Avast Home or AVG Free

[FluxGFX]

Now between these 2 antivirus product wich one would be the optimum choice.

Avast Home or AVG?

[bigc73542]

In my opinion from useing both programs in the past I would have go with avast.

[F4]

Both are good at ITW malware but overall detection goes to Avast especailly in trojan field ( Avast always identifies as Win32:Trojan-Gen ). Avast Home has more good features than AVG Free such as auto-incremantal update that amazing fast.

IMHO, If you have a new machine with Windows XP then Avast is the way to go. ;)

[notageek]

I would go with Avast.

[FluxGFX]

Thanks guys for the feed back. I was looking at these 2, since these are the ones on the freeware side that makes send to have has Anti-Virus.

Was looking to secure a Win XP system and strap on a couple freeware on their. ( personal testing ) mouahahha :)

HI ! Phant0m'' ( god... I'm sure your clueing here ) :)

[notageek]

I was thinking of dropping McAfee for Avast. McAfee is bloated as heck.

[bigc73542]

avast is nowhere in the same league of mcafee to drop mcafee for avast is a step or two backwards.

[notageek]

I was going to keep McAfee and use it as an on demand scanner. But I read a few other places that Avast isn't a good stand alone AV. I read it gave a few false positives. I never had a false positive with McAfee. So I'm going to keep my set up as is.

[vlk]

-{ Quote: "avast is nowhere in the same league of mcafee to drop mcafee for avast is a step or two backwards. " }-

Just my curiosity - what makes you think so?
Are these claims backed up by your actual experience or is it just sort of feeling?


Thanks
Vlk

[JimIT]

-{ Quote: " quoting: notageek link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133459 date=1077251207]
I was going to keep McAfee and use it as an on demand scanner. But I read a few other places that Avast isn't a good stand alone AV. I read it gave a few false positives. I never had a false positive with McAfee. So I'm going to keep my set up as is.
" }-

Avast is a very good stand-alone AV. It should protect you very well in day-to-day use. I have installed it in many situations when clients couldn't (or wouldn't) buy AV software, and not one of them has been infected to date. In fact, it has caught the Blaster, MyDoom, and other assorted junk on a couple of their machines. One guy told me a couple of weeks ago that it basically saved his machine from the MyDoom virus, because the worm cleaner did it's thing without much intervention from his wife--who reported the problem! ;)

Not trying to do a commercial for Avast Home, but OT, it's the choice I would make.
My .02...

[Straight Shooter]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Vlk link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133577 date=1077280851]
-{ Quote: "avast is nowhere in the same league of mcafee to drop mcafee for avast is a step or two backwards. " }-

Just my curiosity - what makes you think so?
Are these claims backed up by your actual experience or is it just sort of feeling?


Thanks
Vlk
" }-

Vlk, I kinda "feel" the same way... I don't use McAfee, I use KAV.... I've asked this before from the Avast! Forum, can't honestly remember if it was answered... Sure, Vlk, folks that are going to go try Avast! very likely either used NAV or McAfee... Here is why I get a little "nervous"

1. Don't see Avast! raved in tests, any tests, whether they are Virus Bulletin, VirusP, Rokop, U of Hamburg..... anywhere...In any tests I've ever seen Avast! in, it actually seems to score lower than McAfee and NAV, certainly lower than KAV...

2. Generic Trojan Detection is a turn off, and a bit scary...(I want to know)...

3. I don't know anything about the heuristic capabilities of your product... and I don't know anything about the unpacking abilities... which is becoming a necessity...

That's all.. In NO way am I implying Avast! is not a good product. Actually I was quite impressed... But it seems to me it can't come near KAV in overall detection. Can it? I want a straight answer to a straight question; Yes or No? That was MY criteria... Then again, I would have been looking to buy your product.. I believe strongly in supporting the AV of choice. Freebies don't interest me...

However, let me point out TWO VERY Strong considerations for why I think Avast! should be considered by someone...

