What's the best freeware antivirus utility?

After Norton failed to detect the Nimda variant on my computer, I have decided to sever my ties with norton and go for a better antivirus program. Though, I'm looking for freeware software. What should I get? I've already decided I'd replace NPF with Kerio Firewall.

 

No antivirus program is able to detect all existing viruses. Therefore changing your current av software might not be the best idea especially if I see your question:

This one should be better placed as "Is there a freeware antivirus utility that is better than NAV?" The answer is no.

wizard

 

even etrust7 promo or avast?

 

looks like you are dropping your guard. i agree that Norton is *AHEM* but replacing it with freeware AVs will not solve the problem. if you invested in Norton then invest on some good products. like KAV or NOD32 or F-secure or F-Prot. Kerio is a good choice by the way. Hmm... AVAST is worthless and i'm going to try that eTrust. people say it has also got the VET engine so it shouldn't be that bad. for pure pattern based scanning ANTIVIR is a good one and AVG is also good with its heuristic and code emulator. but minus those AVG is not as good as ANTIVIR. did i mention anything about DOS based F-Prot? its free and its very very good. a little tweaking of the registry and you'll be able to do that right-click scan with it. but it has no ON ACCESS scanner remember that.

 

Kerio is a firewall not an AV

you're must be kidding

 

etrust7 I do not count as freeware. It is a one-year trial version. But anyhow you can have a look at the statistics:

Norton AV: http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?symantec.xml

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

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

This doesn't mean that etrust or avast are bad programs but compared to NAV in terms of detection there is nothing to gain while switching to one of these programs.

wizard

 

Okay, so maybe I'll keep Norton. Is there any utility out there that I can use to test NAV? I want to know whether it is still working because it doesn't seem like NIS is functioning properly. My NPF doesn't monitor my broadband connection for some reason and that was how I was easily hacked https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=30446.

 

NVM, found it and ran it. All tests passed! Do you guys know anything about my firewall problem?

 

If your version(s) of NIS, NPF and NAV are recent enough, have you tried contacting Symantec regarding the problem with non-monitoring of your connection?

 

etrust7 promo is free. eTrust EZ AV is the one-year free AV.. (As far as I remember)

 

mV's previous post said"

"Hey guys, I have a problem. Ever since I got cable and I hooked up a Microsoft MN-500 router to my system to share the connection, my norton firewall hasn't been really checking the connections. I check the log files and haven't seen any connection logs after the technician set me up for cable. How do I fix this?"

**************

mV

if I understand correct its a firewall/router problem you are having......an not so much that you are un-happy with norton virus scanner....but with the firewall it contains......is that right?
Also noticed that your previous post received no replies.....an would suggest that you bring this subject up once again in the firewall forum.

 

ooops....am a slow typer...you guys had already replied on the firewall issue........seeya later..gone

 

Yes you can use it for free for one year. Like you can use other programs for free for normally 30 days on a trial basis. What etrust offers is just a an extremly long trial period.

Therefore it is not really what is meant by the term freeware.

wizard

 

No that's not it. I am a bit unhappy with Norton's AntiVirus Program and even more unhappy with Norton Personal Firewall. NAV...okay, fine so it let Nimda slip through undetected, no problem there...so NAV, after what you guys said about it, is pretty fine to me now. So I am a little happy about NAV, although, I did, and should have mentioned this in the original post, wanted an AntiVirus program that was pretty light on resources and didn't slow many programs down like NAV does. Office takes way too long to open, even with the Office option disabled in NAV.

I am unhappy with NPF because of this problem. I had contacted Symantec about this. Apparently, they must have only one technical support rep because I e-mailed them 3 times and the same person e-mailed me back with the same answer to reinstall NPF. Noticing how difficult it is to reinstall, less uninstall a firewall program, I was hoping for a more feasable answer like "change your current ruleset to allow....". Their tech support is very displeasing so as to make Norton even more contemptuous.

 

mV

Yes it is a big deal when anything can bypass any firewall....an should be taken very seriously. An would again suggest that you discuss the problem in the firewall forum where it will answered particularly.
Am delibrately not going to discuss anti-virus.....but you do need to see about that firewall issue....as soon as possible.

 

Hi mVPstar,

I'm using NIS 04 ... I know NPF isn't popular ... but I've never had a problem- Intrusion wise ...it passes all the online firewall tests ... including the exploit test at PC Flank ... I'd Try uninstalling and reinstalling ... I've had to do this before ... for a different reason ... but it wented smoothly with no hicups!

And I'm happy NAV too - also never had a problem. So seeing as you've already paid for the Suite ... try a reinstall and see if that corrects the problem.

And Yes, I agree Symantec's Support leaves a lot to be desired!

dog -

Here's a link that might be useful for you concerning NIF ... CrazyM is the resident Firewall Expert and his site is a great resource - Crazy M's Site ... post in the other firewall forum and he'll help you out!

HTH

dog -

 

For great support, a friendly & helpful forum {right here at Wilders}, & a SUPERB FW, go for Look'n'Stop.

 

dear Minacross no offence meant but if you read carefully you'll see than i didn't mention anywhere that Kerio is an AV. you took me for a neophyte didn't you? ok i'm spelling it for you, i meant Kerio is a good firewall and it was originally quoted that NPF was going to be replaced by Kerio.

AVAST is not what it claims to be as i tested it. Wizard is right we can't consider eTrust EZ as freeware. eTrust 7.1 is available as an evaluation version where as the 1yr free version is eTrust EZ which comes with licensed firewall technology from Zone Labs. but the antivirus version is 6.1 not 7.1. also it couldn't detect viruses from password protected archives. products like F-Prot sniffed a 3 layered password protected file and marked it as suspicious.

 

Could Kerio be a good replacement to Norton? Rather than install NPF, could I just install Kerio v.2?

 

yes you can use Kerio instead of NPF. but a good firewall should be backed by a good AV. installing a firewall is not enough, you have to tweak it and test it against attacks and if possible even DDoS attacks.

 

Well, I'm not sure if I should worry so much about my firewall issue. My router has a built-in firewall and so far, it has blocked every attack, even the recent ones that have been generating for the past week.

I really only need something to execute program control and monitor outbound access.

 

The quote on the VB awards you have given dear Wizard,for e trust is using InoculateIT . EZ anti virus does not use InoculateIT but uses Vet which has 20 VB awards http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?vet.xml

E trust v7 Promo is a lifetime free liscence that Mina is referring to As that is the version that most of us have http://www3.ca.com/Solutions/Collateral.asp?CID=41370&ID=3249,
rather than the 30 day trial version that is now available. This version has 2 scan engines InoculateIT (16 VB awards) and Vet (20 VB awards) .

 

How does a server AV differ from a desktop AV?

 

The eTrust promo server ed. is at version 7.0.139

 

Just one important aspect of a server av is the ability to update all the computers on a network with the latest virus defs. There are other differences but they don't apply to me useing it on a single computer.