AV and firewall?

Sorry guys, I have been posting alot of questions lately, but I don't know what to pick. I wish we had an IT person in my office, but they all want me to find something. I feel overwhelmed by all the choices out there.

After almost buying Avast for our 9 office computers, looking in to Nod32, my boss now tells me he wants me to get a AV and firewall protection. Not just a AV.

Since I have to do the work of installing it, I want something simple, that does not require a lot of maintenance. I want it to be self running. Some of our staff would not know what to do if a question came up, and I don't have time running around fixing pop-up windows with AV Q's.

Anyhow, what should I get that is a complete package? We have tried Norton, Panda and McAfee in the past, and don't really like anyone of them.

Thanks.

 

what about a separate av and firewall. av could be nod32 or kaspersky or antivir or something like that. the firewall maybe look n stop it will only ask to allow the apps once and then it just works with no attention needed.

i would call antivir the nod32 for anyone to use, its gotta be the nicest icon and interface ever. you can do invisible scans easy in like 5 seconds by ticking the little box rather than the long winded way of nod32 silent scans. which means the user wont stop the scans. i mean how can someone not like the little umbrella




lodore

 

i like zone alarm and avast is working well for it for me

 

Not to start arguing but I find that Antivir is lighter then Zone Alarm and Avast. Those combined are semi-heavy.

 

It looks to me like WestEnd is looking for a suite.

AntiVir has an a/v & firewall package in beta.
I don't know when it will be ready for release.

 

You're right, I want a suite, just didn't know that was the correct phrase. I don't have time for multiple individual downloads. The more, the more potential problems.

I want one download, get it all at once.

 

antivir suite is meant to be out at the end of October.

 

Someone told me about Micro Trends personal suite, AV and firewall. What do you think?

 

You can do better, much better.

 

McAfee and Norton have a long history with their AV software, so their suites tend to be the ones that show up on fully loaded new computers. You will note in this survey link that Norton, McAfee, and Panda are 1,2,3 in the rankings.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/125857-1/article.html

The problem with suites is that they tend to have one stellar program with several so-so programs. Zone Labs is known for firewall software, but I think the AV and Antispyware components of their suites is subpar. Most of the ranked companies on the survey were originally centered on antivirus software. Firewall and antispyware as well as HIPS software were added later as the use of PCs expanded to the general public. You do have the issue of compatibility when you install programs from different companies. A suite does eliminate the potential for those conflcts, but I think it is much better to select each component based on the effectiveness that the program's has shown from its prior history.

As for message and response alerts, I don't think that can be completely avoided with any AV program. The only way to avoid that totally is to avoid any malicious websites, but you have to know that beforehand. Most firewall programs can be made to be set and forget after installation. I have Zone Alarm on one PC and it almost has never notified me of pings and any other communication attempts since I selected to stop any message alerts when I did not initiate them. Sunbelt Kerio and Comodo firewalls look to be also somewhat easy to set up.

 

trjam, you didnt answer my questions.....
quote "have you given up on antivir or are you just trying kav for the time being then trying antivir again"


lodore

 

lodore, I hinted this once to you. My sig says it all, I have gone from one end of the software world to the other, just like you. I decided on my setup and did a reinstall on my pc, as Don instructed, and put my programs on. Antivir is good, but they will take time to incooprorate all the things that others already have. You know what I mean. So, by posting this, I am burning my realtionship with them, I am sure. But, I am keeping my licence for Nod, because I am intersted in what their suite will be. I have beta tested Kas, have a lot of faith in the advice that Don gives, and feel that the future Kas will be the best. I am sold now on Prevx1 after doing the leaktest stuff. It caiught some, and Kas caught the rest. We failed one, but thats ok, that is with just a frigging XP firewall activated. Not to bad. SAS, because I like feta cheese and have swam in the crystal blue waters of Greece. So, does that answer your question, my fellow looking to be a pro, friend.

 

the firewall in antivir is better than the kaspersky one and will be for quite along time.

and i know you hinted it to me before, but i thought you would at least wait till the suite was out of beta.
im still undecided.

I think kaspersky should add something to kav and kis so a bad update wont corrupt the bases again.

 

AVG+Firewall is a pretty good suite. Its easy to use, unobtrusive and its light so it won't intefere with work.

Antivir+Firewall would also be a great choice once its comes out of beta testing which unfortunately may be some time.