scanner only, nothing activated such as real-time and etc...While right now currently thinking about trying BitDefender as an on demand scanner too lol. Never scared to try new stuff and always back up my file in different hard drive every night so no worry. So what do you think about it?

scruie

27th March 2008, 13:49

You cannot run more than one anti-virus suite in real-time mode; because they install their own 'driver' for the scanning engines. Not to mention the over-heads on system resources and the constant barrage of warning messages and pop-ups you'll receive.

It is possible to install more than one AV suite, you set one for the real-time mode and the others as on-demand scanners. Though personally, [I find it much easier to use an AV scanner running off a USB Flash drive. Check out the follwoing links;

http://portableapps.com/
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_software

By using a 'portable-app' you can use the software on any machine. Very useful for all budding PC techs.

Regrading your choice of software. Not a fan of Bit Defender, it's scan results are good but not as good as KAV or NOD and it has a larger foot-print. Both Eset (makers of NOD32) and Kaspersky do full security suites; Kaspersky's is easy to use and it's firewall has a 'Gaming' mode. NOD is a geek's wet dream; the more you play the more fun it is... However, if you're running XP then look at Steganos Security Suite as it's Kaspersky software at a lower price; check out screenshots and you'll see the Kaspersky umbrella on both products.

Favourite firewall is Comodo Firewall Pro: LINK (http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html). A powerful totally stealth free firewall. It just needs to be configured and soem settings are a tad difficult to find. But once you get use to it you'll have no issues. And, it beat Outpost on a leak-test, as well as Norton, ZoneAlarm and a few other better known ones.

bmxthief6969

27th March 2008, 20:20

Ok3

27th March 2008, 21:57

Yeah comodo is alright, not to shabby. You can't say to much on free software. I bought outpost firewall a long time and it's doing good for me and a hardware firewall is doing good for me too. Yeah nod32 is pretty good at scanning fast and all just that it bothers me sometimes that it uses like the ekrn.exe use about 42k memory usage, which kaspersky only usage only 12k max and if you scan it will go up for every antivirus. I always use trails for fun, just to test them and all since you can't always trust those test vb100 or av-comparative. Yeah you can be right about bitdefender, i'll guess i'll try it out then go to avira, f-secure, and then trustport. Let's see what happens. It's always good to test it by yourself. Anyways thanks for the comment guys. Cya around.

scruie

28th March 2008, 04:24

nod32 ftw. the new edition is ballin. they put a new fancy shmancy gui in to make it just as beautiful as your virus free pc.

as for a firewall, if you're looking to do p2p, i wouldn't go with comodo.

me and that dragon never got along when it came to that. too confusing for me to figure out everything in it.

i don't even use a firewall XD

As, I stated you need to configure Comodo which isn't the easiest of things to do. I've used it for a couple of years now and never had any issues.

Yeah comodo is alright, not to shabby. You can't say to much on free software. I bought outpost firewall a long time and it's doing good for me and a hardware firewall is doing good for me too. Yeah nod32 is pretty good at scanning fast and all just that it bothers me sometimes that it uses like the ekrn.exe use about 42k memory usage, which kaspersky only usage only 12k max and if you scan it will go up for every antivirus. I always use trails for fun, just to test them and all since you can't always trust those test vb100 or av-comparative. Yeah you can be right about bitdefender, i'll guess i'll try it out then go to avira, f-secure, and then trustport. Let's see what happens. It's always good to test it by yourself. Anyways thanks for the comment guys. Cya around.

ekrn.exe is the real-time scanner module - if I recall correctly, and it can sometimes eat CPU cycles during file downloads as NOD scans files during that download process. Though ZoneAlarms vsmon.exe use to lock up a test rig of mine during large file downloads.

