Antivirus Options

Rather than wallowing in my misery at losing my old laptop ("it was set up just how I liked it" ), I've decided to try and make some good of it by trying new software.

My replacement lappy comes with Norton, which hopefully I can switch off and run only when I want to. Why am I apprehensive about this?

So anyway my old TrendMicro firewall (I know, terrible!) is going to make way for Outpost, and PC-cillin (I really liked that, bit slow though) is going to be replaced with Kaspersky. But why is the pro version so much more? Is it worth it? What about that Personal Security suite and the anti-hacker - Seem to me to be newbie bait. (Obviously I'm far too l33t to be considered a newb )

 

I would advise you to look closer at Agnitum Outpost Professional www.agnitum.com .They are going to release evolutionary new 3 version in the near future.So you may get in touch with their support service support@agnitum.com to clear the matter .
As an antivirus I would suggest to consider coming Dr.Web 4.33 version www.drweb.com .Their reaction to requests is instant and they respond within 30-40 minutes. It is rumoured to be launched in a couple of weeks.Of cause,Kaspersky is a perfect solution.Besides ,have a look at VBA32 www.anti-virus.by or www.vba.com.by (there is an English version as well).
And you may download and use famous AV for free 3,6 or 12 months at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/downloads/default.mspx
My advice is to try F-Secure-multi-engine solution.Good results in tests.Though heavy on resources.
Bitdefender is also a great option.
So the choice is up to you.

 

Nobody is going to be able to tell you what is the best software because it doesn't exist. Ditching and Symantec product it a good idea though. Area stating from the ground up? What kind of software are you looking for? Here goes....

As far as a firewall I would recommend Outpost pro only if system resources are not a problem. 2.7x (don't know about the upcomind 3.0x) is an excellent firewall but is a little resource heavy for my tastes. I prefer rules based firewalls, and use Looknstop (and advantage to LNS is that once you purchase a licence you own it for all future versions). There are other good one's out there (Kerio 4.x especially) but I would stay away from the big names (NIS, Trend Micro, Zone Alarm and Tiny) because they're bloatware. I would go with a rule-based firewall.

For an antivirus, again stay away from the big names with great marketing departments. It's almost hard to make a bad choice here; KAV 6 (currently beta), NOD32, F-secure and Mcafee enterprise (NOT home) are all great AVs. I used to a very loyal Dr Web user. The program is great but I think it has fallen behind lately in definition (I know that is relative) and it's refusal to release 4.33; I've been waiting for it for four months). Also their support is not prompt and sometimes takes 3 or 4 days to get a respose. I have since moved on to VBA32 and couldn't be happier. It's got nearly 110,000 defintions (I know, its relative) and has not missed a sample I've thrown at it, unlike webby and NOD32.

I don't think a system is complete without some sort of registry protection (look here for more info: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=32823). There are several good application. My recommendation would change depending on your needs. Take a look at: RegDefend (non-polling), RegRun (polling), or WinPatrol (now non-polling with PLUS)

There are other products to take a look at such as CounterSpy, ProcessGuard, CCleaner, Ad Muncher, NecroFile 1.0 Pro, Harden-it, Secure-it, Peer Guardian 2, and just because I hate Microsoft, I would look into OpenOffice 2 or Ability Office 4 (www.ability.com), both are great.

 

n8chavez, Why is getting rid of symantec a good idea? it is an excellent av. Contrary to what some prople seem to think. The new version 2005 actually runs very light.

 

I guess I just feel that they priduce inferior priducts with huge installation sizes, heavy resource hit, and mediocre performance. This can been said for virtually every Symantec products, from Norton Antivirus to Ghost to Norton SystemSuite.

There are simply better products out there. Look at the requirements for Dr Web, NOD32, or F-Secure, both resource and hard drive, as opposed to Norton Antivirus, regardless of whatever year you choose, and you'll see that Norton Antivirus is "bloatware."

The same hold true for SystemSuite as opposed to VCOM System Suite. Norton just doesn't stack up against it. I understand it was Ontrack that actually did the leg work here, so even compare 4.x of System Suite to the newest Norton SystemSuite.

There clearly better products out there is one is so inclined to look. You being a moderator should know that. I think it time people know longer gave them chance after chance to make up for past shortcomings. There are people that will always stick with a company. Msoffice is not the best office suite, especially considering the price, and yet there are those that use that loyaly and I guess I both respect and am disappointed in their loyalty.

 

Your criticisms are probably more relevant on older systems

IMHO, Norton 2005 is a good choice for newbies on their new machines. I used it on a couple of new computers for a 60-day trial period and it gave me no trouble at all and I was quite impressed.

 

I don't know where you get your information but I believe you should consider changing sources. Norton av is an excellent product with good detection rates check here and norton personal firewall is one of only two certified by Check Mark,And ICSA. Most people have not used the new versions of Symantes products, they just heard so and so say it was a bloated pig but the chances are they haven't tried it either they just jumped on the band wagon and decided to bad mouth the big boy on the block .
That is all I have to say on the subject, Most people don't have an open enough mind to actually try a product before trying to verbally trash it.

 

BigC has and continues to trial new AV's and new editons of established AV's or so it often appears from his posts. Even when one appears to have hosed his system he'll eventually give it a second chance, which most of us wouldn't. Indeed Norton 2005 may run as he says, as he has trialed more AV's than most of us. If it was pre-installed on my system when I get a new computer I'd give Norton a go, as I was quite well protected when I last used it which was the 2003 version. But I'd back up my Av regardless of WHO made it with BOClean.