I got infected with a virus called AntiVirus Pro. I finally managed to get rid of it using Spybot Search & Destroy. Norton failed, HijackThis failed ...
But anyway, for the future: The Antivirus I'm used to using is AVG Free, Version 8.
Can I please hear some opinions ... If I have all my MS updates current, is AVG Free sufficient protection generally speaking? I really don't want to slow my machine down by having two perhaps-competing products running in the background.
Thanks a lot!
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
Experience has taught me that with Windows, you can never have enough security. I use McAfee and AVG free on my pc as AV software and also have Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D for anti spyware/malware removal.
AVG free is good. It does have a few drawbacks but as long as you get the updates on time, you are safe. However note that new threats are released almost daily and there is a gap in time between the threat dispersal and the AV update. during that gap, you are vulnerable no matter what AV software you use and where you live.
Running two programs does not slow your system down at all, I have McAfee on access turned off and AVG has all components active.
On Spybot, its the best. It has saved me a lot of time and effort in removing malware/spyware and does not use up resources unless you run it. I run an update and scan regularly. The spybot resident tea timer (http://www.safer-networki
In my opinion, you will not lose if you have both products and since the two programs have different functions, your pc performance will not suffer either.
Thanks folks, your advice is much appreciated.
It's late and I'll be quitting for the day shortly. But if anyone else would like to "vote" on the reasonable amount of protection one needs these days, I'd really appreciate it, since I manage a lot of machines:
AVG Free by itself?
AVG Free plus Spybot S&D?
AVG Free plus McAfee plus Spybot S&D?
AVG Free plus McAfee plus Spybot S&D plus AdAware?
P.S. With regard to points, I always give the first responders the biggest amount of points if their answer is reasonable. But I'll be happy to give some points to everyone who offers an opinion on this very important question. (Antivirus maintenance does consume a lot of time and energy.)
Thanks one more time!
"Tea Timer is always on. That is ok and it will not use up much resources."
Actuallt Tea Timer is known for huge VM leaks. I prefer to keep it disabled......
I do install Spybot on my machines, but only for immunization purposes, I use Super AntiSpyware as my scanner of choice (also free). Additionally, SpywareBlaster for additional immunizations, and I am done......
SUPERAntiSpyware.com - AntiAdware, AntiSpyware, AntiMalware!
http://www.superantispywar
One of the best on the market (and it is free, although you can upgrade and get Real Time Protection)
Spyware Blaster
http://www.javacoolsoftwar
To help innoculate and prevent specific nasties once a month
You should NEVER have two antivirus products installed on the same computer. Due to the way they operate they conflict with each other, and can actually prevent each other from working. While it is true every AV package will have it's weakness, by running two at the same time you are actually opening your system up to danger (both from the products themselves, and viruses). Even if the realtime scan of one of the products is disabled, you are asking for problems. All the AV packages give a warning if they detect another product already installed - this warning is actually for a reason rather than another "Just click yes" warning box.
I agree with normally keeping Teatimer disabled. It is more of an irritation that a useful tool.
I have never had a problem recommending AVG. Though recently I have come to prefer Avira (another free offering).
On a personal note I run no security products on my machine - but I wouldn't recommend that to anyone!
Thanks for the comment Purplepomegranite, but I assume that if you don't have any security products, then you have your hard drive regularly backed up with something like Acronis True Image or Ghost.
I've been doing some homework. Mostly for my own future reference, here are some insights about the topic of Malware today:
1. Sunbelt Software - Responses to a poll on the question, "What is the biggest security concern in 2009?" They have done similar polls for 2008 and 2007, also available in their Q & A.
http://www.sunbeltsoftware
2. Richard Gnall - A Security Site. He has an interesting review of all the products out there. He says, "The more the better", just like upu1007 above.
http://www.richardgnall.co
For the record, I'm with Purplepomegranite - I only want ONE security product, and I want it to be free. :)
>>>> Editorial on security from: <<<<<<<<<<< http://www.techsupportaler
To survive, security vendors have had to respond by expanding their product's capabilities. Take the case of Ewido. It started life as an anti-trojan program. As spyware became more prominent Ewido started targeting spyware in addition to trojans. Finally, it was bought by the security developer AVG to bolster their anti-virus products.
And you can see the same trend across the whole security industry. Every computer security developer wants their product to address all security threats, not just individual categories of threat. Indeed, just today as I was writing this editorial I received a press release saying the Avast! AV program has been expanded to include anti-spyware and anti-rootkit features.
So today, what's the difference between a modern anti-spyware program like WebRoot SpySweeper with its newly-acquired anti-virus capabilities and a modern anti-virus program such as Norton 360 which has anti-spyware capabilities?
The answer is "not a lot." In essence, they are both now anti-malware scanners.
So do you still need an AV program plus an anti-spyware program and an anti-trojan scanner?
For the majority of average users the answer is no. A single competent broad spectrum anti-malware product is enough. My recommendations here include AntiVir, NOD32, Kaspersky, BitDefender, Norton and a few others.
Of course, not everyone is an average user. Users who engage in high risk activities, like sourcing their software from P2P services, should load up their PC with all the protection they can get. Similarly, there are users for whom the best possible protection is paramount, regardless of cost or performance implications. Finally, users of freeware scanners who cannot afford a premium product may be well advised to use more than one signature-based scanner.
However, for average users who are prepared to invest in a top anti-malware scanner, one signature-based product is enough. The small increment in protection offered by having multiple signature based scanners is simply not worth the financial cost, operational hassle and the reduction in computer performance.
If you want to increase your security, you are much better off putting the effort into other initiatives, such as safer computing practices, a good firewall with a built-in HIPS or using a sandbox for surfing. And you can do this without spending a cent. For details on how to do this, check out this article: http://www.techsupportaler
>>>>>
" My recommendations here include AntiVir, NOD32, Kaspersky, BitDefender, Norton and a few others."
4 out of 5 good suggestions arent bad.. I wouldnt run Norton/Symantec products if they paid ME.... I think alot of the people in this thread will agree.....
Basically, you have to find what works for your situation. My personal solution may not work for your needs, and yours may not be for me.... Only thing you MUST obey, as purplepomegranite stated......
"You should NEVER have two antivirus products installed on the same computer."
same for Realtime Malware scanners like SAS/MBAM/Webroot.....
Other than that, theres enough free stuff on the web to experiment with....
You can even load MS Virtual PC 2007 and run your own scenarios, by infecting it to see what cleans the best....
I agree with regards to Norton. In my experience it is the worst of all AV products. More so as I only tend to get called to fix computers when something goes wrong - I have seen Norton cause more damage to an OS than the viruses it is failing to protect against. It also seems to slow systems more than any other product (with the possible exception of the McAfee update issue, though that is intermittent and I think only appears in the corporate version).
I also distrust many of the "Security Advisors" (a lot of whom, on further investigation, seem to rely on various security companies for their pay cheques). Why would I want my system loaded with dozens of anti-malware tools? More importantly, why did the AV companies start distinguishing between "trojans" and "viruses" - if not to sell more products? Malware is malware, and either a product protects against it, or it doesn't.
My normal recommendation to home users is a decent free AV product (AVG, or Avira) and Spybot (to install the "immunizations" which block many dubious websites). This works in the majority of situations. In some situations (a family computer and there is a teenage son seems to be the most common!) I would also recommend Windows Defender. All products being free, and between them, imo, offering protection as good as all the paid for software "suites" out there.
Summary so far. I think this is an honest summary of what's been said, I'll try not to let my bias show:
1. AVG is probably sufficient for most home users, perhaps with the addition of Spybot for its immunizations.
2. One must be very knowledgeable about what one is doing before one loads a second security product on at the same time. Most people should stick to just one. But having said that ...
3. Different users require different levels of protection. And every AV product has its own strengths. So, someone who does a lot of surfing to dangerous sites needs all the protection they can get. And someone else who has doctors for clients, for example, needs to buy the very best product that's out there.
4. Norton is not the best product, even though you have to pay for it, AND it hogs resources on the PC. I think I said that politely.
So ... May I ask this question from a different perspective?
1. What is the best product out there if money is no object? (for an individual computer)
2. What is the best corporate product, where you pay thousands of dollars to protect hundreds of PCs, and you get to manage all the updates centrally?
Thanks
1. There isn't one. It is a simple fact that each product has it's pros and cons. Each one has a failure point. As it happens, I am keeping an eye on the products that are trying things from a different angle, e.g. http://www.prevx.com/
2. The two I see most commonly are Sophos and Mcafee. Again, the best argument doesn't apply, there isn't one. However, Sophos and Mcafee corporate are both good, and both defend against both spyware and viruses in the corporate version (none of this home-user rubbish where you need to buy separate products),
1. AVG Professional and SuperAntiSpyware Professional...... Again, you will get lots of different suggestions on this one......
2. Again, I like AVG Professional. They have an Admin Console for Central mgmt. SuperAntiSpyware also has a corp. edition coming out in the next few months.....
Right now, I think Webroot Spysweeper is the top corporate product. Even though I dont like the app, it's management abilities are good.....
Even SpyBot has a corporate edition, with central management. Wasnt impressed with the web console though.....
My experience is several years of avg use on my 6 or 7 home pcs (I administer sophos at work) Avg is great because it's free for home use. It also works very well but as previously mentioned unless you get the paid for version you are not protected against spyware. I have used spybot and found it quite good but now use windows defender.
I have 5 very active users of the internet at home and don't have issues at all with viruses/spyware. I run a mix of vista and xp.
These products are amazingly good for the price - free.
With regard to the Conficker work:
If youre running a bootleg copy of Windows thats not patched properly, or youve been neglecting to patch up (the security bulletin thats important here is MS08-067) then theres a small chance that you could be infected. If youre worried, run a system scan using one of the following tools:
" AhnLab
" ESET
" Kaspersky
" F-Secure Malware Removal Tool
" McAfee
" Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
" Sophos
" Sunbelt Software
" Symantec FixDownadup.exe Notes
" TrendMicro
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: purplepomegranitePosted on 2009-02-28 at 19:35:42ID: 23766679
AVG and Spybot defend against different threats (unless you get the full AVG, which includes spyware protection, I believe).
If you are running the free version of AVG then I would advise sticking with Spybot. Spybot doesn't actually scan anything anyway, except when you manually tell it to. But it does have many immunisations for IE, and the System Settings protection can be useful (can also be annoying - personal choice on that one!).
So, Spybot and AVG Free won't compete in the slightest. Two different AV products installed would (e.g. Norton and AVG).