1. Frequency of Updates seems to be on a par, and even Better than, NAV/McAFee...

2. The Forum Support is one of the best, and these guys really do mold and shape Avast! to their customers needs and wants... (If the criteria is good and do able)
Thanks
Jim

[LJ]

I have both Avast and AVG up and running at the same time, Avast has alerted and stopped emails that have contained virus, AVG has alerted me to virus and trojan intrusions. So I am happy with these at the moment. :)

Linda

[Technodrome]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Crooked Shot link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133593 date=1077285470]

1. Don't see Avast! raved in tests, any tests, whether they are Virus Bulletin, VirusP, Rokop, U of Hamburg..... anywhere...In any tests I've ever seen Avast! in, it actually seems to score lower than McAfee and NAV, certainly lower than KAV..." }-

I don't see raves about many other good avs. Does it mean they are bad comparing to NAV, McAfee or KAV?
Are these 3 really “the best” avs and will never let you down? I wish...


-{ Quote: "2. Generic Trojan Detection is a turn off, and a bit scary...(I want to know)..." }-

Many Trojans are generically detected by Norton, McAfee or KAV.

-{ Quote: "3. I don't know anything about the heuristic capabilities of your product... and I don't know anything about the unpacking abilities... which is becoming a necessity..." }-

Avast! is able to deal with a good number of common packers(ones used the most by the virus writers).



tECHNODROME

[JimIT]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Technodrome link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133656 date=1077295929]
Many Trojans are generically detected by Norton, McAfee or KAV.

Avast! is able to deal with a good number of common packers(ones used the most by the virus writers).
tECHNODROME" }-


Very good points. Avast has good unpacking support. Better than a lot of pay-AV's, IMO. It's also a benefit to have generic trojan detection in a lot of cases. I certainly wouldn't call it a disadvantage. ;)

[Straight Shooter]

-{ Quote: " quoting: JimIT link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133667 date=1077299814]
-{ Quote: " quoting: Technodrome link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133656 date=1077295929]
Many Trojans are generically detected by Norton, McAfee or KAV.

Avast! is able to deal with a good number of common packers(ones used the most by the virus writers).
tECHNODROME" }-


Very good points. Avast has good unpacking support. Better than a lot of pay-AV's, IMO. It's also a benefit to have generic trojan detection in a lot of cases. I certainly wouldn't call it a disadvantage. ;)
" }-

Well, I think Rokop didn't have a great review about Avast!, but I can't find the review, and I'm not agreeing with Rokop... Just saying... As for generic trojan detection, ALL Trojans? I can understand some, but ALL?

[Tinribs]

I'm trialling Avast as an ongoing concern, albeit in the stage we are at now its not resident, merely on demand, but I'm impressed.

Its got its short comings thats true, but potential is very high, I sincerely hope the Avast team dont rest on their laurels as they still have some work to do, and if they work hard they really will have a first class av certainly in the top ten.

Dont let us down VLK and team :)



Kev
:)

[Uffbros]

It is a resident antivirus..Mine runs in the background and has caught incoming e-mail virus??? What do you mean then?

[bigc73542]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Vlk link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=0#msg133577 date=1077280851]
-{ Quote: "avast is nowhere in the same league of mcafee to drop mcafee for avast is a step or two backwards. " }-

Just my curiosity - what makes you think so?
Are these claims backed up by your actual experience or is it just sort of feeling?


Thanks
Vlk
" }- I have used both in the past but to keep my personal opinion out of it all you have to do is go to virus bulletin or any of the other av testing sites and check the history of the test's of avast and mcafee

[notageek]

BigC please don't take this the wrong way. I don't go by what the VB and other tests say on AVs becuase if I';m not mistaken they use certain viruses and test them on the AV's. I'm I'm wrong here please someone put me in my place. Plus I would rather take the word on an AV by people that use the porgram everyday. I don't even take the word of people that wrod for a AV CO. People will try to sell anything. :) But I'm sorry we should really make a new post with the Avast debate and not hijack this post any more. Sorry Paul and the others Mods.

