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Sun 2 Dec, 2007 06:15 am
For the last few years, I have been using Norton Virus Scan, and have been pretty happy with it. My subscription is up at the end of the month, and I am already getting nag notices about the expiration.
Normally, I would just renew. What ticked me off was that Norton wanted 40 bucks for the renewal, and I am finding deals on the net that are between 20-34 dollars, one even from Norton itself.
So I started looking around for something else. At this point I am totally confused. What do you use for virus scanning? Are you happy with it? Why?
I use AVG Free, and I am very happy with it.
I use panda software.
Have used it for 3 or 4 years now and love it.
BUT-
I find myself using other programs that are free more often and getting some better results..
odd, but true.
Spyware doctor.
Online Trendmicro house call ( weekly)
CrapCleaner
My panda serves as the 'always on' virus scan.
I use spyware doctor and crap cleaner as a second guess, double check system and with that combination ( 2 free one not) I am pretty safe and happy.
Phoenix32890 wrote:contrex- I checked on AVG free. Apparently, people either love it or hate it. The main problem is that if there is a glitch, there is really no tech support. Hey, what do I want, for free????
Exactly. There are plenty of discussion groups where people discuss problems. I am not sure what you mean by a "glitch". I have used AVG for over 3 years now, and it has always worked OK.
contrex- By a "glitch", I mean a problem with the program that arises that the user cannot fix by himself.
I have to step away from this for the moment. There is something very strange. When I went deeper into the reviews of the Zone Alarm, there was something very peculiar. Although the site said that out of 117 reviews, the average user score was a (4), the site only had 8 reviews to read, and most of them were lousy.
Need a New Virus Scan Program
I use ZoneAlarm and have for three or four years now. I am very happy with it. I know there have been a number of unfavorable reviews, but I haven't been hit by any bad stuff as yet.
I just wish that it would be more specific about the items they question, but no other AV program I've seen is any better in that respect...
Phoenix32890 wrote:contrex- By a "glitch", I mean a problem with the program that arises that the user cannot fix by himself.
OK I'm with you now. I did once get a message that said that AVG had encountered a problem and needed to be reinstalled, so I downloaded it again and reinstalled it, and it was fine. Apart from that, no problems.
Re: Need a New Virus Scan Program
Tomkitten wrote:I use ZoneAlarm and have for three or four years now. I am very happy with it. I know there have been a number of unfavorable reviews, but I haven't been hit by any bad stuff as yet.
I just wish that it would be more specific about the items they question, but no other AV program I've seen is any better in that respect...
Look 'em up on Google.
My subscription was up on Norton Internet Security 2006 and I had to decide what to do. I have upgraded the program every two years since NIS 2002.
I decided not to go with NIS 2008. Instead I went with Norton 360. It retailed for $20.00 more than Internet Security 2008, but I got it on sale for $50.00 off.
So far, I am happy with it. It seems to run better than NIS and I haven't had any problems.
It includes a defgrag program and cleanup utility as well as anti virus, anti spam, firewall, any spyware etc.
It does not get along with Microsoft Defender and insists on removing it before running setup. I did not see this as a problem because I was not particularly a fan of defender anyhow.
OK- Bottom line. The more I read, the more confused that I got. Apparently, there seems to be a tremendous disconnect between how editors and users evaluate virus scans.
As my brother would say, I was a victim of TMI (Too much information).
I was very impressed by Kaspersky. The problem there, is that I discovered that there is a known conflict between Kaspersky and Zone Alarm. I have the free version of Zone Alarm, and I refuse to give it up.
So, as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I paid my 40 bucks, and renewed the Norton. I know that I could have gotten away cheaper, but my computer has been running great on what I have, and I don't want to risk futzing things up just to save a few dollars.
I have always upgraded virus scan engines every two years. Looks like I am sticking to my previous pattern!
Phoenix32890 wrote:OK- Bottom line. The more I read, the more confused that I got. Apparently, there seems to be a tremendous disconnect between how editors and users evaluate virus scans.
As my brother would say, I was a victim of TMI (Too much information).
I was very impressed by Kaspersky. The problem there, is that I discovered that there is a known conflict between Kaspersky and Zone Alarm. I have the free version of Zone Alarm, and I refuse to give it up.
So, as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I paid my 40 bucks, and renewed the Norton. I know that I could have gotten away cheaper, but my computer has been running great on what I have, and I don't want to risk futzing things up just to save a few dollars.
I have always upgraded virus scan engines every two years. Looks like I am sticking to my previous pattern!
Nah, I just think we're victims of the damn things! Charge!!!!!
I highly recommend Microsoft's
Windows Live OneCare (there's a 90-day free trial on its website, and Amazon currently
sells it for $34 bucks). OneCare is drop dead simple to use; includes antivirus, antispyware, firewall, and backup software that all works well together; and uses an easy, annual subscription model (which covers both the subscription to new virus/spyware signatures and any major or minor software updates). Plus, you can legally install it on any three PCs for no extra charge. I've been using it since it came out and haven't had any trouble with it yet.
Re: Need a New Virus Scan Program
Tomkitten wrote:I use ZoneAlarm and have for three or four years now. I am very happy with it. I know there have been a number of unfavorable reviews, but I haven't been hit by any bad stuff as yet.
I just wish that it would be more specific about the items they question, but no other AV program I've seen is any better in that respect...
Take care, I've just had to un-install Zone Alarm following new Windows Defender updates which disagreed with it and caused my Vista O.S. to crash. Zone Alarm had to go because it's not possible to remove Definition updates from Windows Defender. Nordicus.
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