Your Antivirus ? How Long ?

[pipester]

I thought it would be interesting to know how long we keep an antivirus program on our computer or if we change them with the seasons. I have been using AVG antivirus on my primary computer since July 1999, I started out with the free version, then a couple of years ago I started using the Pro version and I have recently upgraded to the new anti-malware version. In 7+ years of using AVG, it has caught several viruses and never let my computer become infected.

So what's your story ? how long have you been using your current antivirus ? what's the longest time you've had a particular antivirus installed on your system ?

[ThunderZ]

In my years on a PC I have gone from McAfee (came pre-installed) to Norton 01 I believe it was (for only about 2 weeks). To AVG Free to Pro up until about 3 years ago. Nod32 since and do not plan on changing as long as they continue to offer a standalone AV or an AV with an outstanding FW in Vers. 3.

[C.S.J]

erm, here we go.....

1 year with norton, (FREE)

3 years with f-secure

1 year with trend, (on going) - 1pc (FREE)

1 year with avg sute (on going) - 1pc

and now i have a 2yr licence with dr.web for my laptop, fantastic :)


paid for f-secure for 3 years and only swapped for 'a change'
trend i got for free with another purchase off the internet, use it on one pc.
norton was my first av, came with one of the pcs, ditched it when it ran out mainly for a change, i had no problems with it.
avg i bought as i liked it, got a great price off ebay, use it on one pc.

if i ever bought another other than dr.web down the years, i would probably go back to f-secure.

[trjam]

Dr Web-2 days
F Secure Suite-9 hours.

Reformat 26 hours ago.::)

[lodore]

here we go.
i used norton since i got on my old pc which is 6 years old now.
i had norton for 4 years on my old pc. the last norton i used was the horrible 2003 version.
the story with norton was that my dad brought the newer and newer versions and sais this one will be better than the old version lol.
when i got my new pc when my old pc was 4 years old i installed f-secure used the 2005,2006, and very breifly the 2007 version. f-secure used to run fine on this pc but now its old it slowed it down to much and had a few problems.
i have now used so far kis6.0 for 2 and a bit months installed just before xmas.
lodore

[Macstorm]

Now I'm testing F-SecureAV2007 and it's lasting 2 weeks now...

My previous AVs:

-AVK 2007 licensed, about 20 days of use.
-KAV 6 licensed, about 45 days.
-Sophos 1 month trial.
-NOD32 1 month trial.
-KAV 5 (status ? ;D ) about 13 months of use.

Funny thing is since I got rid of 2 virus infections with KAV 5 I've never been infected again... Instead I'm having fun on swapping & testing between AVs :wacko:

It's time to see a psychiatrist ;D

[WSFuser]

heres the AV ive had the longest (estimated times):

NAV - 5 years
McAfee - 1 year
NOD32 - between 1 and 2 years
KAV - less than a year

ive also trialed several other AV, but they didnt last long.

[JimIT]

PC-Cillin--1 year
NOD32--3 years

Prior to that, I used F-PROT for DOS when needed. ;D

[Simon6776]

I kept to the same for years, but now I chop and change all the time. My history:

Norton 2002 AV & Firewall - Good.
Norton 2003 AV & Firewall - Good.
Norton IS Suite 2004 - Good.
Norton IS Suite 2005 - Good but a bit slow.
F-Secure IS Suite 2006 - Good, but couldn't shut PC down!
Bit Defender 9 IS Suite (2006) - OK, but problem with torrents.
McAfee IS Suite 2006 (1 day!) - Just didn't like it.
Kaspersky IS Suite 6.0 - Great! Would definitely recommend.
F-Secure IS Suite 2007 (7.0) - Trouble at first with install / uninstall, but like the suite. Problem with Full System Scan.
Bit Defender 10 IS Suite - Same as 9, still problem with torrents.
Norton IS Suite 2007 - OK once running, but incredibly slow boot up and scan.
F-Secure IS Suite 2007 (7.1) - Still my favourite, and current, security app, despite the numerous running processes, incompatibility with other software, and sticking spyware scan. Sometimes you just gotta be different. ;)

[lodore]

what about how long have you had the common sence not to click random links or go to dodgy sites for?;D
for me its two years.
i used to be a really dangerous surfer but now im really safe maybe to safe.
lodore

[mercurie]

I have use Norton for several years...::) ...McAfee was my first one and i got infected my one and only infection (it was an older version). I have used Bitdefender free along with CA EZ AV for about a year. I have used Command AV for one year. I liked that one service was poor and it went up in price so I dropped it. I went back to McAfee much more recent versions. Then I went to the free ones and have been with them for over a year, AVG and Antiviri Classic.