Those VB certificates aren't worth anything. Companies which fail the testing are given copies of the infections they failed upon and can be re-tested within two weeks. Wouldn't it be nice if when taking school exams they gave you the answers for the re-test. Exactly what happens with VB awards. For a better guage of how good an AV suite have a look at this: LINK (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/155/antivirus-software/introduction.html). They use real world viruses to test. Just look at how many of the free AV suites beat some of the better known brands.

bmxthief6969

28th March 2008, 05:55

list is a bunch of bullsh*t.

nod32 only got a rating of 2?

if i remember correctly, nod32 was the only av that was tested since production that was able to protect from in the wild viruses.

if a rating of 2 kept my computer clean from 6 years of downloading a bunch of shiz, then i wonder how well kaspersky would do

Ok3

28th March 2008, 17:28

Interesting. Well to tell you the truth nod32 wasn't build to detect viruses and malware, it was build to detect undetectable or hidden or invisible viruses, which sometimes you can see why it doesn't detect as good as it suppose too unlike other vendor such as kaspersky built totally on detecting detectable viruses and malware. Nice article scruie i never seen it before it's interesting, was planning on trying avira and f-secure guess I'm on the right path. I just wonder what happen to bitdefender or why didn't they tested it hmm..Interesting. Anyways cya around.

thewalesaver

5th April 2008, 07:49

I dont recommend Avast unless its for portable use, but I use K7 antivirus. works great. click me. (http://k7computing.com/k7_av.asp)

scruie

5th April 2008, 15:24

I dont recommend Avast unless its for portable use, but I use K7 antivirus. works great. click me. (http://k7computing.com/k7_av.asp)

Never heard of this k7. Care do give us a review.

thewalesaver

5th April 2008, 20:15

Never heard of this k7. Care do give us a review.

sure.
k7 computing has two products:
- Total Security (Antivirus, Anti-Spam, Anti-Spyware, Firewall, Privacy, and System Monitor)
- Antivirus (Auto Update, Enhanced search engine, Real-time scanner, Fastest AV scanner, Anti-spyware, ant-malware, and E-mail scanner)

I use the Antivirus.. because I have my own firewalls and privacy protectors. But k7 works great and it doesnt bother you as much as other ones do. You can download a free 30-day trial of Total Security or Antivirus from here (http://k7computing.com/downloads.asp). It works on all OS's and updates itself from new security threats. You can omit files and folders from the scanner so they wont be deleted or quarintined. Works silently in the system tray and you can disable the real-time scanner or the email-scanner by right-clicking the icon. You can do a quick scan by making it scan the most critical areas which can be used by right-clicking the system tray icon. Their website allows you to submit a new virus that they will investigate and then block if it is a real security threat. And you can use a virus encyclopedia from their website. Its also recommended by Microsoft and since it is recommended by them, you can get a 90 day trial (http://www.k7computing.com/Microsoft/Vista/MSDefault.asp) of either one. And if you dont want k7, here is a list of antivirus that are recommended by Microsoft. I also think you should use Threatfire (http://www.threatfire.com/).

Ok3

8th April 2008, 18:55

This is a relatively unknown AV which originates from India; http://www.k7computing.com/index.asp

Recent thread here over at Wilders; http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196090

I have been running this the last week or so and observations so far;

CONS; Very stable, lightweight AV with a very small footprint (8MB VM) and a very fast scanner speed. Excellent GUI, good support and cheap to purchase ($16).

AGAINST; has not really been tested at the big testing sites such as av-comparatives, av-test.org. Although it has passed its only test at Virus Bulletin and against my limited test-bed of malware it was on par with the likes of BitDefender, FPAV 6 and Dr Web. Reactivation needed if you change your hardware or reformat. I have since discovered that K7's updater was broken by our respective registry cleaners. Blackcat uses RegSupreme Pro. I use Ace Utilities. Both of those registry cleaners deleted the following vital registry entry of K7...

HKLM Software\K7Computing\K7TotalSecurity\CommonInfo\Up dates

I have since tested RegSeeker, & also Wise Registry Cleaner. Both of these registry cleaners also deleted K7's vital registry entry.

After I put the above registry item on my registry cleaner's ignore list, K7 began updating perfectly, and has continued to do so ever since. I have reported this matter to K7's support team, & they are studying to see why registry cleaners want to delete that key registry entry.

Therefore, K7 is now a satisfactory antivirus program, but I would class it as "second tier" in protective power. Although K7 is checkmark certified, and has passed testing by VirusBulletin, it only did "average" in tests by AV-test.org.

