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05-03-2007, 08:41 AM
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#1
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 2,308
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Antivirus software question
What's the best out there? I've been looking at Kaspersky, ZoneAlarm, and BitDefender. The reviews I've read in magazines say they're all good, but then I go on Amazon and the customer reviews range from really good to really bad, e.g. system slow-downs, tons of pop-ups/warnings, and crashing. I have DSL with a wireless modem hooked up to my PC. Is it enough just have a solid antivirus and firewall? Or is it better to get one of the suites that gives you everything? Right now I have a free version of McAfee AV, the Windows firewall that comes with XP, and the free version of LavaSoft Ad-Adware.
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John
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05-03-2007, 08:56 AM
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#2
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Co-Founder / Site Admin
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ewing, NJ
Posts: 22,476
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Lavasoft Ad-Aware is good, run it once a week or so and make sure that you keep it updated.
I use Avast free anti virus ( www.avast.com). I used to swear by Norton, but I like Avast's program better, and it hasn't failed me yet (been using it for a few years).
- Justin
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1999 Camry - Beigemobile DD
2002 Suburban - Wife's DD
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05-03-2007, 09:20 AM
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#3
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hillsborough, NJ
Posts: 3,200
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My company adopted a redundant system because of the nature of our business - we use Norton for the Anti-virus, and ZoneAlarm for the personal firewall, messenger scanner, etc. ZoneAlarm has done me proud on a few occasions, however there is a noticable slow down on the system as the software looks for updates, scans the PC, messenger connections (like AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc.) and other behind the scenes protective activities.
What you have to ask yourself is - what is more important, your PC booting 20 seconds faster and fewer annoying pop up messages about blocked hacking attempts, or knowing your PC is protected everytime you turn it on?
I consider myself a patient person who uses the internet with confidence.
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05-03-2007, 09:48 AM
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#4
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King of Free
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,750
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The best way to do it is a hardware router / firewall and then get a good piece of software anti-virus. Unfortunately anti-virus' are prone to be system hogs as it is the nature of what they do. They are constantly scanning. If you want you can fiddle with their options so they scan less, but then you would be compromising the safety of your computer. I don't even think that answered your question but that was my $.02
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05-03-2007, 10:47 AM
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#5
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Ayatollah of Rock N Rolla / Admin
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 12,573
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanfx
The best way to do it is a hardware router / firewall and then get a good piece of software anti-virus. Unfortunately anti-virus' are prone to be system hogs as it is the nature of what they do. They are constantly scanning. If you want you can fiddle with their options so they scan less, but then you would be compromising the safety of your computer. I don't even think that answered your question but that was my $.02
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I agree 100%.
Start with a hardware firewall and then go from there. I have found that SpyBot S&D's system monitor is lightwieght enough to not be a PITA, and it also alerts you when registry changes are made so you can deny them if it's a spyware attack. My bitch is that most antivirus-antiadware programs just (attempt to) fix a problem after it already happens. By then you could have overwritten DLL's and such that can't be undone without reinstalling your OS. S&D's monitor is really awesome in that it stops stuff from becoming a problem beforehand while still being OK hanging around in memory.
Last edited by WildBillyT; 05-03-2007 at 10:51 AM.
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05-03-2007, 10:54 AM
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#6
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12 Second Club
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,923
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i recommend the following software solutions:
norman antivirus - 100% less of a system hog than Mcafee, norton, and many others.
pc cillin - definately a really good one, i haven't used it much but i heard it's very quick, silent, and gets the job done without being a system hog.
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05-03-2007, 12:16 PM
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#7
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 2,308
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Do any of the manufacturers make a wireless modem & router with firewall? The only ones I've seen are just wireless routers. I would need one that can accept the DSL line and then send the signal to the other PC in my house. Could I just hook a hardware firewall up to the current wireless modem & router I have?
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John
Last edited by LS1Hawk; 05-03-2007 at 12:29 PM.
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05-03-2007, 12:29 PM
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#8
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Philly
Posts: 15
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I would know
AVG anti-virus, avg anti-spyware, adawareSE, Spybot, ccleaner, windows cleanup, hijackthis (be careful removing stuff). I've been removing viruses and spyware before spyware even had a name.
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92 RS 305TBI - 94 Z24 2.8 5spd - 89 IROC-Z 305TPI
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05-03-2007, 12:43 PM
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#9
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12 Second Club
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,923
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phillyry
AVG anti-virus, avg anti-spyware, adawareSE, Spybot, ccleaner, windows cleanup, hijackthis (be careful removing stuff). I've been removing viruses and spyware before spyware even had a name.
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I highly recommend those tools as well and keep them updated. SpyBot i recommend but as I have learned, as inside itself it's own spyware.
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2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4
2012 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder
2013 Nissan GT-R Black Edition
1999 Trans Am WS6
2000 Trans Am WS6
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05-03-2007, 01:05 PM
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#10
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12 Second Club
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: West Milford
Posts: 8,373
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i just renewed my norton subscription yesterday, it came with my new pc when i bought it with a free trial
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05-03-2007, 01:09 PM
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#11
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12 Second Club
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Toms River,NJ
Posts: 556
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phillyry
AVG anti-virus, avg anti-spyware, adawareSE, Spybot, ccleaner, windows cleanup, hijackthis (be careful removing stuff). I've been removing viruses and spyware before spyware even had a name.
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AVG- its free and works great, Zone Alarm is great too. Norton AV as a stand alone is ok, but its been knock out by viruses on my system in the past. Dont get the Norton System works package it crash my new computer (Norton Go Back) after that I went with AVG and no problem since.
Funny if you do not renew NAV or Macafee products they mess up your computer.
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Last edited by Bandit; 05-03-2007 at 01:10 PM.
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05-03-2007, 04:53 PM
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#12
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Co-Founder / Site Admin
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ewing, NJ
Posts: 22,476
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Yea....I literally spent hours getting my mother-in-law's PC back to normal operating status after their NAV subscription ran out. Everytime you tried to do anything 3 warnings would pop up telling you that your computer was at risk and that your subscriptions were out of date.
What a mess.
- Justin
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1999 Camry - Beigemobile DD
2002 Suburban - Wife's DD
2004 Grand Cherokee - Not running / Project / Selling?
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05-04-2007, 08:32 PM
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#13
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Philly
Posts: 15
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Norton and McAfee are both total garbage. Not only does it dramatically slow down your computer, it doesen't even provide good protection. Oh and if you want to get rid of norton, download the norton removal tool, symnrt
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92 RS 305TBI - 94 Z24 2.8 5spd - 89 IROC-Z 305TPI
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05-05-2007, 01:19 AM
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#14
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The Plague
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Cherry Hill
Posts: 955
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I use both Macafee and Spysweeper and haven't had a problem, but I welcome any suggestions on ways to improve.
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My sanity wrote a suicide note.....one of us is illiterate and the other is blind.-OTEP
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and in stranger aeons even death may die-H.P.L.
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05-05-2007, 02:42 AM
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#15
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2007 Member of the Year
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Seabrook, TX
Posts: 14,281
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less pr0n = less viruses/spyware
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WF=DF
Kommandant of the ACL (Anti Canadian League)
Quote:
Originally Posted by LTb1ow
Junk the pos, spend the money on beer, acquire headache.
Same result cept this headache doesnt last months.
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05-05-2007, 03:03 AM
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#16
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Philly
Posts: 15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1972LT1
I use both Macafee and Spysweeper and haven't had a problem, but I welcome any suggestions on ways to improve.
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You have problems, the Mcafee just can't find any, typical
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92 RS 305TBI - 94 Z24 2.8 5spd - 89 IROC-Z 305TPI
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05-05-2007, 02:00 PM
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#17
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Mr Fantastic
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: West Milford NJ
Posts: 7,917
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ive been using no antivirus software for the past couple of years...no problems. firefox and common sense
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Matt

B18B1 FTW
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05-05-2007, 09:37 PM
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#18
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15 Second Club
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Vineland
Posts: 6,621
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanfx
The best way to do it is a hardware router / firewall and then get a good piece of software anti-virus. Unfortunately anti-virus' are prone to be system hogs as it is the nature of what they do. They are constantly scanning. If you want you can fiddle with their options so they scan less, but then you would be compromising the safety of your computer. I don't even think that answered your question but that was my $.02
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im with ryan on this one, a hardware firewall is 100x better then a software one and it frees up so much resources which can be used for your antivirus system. my motherboard has a hardware nvidia firewall integrated into it. i actually dont use an AV program anymore, i always used to use norton but got to annoyed trying to constantly crack it  and its such a resource hog. McAfee is just plain annoying, their suite came with my dads dell and its sooo friggen annoying. i used kaspersky for a lil while and i didnt like it that much, it was kind of a resource hog and was as configurable.
one good all in one program that i found (not actually an all in one program, but one that incorporates a lot of programs) is called hitman pro. its a program that will automatically run between 4 and 8 ad-ware programs, between 1 and 3 free AV programs and misc other things to free up clutter on your computer. the best thing is the program itself is free. the only ads you get are for the external programs themselves. i highly recommend it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LS1Hawk
Do any of the manufacturers make a wireless modem & router with firewall? The only ones I've seen are just wireless routers. I would need one that can accept the DSL line and then send the signal to the other PC in my house. Could I just hook a hardware firewall up to the current wireless modem & router I have?
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i dont think they make that, but you could check out linksys' , belkin or netgears websites. i think your best solution would be to get a wireless router with a 4 port switch (they usually have the firewall integrated) and then piggy back a modem
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