When I go to Vista I will go back and get a pay one F-Prot or NOD32 maybe. ;)

Edit: forgot about AOL AVS for a few months.

[Alphalutra1]

I have TotallyAwesomePwnsYourAv for about 3 months now, and I am not regretting it at all ;D (aka none)

Cheers,

Alphalutra1

[acr1965]

On this computer-
Norton 2003 (came pre-installed) for three months, then
Zone Alarm Suite for about 6 months, then
McAfee for about 10 minutes, then
PC-Cillin for about 3-4 months, then
CA for almost a year, then
NOD32 for about 7 months now

I plan on sticking with NOD32 unless the firewall in v3 has issues. If I need to switch I may try Kaspersky, Avira Pro, Bit Defender 10 or F-Secure (although I have heard F-secure has a number of conflicts with other programs).

[pilotart]

On Latitude LM P133 Win95/Win98fe:

Norton 1997::)
iRiS AntiVirus (free download from Dell) 1998 :thumb:
Norton again 1999-2005 :'(
AntiVir 6 - 7 January 2006 to present :thumb:
____________________________________________________

On Dell Desktop:

Came preloaded with McAfee, 90 days :thumbd:
Norton Internet Security 2004-2005
EZ-Trust 2005- to present *puppy*
___________________________________________

Sony VAIO:

Came preloaded with TrendMicro's PC-Cillin? (30 day) :thumbd: :thumbd:
Norton SystemWorks 2003-2004:dry:
________________________________________________

Dell D800 (ordered without pre-load)

NSW2003 2004-2005 :dry:
NSW2005 2005-2006 :shifty:
AntiVir version 6 then version 7 January 2006 to present:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

[Chuck57]

I don't think I can remember them all.

I started in 1996 with a free one, I think
Inoculateit.

Norton 1997 - 2001

AVG 2001 - 2002

McAfee 2002 - 2003

Kaspersky 2003 - 2006

AVG 2006 - Present

There were times in between all the above that I trialed something else.

[The Hammer]

Norton - 1999 to 2004 :thumb:

Nod32 - 2004 to present.

[farmerlee]

Late nineties till 2003 - AVG Free
2003-2004 - Norton AV
2005 - Antivir Free
2006 - Nod32
2007 - Nod32 till my license runs out then will switch to AVG Pro as i have an unused 2 year license for it.

[ashishtx]

Here is my info starting from March 2005 when i got my first pc.
Below is the approximate time for which i used the AV's (chronological order).

1)Mcafee which came installed on my dell desktop-1month
2)Etrust ez- 2 month(Came free with the internet connection)
3)F secure-(5 days)
4)Pc cillin-(2 months)
5)Eset- (since last 14 months)

I have used following AV's for which i don't remember any time frame.
Kaspersky,Symantec antivirus, mcafee enterprise, Ms onecare, Bitdefender, Dr web, Norton 2007, Fortinet, Panda antivirus, Authentium, Avast, Ca antivirus, Sophos, Antivir, F prot, Norman, G Data 2006, G data 2007, MKS_VIr, VBA32,

[TOMxEU]

2 years - NOD32 [realtime]
3 months - AVG Free [scanner]
1 month - Avira Antivir [scanner]
A few minutes - AVS, Avast [scanner]
13 months till now - MWAV Free [scanner]

[sukarof]

{QUOTE-> I thought it would be interesting to know how long we keep an antivirus program on our computer or if we change them with the seasons. I have been using AVG antivirus on my primary computer since July 1999, I started out with the free version, then a couple of years ago I started using the Pro version and I have recently upgraded to the new anti-malware version. In 7+ years of using AVG, it has caught several viruses and never let my computer become infected.

So what's your story ? how long have you been using your current antivirus ? what's the longest time you've had a particular antivirus installed on your system ? <-QUOTE}

I never had a AV installed more than a year, I liked to try new things. That is until I met NOD32. I had it for three years which is the longest I´ve had.

Now I use Drweb (installed it in july last year) and will probably keep it until something equal or better with a lower price tag comes around.

[The Hammer]

{QUOTE->

Now I use Drweb (installed it in july last year) and will probably keep it until something equal or better with a lower price tag comes around. <-QUOTE}Then you may want to check out the latest version of F-Prot.