IMO, K7 is an AV to watch and support (I did buy a license), but it's not quite ready to serve as one's frontline scanner as yet.

thewalesaver

8th April 2008, 19:57

And, k7 was the first to identify the curry worm and the monsoon bot network. Taken from Wilders Security Forum (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196090)

scruie

8th April 2008, 22:32

And, k7 was the first to identify the curry worm and the monsoon bot network. Taken from Wilders Security Forum (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196090)

Maybe so, but it's detection rates as shown by that last link aren't too good. This is one AV that I can safely miss.

thewalesaver

8th April 2008, 23:09

Maybe so, but it's detection rates as shown by that last link aren't too good. This is one AV that I can safely miss.

fine with me. do as you please.
i just use it because i know i send my files through several antivirus checks including email antivirus checks.

m0d hipp¥

9th April 2008, 03:09

I heard good things about AVG.
Personally I like Kaspersky the best, but since that obviously isn't free I would just stick with AVG.
Another good program that is packaged with top of the line protection is Webroot Spysweeper with Anti Virus, but once again not free.

Word of advice, if you want free there's no better thing for you than Linux. I know this is getting a bit off subject, but seriously it's worth looking into.
1. Alot more stable than Windows
2. No BSOD'S (that should be a winner in itself)
3. Virtually no viruses or spyware.
4. Completely free & so many different distributions to choose from.
Even the SDK is publicly released which means you can modify it yourself(as long as you know how ;)). You can modify the kernel to your satisfaction making it virtually impossible for anyone to touch you with a virus unless you release your open source code to the public.

Point is Windows is going to be vulnerable. If you refuse to use Linux, Just play smart on Windows. Don't accept ANYTHING from anyone you don't trust 100%. Even if you scan all files, there are certain encryptions and packers that will bypass AV's.

If you're going to be looking at bad crap (warez &\or porn) it's only a matter of time before something bad is going to happen. You're basically asking for something bad so you get what you deserve.

I recommend some version of Linux, and if you do alot of gaming I recommend 1 of a few things.
a. WINE
b. Transgaming Cedega
c. Dual boot between Windows & Linux.

You can pretty much use Linux for anything & everything and strictly use Windows for gaming. Even without an AV and as long as you play smart, you should be fine.

The few things I found WIndows has better support for than Linux are drivers & games.

There are alot of good driver support for Linux now, however if you have an ATI card, don't count on it working properly. Not so much Linux fault as it is on ATI, since NVidia released its kernel & ATI hasn't which is why the driver support is lacking. Otherwise you're fine.

If you're interested, I wrote a tut for beginners (27 pages) incase anyone is interested. The distribution I used in the demo is probably the simplest distribution Ubuntu. There is also something called WUBI for beginners I would recommend.
http://wubi-installer.org/

Sorry to get a bit off topic, but hopefully someone learned something and found it useful!

Virtuosofriend

9th April 2008, 13:52

It is not just ATi, i am still waiting Creative to publish drivers for my X-Fi

scruie

9th April 2008, 15:25

@ m0d hipp¥, Kaspersky is one of my personal favourites to recommend to clients, or failing that then Steganos; which is basically Kaspersky but slightly cheaper.

Eset (NOD products) are for the geeks as it really needs to be tweaked to get the best out of it.

AVG Free is perfectly fine, just turn off that daily scan and remember to do it yourself weekly.

Using Spybot's Immunize feature is another good way of protecting yourself and so is using the MVP Hosts file.

Ok3

9th April 2008, 17:23

scruie

10th April 2008, 04:01

Kaspersky really good i use it personally. While steganos use the same engine update as kaspersky, but it is the second class of kaspersky which i don't recommended steganos. But i also use avira, man it is good at scanning or detecting viruses bettwe than kaspersky.

They're both the same product. Steganos just licence it from Kaspersky.

These days most AV are really internet security suites; containing anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and firewalls. The day of the lone anti-virus package are numbered. Mainly due to the way malware is evolving.

SLiK44

11th April 2008, 11:25

Avg... Lol

Ok3

11th April 2008, 18:59

They are almost the same product i admit, but i think Steganos has a difference in detection rate than kaspersky. There are a couple of security features that are not enabled by default. Some feature in kaspersky are not in steganos such as Application Integrity Control and Registry Guard.

scruie

12th April 2008, 00:10