[FluxGFX]

I agree let's close this post. Just wanted opinions of users using either avast or avg. If this debate about the usefullness of Avast needs to be continued then let's open another one.

Cheers.

[snowbound]

Ok folks,

No need to start a new thread.

If everyone just gets back on original topic this thread will remain open.




snowbound

[bigc73542]

The members are just very dedicated to the things that they like and that is very human. I have to confess that is me to. But back in line with the thread I would pick avast if I needed a free av that worked well and that had pretty decent support. ;D

[minacross]

I vote avast4 , I used to use AVG6 but shifted to avast4 because of it excellent support (forum/email) even for the free version.

[Muckyduck]

I use Avast4.1.
I prefer it to AVG.
I like the options from the icon, I like the password feature, I like the networked/shared drives/folders scanning feature.
Updates are quicker and more often than AVG.
Easier to use.
Pity it's not so well known (at least not in the PC magazine forums or general newspapers - in UK)

[bigc73542]

If avast keeps improving at the rate that they have been I have a hunch that they will be better known for sure. ;)

[eyespy]

I prefer Avast over AVG. I think it's a better product and has more and better features.
Frequent updates are also a bonus.
Avast does have a resident scanner and on-demand scanner.

Regards,
bill :)

[Chuck57]

I've used both at different times and AVAST never let me down. AVG caught all the bugs trying to get into my machine, but failed on my wife's computer.

[MikeBCda]

I'm with avast-4 (Home) too -- I originally got steered to it by friends who said that on a number of occasions it had caught things for them that had slipped past Norton and other "name-brand" services.

One other plus it has, I didn't see mentioned here -- service and support. They operate support forums similar to here (at http://forum.avast.com/?lang=ENG ), and participants range from the professionals right down to users who just got their first computer.

The "team" (Alwil) is in the Czech Republic, UT+2 or 3 if I recall, so time-zone differences can sometimes be a problem, but there's almost always experienced users on line so responses are normally quite quick, same as here.

[Technical]

I'd rather avast! I used AVG for over an year and con post some advantages of avast! (in my opinion);

1) both are good (ITW viruses and malware) but avast seems to be better with trojans.
2) avast! Home has a lot of more features (and settings) than AVG Free: nine languages, skins, general configuration.
3) incremantal update (very fast).
4) frequency of the updates (at least, twice a week).
5) incomparable forum support (http://avast.forum.com).
6) good with packers, generic trojan detection, Heuristics and polymorphic.
7) the false positives are quite few right now.

Hope this help.

[peakaboo]

I'm trying Avast as we speak.

I have tried AVG in the past.

More impressed with Avast at the present

Very good product.

what I liked:
+ nice user interface
+ fast scan (faster than Mcafee) though maybe not as complete
+ like the email scan
+ forum help

When I start to see Avast at the top of the heap on VB and other tests in detection, I will definitely switch to Avast.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2004_02.php

Avast VB record (http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avist.xml)

AVG VB record (http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avg.xml)

[vlk]

Talking about Virus Bulletin... they retested avast with respect to the February 2004 WindowsNT comparative, and guess what - we got the prize! ;D

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avist.xml

[JimIT]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Vlk link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=30#msg136021 date=1077803918]
Talking about Virus Bulletin... they retested avast with respect to the February 2004 WindowsNT comparitive, and guess what - we got the prize! ;D

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avist.xml
" }-

Congrats, you guys! ;D

[Technodrome]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Vlk link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=30#msg136021 date=1077803918]
Talking about Virus Bulletin... they retested avast with respect to the February 2004 WindowsNT comparitive, and guess what - we got the prize! ;D

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avist.xml
" }-

Great! Avast! gets better & better. Now, lets work on Polymorphic thingy! ;) 8)



tECHNODROME

[minacross]

that's great ;D
congrats Vlk :)

[Peaches4U]

My neighbor just installed AVAST and this is the problem she has encountered. Is it customary for Avast to ask for a name & passoword. Any help would be appreciated. I forgot to mention that she uses ZAP, WinXP.

AVAST! SMTP/POP3/IMAP4 server address is changed to ****** [I took the numbers out] and they keep asking me for my name and password. I can't access Outlook Express

[FluxGFX]

Peaches4U

It does happen, same problem occurs with norton anti-virus 2004. Reconfigure the emails settings go into avast and access the emails options of avast.

( Now don't quote me on the options for the email I'm not sure )

[Peaches4U]

Well, I guess half a loaf of bread is better than nothing. ;D Thanks for your reply - I have passed it on.

[JayK]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Technodrome link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=#msg136049 date=1077808322]
-{ Quote: " quoting: Vlk link=board=24;threadid=22260;start=30#msg136021 date=1077803918]
Talking about Virus Bulletin... they retested avast with respect to the February 2004 WindowsNT comparitive, and guess what - we got the prize! ;D

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avist.xml
" }-

Great! Avast! gets better & better. Now, lets work on Polymorphic thingy! ;) 8)



tECHNODROME
" }-

Could you explain this point furhter? I have being re-reading the excellent thread here http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=2892
but I only see a brief reference in AVAST

"(some of them does, i.e. Avast! which always (ok, usualy) rates in VB's 100% award group - but you can see tests - it can't identify even simply encrypted viruses exactly). So most of top avirs are using some kind of tracing (i.e. emulating) because it is required today to handle many of complicated viruses,"

I read the whole section on Dark avenger, but in the article the answer it says is" Algorithmic scanners"
which I presume AVAST has?

Is it possible to explain this is layperson terms?

1) What is emulation?

2) Another very informative thread is http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=20062;start=msg122543#msg122543
when they start discussing different matters of detecting Trojans. I'm trying to understand what's the difference between "generic unpacking" and "static unpacking". I can guess the meaning of emulation.

Thank you in advance.

[zarzenz]

I'm currently trying out Avast... was using AVG before which did catch a script virus in a temp internet file.

It appears that the preferred choice is Avast. So I'll keep trying it for a while more.

I have a question however about a new service that seems to be in the Windows System folder that is now asking for server access in Zone Alarm, which only seems to have happened since installing Avast... it is... Distributed Com Service RPCSS.exe.

Is this a service that Avast has to use to function... is this normal for it to pop up in ZA like this after running Avast... and is it required for the program to function within itself as I seem to see from a search that this service is sometimes used by programs to communicate with different "parts" of themselves, and so I'm wondering if this is linked to the 2 icons that Avast generates... one for the main anti-virus scanner and the other for the VRDB generator... so maybe this is something to do with it.

Does anyone else using Avast notice this... or am I getting confused here.

BTW... is this VRDB of any actual use or can it be disabled with no ill effects as I don't see any help info on actually implementing it as a rescue if it was ever needed.

[rdsu]

avast! Home Edition have a better detection rate, better support, better configuration...

I only recommend AVG Free Edition for a very older pc...

[zarzenz]

Ok VaMPiRiC_CRoW,

Thanks for that... yes... I'm kinda warming to it more and more.

I just been looking over the forum over at Avast... very good too.

In fact... I found out by reading over the posts there that the RPCSS service is indeed being generated by Avast... something to do with the Chest function... so I'm happy about this now... just need to block it in ZA.

Cheers :)

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "1) What is emulation?" }-
See here:

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/emulation.htm

Cheers ;D

[Amerk_5]

zarzenz,
For more info about RPCSS have a look at the following thread on the avast forums.Specifically reply #20.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=651;start=15

[zarzenz]

Amerk 5... wow.

Thank you so much for pointing me to this thread, as even though I'd seen other threads over there that confirmed this RPCSS activity as being caused by Avast... I thought that to disable it in the firewall was enough... but now I'm not so sure and not happy at all with this.

I simply cannot have things like this happening on my computer and will not be renaming DLL's etc to try and fool the software over this.

This to me has spoilt what was starting to look like a good free anti-virus solution, but I'm not so sure now.

I'll do some ShieldsUp tests later on port 135 but I'm not happy at all with this situation at this moment.

This should not be happening in my opinion and the heat on that thread proves this to me... it's not good to have programs calling up server action behind the scenes like this.

I thank you very much for this pointer.

>EDIT

Ok... I just probed port 135, both with RPCSS being fully blocked and then quickly fully opened... and it came back stealthed... so that's confusing.

Not sure what's happening now... but will need to see if the auto update works in time. But it just seems messy now to have to do all this.

[RejZoR]

And start learning how to read ::) Vlk explaind everything ::) Paranoids ::)

[zarzenz]

Yeah... I'm just re-reading the whole thread over there now.

I may have gotten confused over this thing.

Cheers.

[vlk]

If you don't want RPC listening, just block it on the firewall... what's the deal? As I said in the thread, RPC's network functionality is not required by avast. The only thing avast uses from rpc is local inter-process communication (no network).

Cheers
Vlk

[squash]

I prefer AVG Free

because the tray icon isn't wierd animated and distracting
basic user interface without switching through many stuff
regular ans small updates
doesn't require home address in registration... it only requires name and e-mail
doesn't fail lastest (at time of writing) virusbtn test... like avast does... i think

[squash]

and also fast scanning time
resident only takes a few KB of memory or something

[zarzenz]

-{ Quote: "If you don't want RPC listening, just block it on the firewall... what's the deal? As I said in the thread, RPC's network functionality is not required by avast. The only thing avast uses from rpc is local inter-process communication (no network).

Cheers
Vlk" }-

Yes... to be honest I think I got a bit confused here this morning after reading the thread that Amerk 5 pointed to and then even though I had already blocked the service in the firewall for some reason I thought some of the posters over there were saying that blocking it was not going to prevent the port 135 being opened... but then I did some tests and found it always stealthed and then after re-reading I couldn't even see why I got mixed up in the first place... must have been too early for me or something.

The only thing that was starting to concern me was all this talk of renaming DLL's which I thought was going to extreme lengths and didn't really feel like going down that road.

Anyway... I think I'm happy again now... and it was very worthwhile doing all this to get more info and knowledge, even if I did confuse myself to start with... put that down to only just having gotten up in the morning over here in the UK.

Thanks guys.

I got to do some hard drive ghosting now so I'll be gone for a while.

[RejZoR]

Well you have shitty firewall. Sorry. Are you maybe a Kerio user? I have ICF and i use avast! and all ports are Stealthed no matter what i do. Port 135 is a DCOM service port. Hope you have fully patched system...

[zarzenz]

-{ Quote: "Well you have shitty firewall. Sorry. Are you maybe a Kerio user? I have ICF and i use avast! and all ports are Stealthed no matter what i do. Port 135 is a DCOM service port. Hope you have fully patched system..." }-

I don't follow you on these comments now.

I said (in my edit after doing the probe test) I was fully stealthed on port 135 if I allowed DCOM (RPCSS) net access and server rights or not... I do not normally enter into confusion in my posts and I thought I made my situation very clear here.

I am using ZA free version 4.5 and I have all updates in place for my WINME system which is very clean and very stable... I take a lot of time ensuring it stays that way.

Now there is no problem here as far as I can see.

I apologise if my earlier comments were made in haste... I admit they were... but then again I am very glad you and vlk came here to assure that all is ok with Avast and I have just done more tests in checks in the running process list and can confirm that Avast starts RPCSS going and then the firewall picks up the server being started before even connecting to the net... so this I now see as normal, and all that needs to be done is to block net access and just allow Avast to use this service for it's chest function... nothing to do with updates in anyway... to be honest... I feel the thread over on the Avast board is actually quite confused... but after reading again and doing my own tests here... I'm happy to continue using it for a while longer.