[HiTech_boy]

{QUOTE-> So what's your story ? how long have you been using your current antivirus ? what's the longest time you've had a particular antivirus installed on your system ? <-QUOTE}

1999-2004 F-prot for Windows
2005-2005/2006 Panda Titanium 2005 / TruPrevent Personal 2005 / TruPrevent Personal 2006
2006-2007 (currently) NOD32 Anti-Threats system

[HiTech_boy]

{QUOTE-> what about how long have you had the common sence not to click random links or go to dodgy sites for? <-QUOTE}

I have had common sense since 2004 , really ;D I remember using old Windows 98 without any firewall , only AV and I clicked on all kind of links but times were different :)

[Simon6776]

{QUOTE-> what about how long have you had the common sence not to click random links or go to dodgy sites for?;D
for me its two years.
i used to be a really dangerous surfer but now im really safe maybe to safe.
lodore <-QUOTE}
Did you join 'surfers anonymous'? ;D ;D

I do tend to 'safe surf' most of the time, but that's because most of my internet use is for buying CDs, DVDs, etc. Obviously, the first thing I did when I got on the internet 5 or 6 years ago was look up 'sex' and 'porn', but you tend to grow out of that phase fairly quickly. I also used to use Warez sites a lot, and they can be very dodgy, but there are so many trojans around these days, it's hardly worth the trouble. My most dangerous activity now is using Torrent sites, which can contain some nasties, but I can honestly say, I have never been infected by any of them.

[CJsDad]

NOD32 3 years

Kaspersky 1 year

Prior to any of those 2 I was using AVG or Avast

[Antarctica]

{QUOTE-> I have had common sense since 2004 , really ;D I remember using old Windows 98 without any firewall , only AV and I clicked on all kind of links but times were different :) <-QUOTE}

I did did the same thing, no Firewall and not even a AV.

After that:

Norton: 4 years
Nod32 : 3 years
And now:KIS 6.0

[dawgg]

AVG (free)... 1 year... untill i got infected
NOD32... 1 day... (to try to get rid of infections)
KAV5... 1 week... (to try to get rid of infections.... SUCCESS!... but resource hog, so went back to NOD32)
NOD32... 9 months... (untill KAV6 came out)
KAV6/KIS6... nearly a year... (had since KAV6 came out, then upgraded to KIS6 2 months after)... working great, not going to change it :)

[herbalist]

I don't use a resident AV but do keep several for manual scanning. I've had F-Prot for DOS on this box since mid-2003, a command line scanner. Been using a free version of AntiVir since late 2003 as a manual scanner. I used to have the free version of AVG as a 3rd manual scanner for a couple years but dropped it at version 7. Too bloated. Recently I've added the AVZ Antiviral toolkit, a definite keeper.
Rick

[EASTER.2010]

Beginning around 2003 i had Norton that came with the PC & Win98SE.
It did little or nothing of catching problems so changed to Avast4 i think it was at the time. That was a pretty efficient antivirus that i settled on for nearly a year but then i experimented with Fprot for DOS a little while then went back to Avast which never was uninstalled anyway, just stored in a coma awhile ;D

While still on a 98SE system i found and subsequently trialed Anti-Vir and liked it a great deal but eventually returned to Avast yet again. Just couldn't part from it due to most likely to my active involvement in their forums and also the excitement of what it proved for me & accomplished compared to others.

Along then came XP Pro and that's when i had some real hard decisions to make on choosing AV's. I kept having ongoing and sometimes disturbing issues with Avast/Anti-Vir/BitDefender etc. either due to my lack of fine tuning or it conflicting with other security programs i depended on.

When HIPS finally emerged only recently i completely abandoned any AV save only on-line scanners and i'm happy to report was never infected by anything either. But given the clever nature of virus & malware creators i thought it in the best interest to combine a dependable AV along with my HIPS in order to turn up the shielding capabilitie on any possible compromise of those monitoring systems.
Tried Avast yet again and it's ok by me but i found BitDefender even more to my liking; but it stalls on a scan and thats unacceptable. I read everyplace where NOD32 is top notch but also find a majority of Kaspersky loyals who would bet the farm on their choice so i selected KIS6 Suite even though with COMODO didn't think the firewall would be needed. It refused to install with COMODO so dropped it, installed the Suite and then installed Kerio 2.15 for safe measure and now i think i hit paydirt with this combo.

At least for now it serves very well, KIS6 destroyed every LeakTest i throwed at it including the Ghost one that even the HIPS fail at.

I'm new to this one but i am definitely not parting company with it after the astonishing results i seen that it performs and is immensely stable with the ton of other security apps i run with it. That's a major plus in and of itself.
:thumb: