What's a good anti-virus software?

[notherbob]

What's a good AV software that really works? Do any of them prevent infections? Which ones can identify a particular virus once it infests your system?

I use XP with IE8 and have been zapped by viruses twice in two weeks.

In one case, I got an email that appeared to be from an archaeologist I had been working with who appeared to be wanting me to click on a link to look at some photos of newly discovered pictographs - that one was from Russia.

It took the computer shop a week to wipe the disk clean and reload my data and I had to reload all my programs.

The second virus was from someone with a university in Pakistan wanting to discuss the health benefits of Turmeric and garlic and when I didn't click on the link but in a separate browser I went to their website to check it out and as soon as I arrived at their website, Bingo, I got zapped again. My computer is still in the shop dealing with the second one. I can't afford much more of this.

I have current versions of free AVG and Malware bytes and neither one either prevented infection nor found any malware, despite the fact that my keyboard did not work and every key I pushed took me to my homepage. Would the premium versions have helped? What about Norton?

I am known the world over in my business and I get lots of email from people all over the world asking for advice or thanking me for the information I publish on my website but I guess I will just have to decide not to click on anymore websites from abroad.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Avast has done me well.

 

[YosemiteSam]

No anti-virus is perfect. Most consumer versions of anti-virus are bloated pieces of crap. At work, I deploy Symantec Corporate Anti-Virus. It's basically Norton Anti-Virus with the bloated garbage removed.

That said, Symantec isn't all that great, but it does have a Anti-Virus Server Management Console that allows me to manage an unlimited number of clients. It also prevents 500 desktops from saturating our Internet connection downloading updates all the time. (The server downloads the updates and hands them out to local desktops)

Anyway, that was useless rambling. The AVG you have is probably fine, but it's my opinion that you should always purchase your anti-virus. The free versions generally will lack something you probably need. Be it real-time scanning of active memory or something like that.

The thing I really suggest is to stop using IE. Download Firefox or Chrome and use it instead except on sites that require IE to function properly. If you can, just avoid those sites altogether.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I'm not in the business or any expert, but we've had stuff get by AVG. Isn't Kaspersky still considered one of the very best? Notherbob, you can find it for free or very, very cheap after rebate if you look. If you want to drive into town, Fry's frequently has it for free after rebate.

I used to have good success with Panda's antivirus programs. They still have a cloud-based one that is free, I think. I used to order last year's version for like ten bucks and it worked well. (The AV files would still be current.)

For totally free, Microsofts own Microsoft Security Essentials actually seems pretty good. It's found some things other free programs haven't.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

No anti-virus is perfect. Most consumer versions of anti-virus are bloated pieces of crap. At work, I deploy Symantec Corporate Anti-Virus. It's basically Norton Anti-Virus with the bloated garbage removed.

That said, Symantec isn't all that great, but it does have a Anti-Virus Server Management Console that allows me to manage an unlimited number of clients. It also prevents 500 desktops from saturating our Internet connection downloading updates all the time. (The server downloads the updates and hands them out to local desktops)

Anyway, that was useless rambling. The AVG you have is probably fine, but it's my opinion that you should always purchase your anti-virus. The free versions generally will lack something you probably need. Be it real-time scanning of active memory or something like that.

The thing I really suggest is to stop using IE. Download Firefox or Chrome and use it instead except on sites that require IE to function properly. If you can, just avoid those sites altogether.

Avast has real-time scanning, only problem it has vs all these other free ones is its much more resource heavy but its worth it if security is a priority for you

 

[big dog cowboy]

I use XP with IE8

I stopped reading right there.

I think I found your problem.

Two words: google chrome.

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

On Windows I use AVG (free version) and Windows Defender.