As regards your comments squash...

Well each to his own and you prefer AVG... that's fine too, and what's makes this whole relative experience of choice in this world work and be worthwhile.

Ok... I'm out of here for an hour or two now.

[vlk]

Since I've already started monitoring this thread...

-{ Quote: "I prefer AVG Free
because the tray icon isn't wierd animated and distracting" }-
You can turn the animation off.

-{ Quote: "basic user interface without switching through many stuff" }-
If you don't like the skins, you can turn them off in the upcoming avast 4.5.

-{ Quote: "regular ans small updates" }-
avast's updates are of maginitude smaller than those of AVG - I'd say one of the smallest on the market. The frequency is about the same in avast and AVG.

-{ Quote: "doesn't require home address in registration... it only requires name and e-mail" }-
You can always fill in stuff like blablablabla if you're uncomfortable with filling of your personal data...

-{ Quote: "doesn't fail lastest (at time of writing) virusbtn test... like avast does... i think" }-
Too bad you don't have access to the magazine. You'd know why avast failed the last test... :-\

-{ Quote: "and also fast scanning time" }-
There's no significant speed difference in avast and AVG.

-{ Quote: "resident only takes a few KB of memory or something" }-
:) Nope.

But again, it's your decision. E.g. for older machines, AVG can really be a more apropriate choice...


Take care,
Vlk

[RejZoR]

avast! uses around 12MB of RAM. Thats something near NOD32 (maybe a bit more).

[sard]

You can't tell how an AV will impact your system just by how much ram it uses. Panda uses the same as NOD32 but it definitely made my PC more sluggish.

[RejZoR]

Also depends on your hard disk performance. Back when i was using 5400RPM 2MB cache disk,scanning was slow like hell no matter which AV i used,now i have 7200RPM and 8MB cache and its like i don't have antivirus.

[wildman]

:-\

Let me start by saying that I have no idea which one protects better. I can however say which one is eaiser to use and maintain, that would be AVG. I have tried both, I found AVAST to be somewhat cumbersum and a little difficult to maintain. AVAST also placed files in my TEMP directory that were somewhat difficult to delete. I have stuck with AVG. I think both are good products, but for me AVG is the easier one to use.

Thanks
Wildman
8) *puppy*

[QuinnK]

I don't go by what the VB and other tests say on AVs becuase if I';m not mistaken they use certain viruses and test them on the AV's. I'm I'm wrong here please someone put me in my place. Plus I would rather take the word on an AV by people that use the porgram everyday.

------------------------------------------------

There is value in both types of input. While it is true you certainly can't rely on everything that comes down the pike claiming to be a valid virus test (some definitely have an agenda), there are some organizations such as VB who do actually attempt to conduct a controlled test using particular criteria and test methods they are willing to disclose. There is also value in the experiences of everyday users. The problem in general with that is the variation in users and their particular experience. Some folks simply have more credibility than others, and there is a vast difference in the particular installations on PCs, as well as considerably different circumstances in which different folks have to even try to evaluate their AV programs (some have very few instances of virus protection needed, some have many... and even each of those involves varying types of 'nasties'). Makes it very difficult to always compare 'apples to apples'. Best method is probably do some research involving both types of input and go with what eventually 'feels' best for your particular situation.

Take care... Quinn

[squash]

-{ Quote: "Since I've already started monitoring this thread...
You can turn the animation off.
" }-

How come i browsed through the settings in the main program and see no option to freeze the animation...

and entering blahblahblah doesn't make a person feel good - it's like betraying the registration system.

[RejZoR]

To disable "a" ball animation,use my avast! External Control tweak tool.
You can get it here: www.security-ops.tk

The tweak is under avast! Tweaker function.
There are also other tweaks for various hidden settings in avast!

[squash]

Despite being able to stop the avast icon, i still like AVG because the interface is more simple and i think has less false positives then avast

[RejZoR]

avast! doesn't have false positives that you should be concirned about. Where did you hear that? Even if it does its usually solved in 6 hours. These false positives are usually when new generic trojan signatures are added,but its not necesary that FP are present when such update is done.

