Virus guard. Recommendations please.

Meds · March 02, 2010, 09:27:26 AM

My computers virus guard has now ended and I'm looking for a new one. We have kaspersky at the moment and I've used the free ones like AVG but I'm after a good solid protection guard. With all the files for the audio dramas I want to be safe and secure so can anyone recomend a really good virus guard to stop those worms, Trojans and other spy stuff.

billybob476 · March 02, 2010, 09:37:37 AM

I use Avast! and it has served me well. I found that last version of AVG was waaay to heavy and bogged my machine down.

Another good one is Nod32 though I don't think it's free.

Meds · March 02, 2010, 09:52:44 AM

Oh I'm happy to pay for it. I know you get deals for up to three computers etc. I just want to get the best at a reasonable price. Is Avast free?

billybob476 · March 02, 2010, 09:58:11 AM

Yeah Avast is free.

Rico · March 02, 2010, 09:58:27 AM

Quote from: billybob476 on March 02, 2010, 09:37:37 AM
I use Avast! and it has served me well. I found that last version of AVG was waaay to heavy and bogged my machine down.

Another good one is Nod32 though I don't think it's free.

AVG bogged down your Doghouse machine? Or was this your older PC? I've had good luck with AVG Free. But, full scans, etc. are only run when I'm not actively using the computer. The rest of the time it's just monitor's net activity, certain file types and so on. Never an issue with it.

billybob476 · March 02, 2010, 10:01:55 AM

My old machine, though even that machine was still a Pentium D 3 Ghz with 2 gigs of ram running on XP. Might have just been the initial release of AVG 8 (i think) but it tunred me off to it. They added a web filter and some other doodads. I just wanted a virus scanner that was silent.

Actually, now that I think about it, all that I use on my Doghouse is Microsoft Security Essentials, also free. I was thinking of my other machines (laptop and Fran's dektop) that use Avast.

jedijeff · March 02, 2010, 11:59:13 AM

I had AVG on my Wifes PC, and AVG bogged it down to the point it she could not use it anymore. The PC is a few years old now, but considering I upgraded the RAM on it, and she doesn't use it for much, I was surprised the performance hit it took from AVG. I tried Avast on it, but whatever version I had downloaded had a time limit on it. I was just about to look for another Anti-Virus Program when I got an email from my ISP that they had a free set of Security Programs for customers, so that solved my issue. I actually kicked myself a bit, as I knew we had them all along, just sort of slipped my mind when putting Anti-Virus on her PC. I will see how it goes on her PC, and I might switch, as I am still running AVG, but do notice it has taken a bit of performance away from my PC.

I guess long story short, you get what you pay for, and since it is free, guess it is to be expected.

billybob476 · March 02, 2010, 12:16:41 PM

With Avast you get a free key, however after a year or so it expires and you have to go and get a new free key. It's a little strange.

spaltor · March 02, 2010, 12:46:02 PM

The new security program from Microsoft is actually really great - Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free as long as you have a registered version of Windows. Our network guy at work actually removed all other security programs, and we use that alone. In his words, "it's badass."

Rico · March 02, 2010, 02:08:33 PM

I am really surprised some of you guys are seeing slowdowns with AVG. Again, is that when you are actively scanning only or all the time?

jedijeff · March 02, 2010, 04:35:07 PM

For my Wifes PC, it turned pretty much unusable on Startup. I checked Task Manager and the AVG was chewing up a lot of the processor. I even let it sit for a few hours, but just never dropped, so continuing to use AVG was just not an option anymore. I do notice a slow down on my PC when it is starting, as it is probably retrieving the definition files, and when it is scanning it slows things up a little, but since my PC is more powerful, it can handle it. In the past, never had any issues with AVG and have used it for a few years now.

billybob476 · March 02, 2010, 05:04:57 PM

I may not have made a big deal about it but I can also highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. Unless there is an issue it is completely silent.

I'm sure AVG on my Doghouse would run fine but after that experience I just got turned off to it.

Blackride · March 02, 2010, 05:41:05 PM

Symantec Ent has served me well. Avast is cool just not as robust.

ChadH · March 11, 2010, 11:27:46 AM

I've been using AVG on my business PC for over a year now and noticed no performance issues. Just recently I added a free version of Avira and it's detected things that my fully updated AVG has let through.

cosmonaut · March 11, 2010, 05:09:51 PM

I used Avira for years on my PC, never had any trouble with it and the two tiny viruses it found were not a big issue.
I usually deactivate it for playing games, the files seem to load slightly slower.

I additionally use Spybot, that's an "Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software." That's probably not what you were asking, but I thought I mention it anyway.