Good, free anti-virus?

[Flame Of Liberty]

I have Symantec AntiVirus installed (original full version), I tried to install AVG 8 (free) and it says it is a problem to have 2 antivirus programs installed. Is it just a bunch of BS or can it really cause problems?

[OilKiller]

Yes, it can cause issues having more than one anti virus package installed. Uninstall Symantec. It's a resource hog anyway.

[Ozy_Flame]

No one has mentioned Zone Alarm? I use it religiously, have been for 5 years, and not once have I ever gotten a virus since then. The minute it finds a trojan horse or something, it immediately pops up, quarantines, and deletes it - no questions asked. Plus, it has program internet access control, and a multitude of other features.

Best program I've used, hands down.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

No one has mentioned Zone Alarm? I use it religiously, have been for 5 years, and not once have I ever gotten a virus since then. The minute it finds a trojan horse or something, it immediately pops up, quarantines, and deletes it - no questions asked. Plus, it has program internet access control, and a multitude of other features.

Best program I've used, hands down.

Zone Alarm is evil and has causes severe issues on a few systems I have seen. I rank it along with Symantic/Norton in terms of "security" products which can create way more problems than they are worth, especially when there are other better options out there.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

No one has mentioned Zone Alarm?

Right now I have been playing around with ZoneAlarm firewall (the free one) and it seems to operate just fine, but never tried their "security suite". Personally I try to stay away from these "suites".

The free firewall is OK. Not very configurable though for those of us who know a bit more about our system and want things a certain way.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Zone Alarm is evil and has causes severe issues on a few systems I have seen. I rank it along with Symantic/Norton in terms of "security" products which can create way more problems than they are worth, especially when there are other better options out there.

Interesting.

I would peg an Anti Virus program's effectiveness on how often my computer contracts a virus. And since I've barely gotten any in 5 years and have never had a crash or anything (this is a PC), I'd say it's doing excellent at its job.

Then again, everyone has a different reason for using different programs. I thought AVG was good, but not comprehensive enough.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, if you're using a home computer through a router, the router pretty much does 90% of the blocking anyways, doesn't it?

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Also, if I'm not mistaken, if you're using a home computer through a router, the router pretty much does 90% of the blocking anyways, doesn't it?

Yes, most routers come with built-in firewalls already.

[Esoteric]

Ugh, though Zone Alarm does a fairly decent job it absolutely destroys your system performance. Something that is supposed to run in the background should not be such a system hog as ZA is.

I looked into ZA Antivirus, and that would be too bad. It says it comes with something provided by Kaspersky. I'd use Kasperky instead though, less resources to eat up.

I use NOD32 for my antivirus, and won't use anything else ever again. Pick up the free trial, and test it out.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

Ugh, though Zone Alarm does a fairly decent job it absolutely destroys your system performance.

Are we talking ZA for anti virus or just the ZA firewall?

I'm always curious to see what people are using for a firewall. If so, what firewall software do you use (not anti virus)?

[Bobblehead]

ZA actually works in the Windows IP Stack. There are more than a few online tech forums where Zone Alarm is a bad word because of the sheer number of people who go to those forums with windows network issues caused by Zone Alarm.

Maybe the newer versions are better, but I wouldn't trust them. If it works for you, great, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The Windows firewall is more than good enough without bringing in any 3rd party software.

And a router uses NAT (Network Address Translation), so people on the internet who want to hack your machine can only see the IP address of the router. They would need to hack your router and keep it functional before they could even have a chance to see your computer. Unless there is a known vulnerability a hacker won't even try, and even if there is a known vuln, there are so many different makes, models and firmwares that it isn't practical to hack one. Add onto that the fact that some routers now actually include a real firewall as well, a nice little router will handle 99.99% of your firewall needs, and just by leaving on your Windows firewall (which will also stop 99+% of attacks) your only possible issues should be user issues - if you download stuff off hacker sites, expect to get hacked; if Aunt Betty never emails and yet now you get a .exe attachment from her, don't click it. Simple stuff but it is amazing how many people were "just curious about what it was".

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Are we talking ZA for anti virus or just the ZA firewall?

I'm always curious to see what people are using for a firewall. If so, what firewall software do you use (not anti virus)?

The Firewall. I used to use it (about 5 years ago) and am really glad that I no longer do.

I use NOD32 as my firewall, as well as I have a router.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Maybe the newer versions are better, but I wouldn't trust them. If it works for you, great, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The Windows firewall is more than good enough without bringing in any 3rd party software.

And I have read so many high end tech folks say that Windows firewall is a piece of junk and pretty much useless.

Most experts have stated that a third party firewall is a good idea. Yes, most folks have a router these days and that will block most of the incoming traffic without issue, but many agree that a software firewall is also an extra level of protection that should be used. I use bitorrent quite often. Can that not allow a bit more access to my system, as most of the incoming/outgoing traffic is allowed to ensure proper connections and download/upload speeds?

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

The Firewall. I used to use it (about 5 years ago) and am really glad that I no longer do.

Why? Issues with it? System slowdown? 5 years is a long time for software. There have been many updates since then. I've had no issue with it other than configurability.

Originally Posted by Esoteric

I use NOD32 as my firewall, as well as I have a router.

Yes, but it's not free is it? We are talking, or at least I am, about free anti virus and firewall software in this thread.

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Why? Issues with it? System slowdown? 5 years is a long time for software. There have been many updates since then. I've had no issue with it other than configurability.

It was a resource hog the last time I used it. Maybe I could check it out again, but when I used it last it was hogging about 200-300 mb of ram, and a hefty amount of CPU usuage, which is unacceptable. I believe this was in 2005 when I finally gave it the boot.

Yes, but it's not free is it? We are talking, or at least I am, about free anti virus and firewall software in this thread.

No, if you pursue legal means it will never be free. But I've never used a more memory efficient firewall/anti virus program before.