[jima]

-{ Quote: "Since I've already started monitoring this thread...



But again, it's your decision. E.g. for older machines, AVG can really be a more apropriate choice...


Take care,
Vlk" }-
On a p-2 450 pentium with 127 meg ram. would this be an instance where
avg would be a better choice? Or woud Avast not slow it down too much?

[Amerk_5]

-{ Quote: "On a p-2 450 pentium with 127 meg ram. would this be an instance where
avg would be a better choice? Or woud Avast not slow it down too much?" }-

The only way to know for sure is to install avast & see how it runs with avast.

[RejZoR]

Well as i have seen on my machine,avast! gets turbo when you have a 7200RPM (or maybe even 10k RPM) disk with 8MB internal cache. RAM quantity was the same in both cases (512MB).

[squash]

I 'heard' about False detection from the wilders.org free tools page...

[RejZoR]

Well apperantly the page was not update for very loooong. There is avast32 listed in downloads section. The engine has changed very much since then and v4.5 is closing in. I admit there still might be false positives as in any other AV,but for avast! such FP mean just better generic Trojan detection (very strong) And if you submit the sample or source of FP they will fix it in 6 hours (my experience).

From my point of view,its better to have one false positive then real malware passing by. Exclusions can be always used for FP while waiting for the fix,but you cannot do the same when you get trojan installed on your machine...

[Eastrebel2004]

Hi Guys

Just read this entire thread for the very first time. This is my experience on a new pc (since Jan 2004) (Celeron 2.4ghz/512mb ram with XP Home 2003):

McAfee Internet Security Suite 6.00 2004 with McAfee VirusScan 8.00 as the ACTIVE RESIDENT anti-virus scanner.

- Works fantastically for me with absolutely no problems at all (though admittedly the scan time is quite long), it's user friendly and highly configurable. It's detected many trojan/virus/dialers in web surfing, emails and IM file sharing.

AVG Free & H&Bdev AntiVir 6.00 as BACK UP on demand scanners.

- Both of these work fine for me, both having updates at least twice a week (AntiVir 3-4 times!!!!) and they're easy to use. However, probably because of McAfee, weekly full scans with AVG & AntiVir have NEVER found a single infection.

Bearing in mind I have 7 pretty active email addresses, use AOL, MSN & Yahoo! IM (including file sharing) regularly and use WinMx and Shareaza for music downloading and file sharing, I think this is pretty amazing!

Is this because McAfee is so good? Well, it certainly means I'm a pretty happy and contented bunny! Either pre or post WinXP SP2 installation, I've had not a single problem with any of the McAfee IS Suite components - unlike what I read with Norton, Zone Alarms, AVG 7.0 and a host of other software.

As far as AVG v Avast! is concerned, I can only comment on AVG and then only as a BACK-UP on demand scanner. For me, along with H&Bdev's AntiVir 6.0, it's been fine. However, as the AVG Free won't support my Mozilla Thunderbird mail client for email scanning I'd never make it the active program anyway. And, finally, my experience of McAfee is such that wild horses wouldn't drag me away from using it as the first line of defence.

Steve

NB: I do also have SpyBotS&D, AdAwareSE, SpywareBlaster, SpyWareGuard along with WinPatrol, xp-antispy, Bug Off XPIE and PivX's 'QwikFix Pro for Windows and IE' (an excellent free-for-personal-use Host-Based Intrusion Prevention program) so my pc is something of a fortress!!! (Plus Mozilla Firefox 0.9.3 & Mozilla Thunderbird 0.7.3 are my DEFAULT browser/email clients)

I did make what I now believe to be a mistake BUYING a Pest Patrol full license - It's now CRAP. It has NEVER found anything genuine the above freeware didn't, just a whole load of weekly false positives that PP NEVER get back to me about, however many times I email them!