I have never relied much on those "AV Comparison" websites.. because you never really know who makes them... it may very well be someone from within one of the companies. I purely have gone off the tests and experience I have been through over the years.
AdAware is "near" worthless. AVG may be okay if you plan on getting a "well-known" virus.. but rarely do we have that option and I have never had one of the major threats... only the more obscure and often deadlier less well-known malwares.
Of the free scanners out there, the only one that has proved it's salt is Spybot S&D. Granted, it hardly ever detects anything compared to Spyware Doctor, but it did dectect a dialer on one of my machines that EVERYTHING else did not. And after research of this specific dialer, I indeed was fully infected with it. Thanks Spybot... which now has a place on my systems from now on.
Of course... spyware blaster, which isn't a scanner but rather an immunizer is always a nice addition to any system. No background processes.. so it doesn't slow ya down any.
Most viruses these days, for those of you who are extremely careful about where you surf, don't come through the browser. They come through your email client, video players or software. Just stay away from porn, free screensavers, video sites, etc. And for the love of god... NEVER GO TO MYSPACE!!!
Norton Internet Suite is bugging the hell out of me
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- AKA Panama Jack
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Another reason why I use Opera. The built in Email Client is fantastic and I don't have to worry about things getting executed in email attachments or the email itself.seodevhead wrote:Most viruses these days, for those of you who are extremely careful about where you surf, don't come through the browser. They come through your email client
- seodevhead
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I use outlook myself... it's such a versatile and powerful piece of software beyond just simple email. I don't know what I would do without it. I tried thunderbird and got discouraged quickly.
If you use outlook... best thing you can do is get a virus filter like ZASS, and turn off HTML emails (plain ascii).. i think I took some extra measures doing something else.. but I can't remember. I still don't trust it completely with these settings... but I just have to have faith.
If you use outlook... best thing you can do is get a virus filter like ZASS, and turn off HTML emails (plain ascii).. i think I took some extra measures doing something else.. but I can't remember. I still don't trust it completely with these settings... but I just have to have faith.
Indeed, many sites comparing AV software are suspicious. But the one I linked to seems to be independent and real.
My XP machine also annoys the hell out of me with popups. Each time I turn the machine on (not so often luckily) I have to close all these popups telling me I have outdated AV-software, I have no standard e-mail client installed, etc etc.
I've been on a mac for a year now and at this point I really do not understand what the hell I've been doing with windows all that time. I'm astonished why everyone is dealing with the mess. I get this computer magazine sometimes, and each issue has only articles about "How to clean your PC", "The 10 best firewalls", "how to speed up your machine", "How to get rid of spyware", etc etc etc. On my mac I just never have to deal with stuff like this, ever.
Well, back to the AV software for the windows pc. I might try NOD32, as it seems many people here have positive experiences and from the test-site http://www.av-comparatives.org/ it comes out as the best.
My XP machine also annoys the hell out of me with popups. Each time I turn the machine on (not so often luckily) I have to close all these popups telling me I have outdated AV-software, I have no standard e-mail client installed, etc etc.
I've been on a mac for a year now and at this point I really do not understand what the hell I've been doing with windows all that time. I'm astonished why everyone is dealing with the mess. I get this computer magazine sometimes, and each issue has only articles about "How to clean your PC", "The 10 best firewalls", "how to speed up your machine", "How to get rid of spyware", etc etc etc. On my mac I just never have to deal with stuff like this, ever.
Well, back to the AV software for the windows pc. I might try NOD32, as it seems many people here have positive experiences and from the test-site http://www.av-comparatives.org/ it comes out as the best.