My new lineup - Giant, Ewido, KAV

Hi all,

Well after being attacked hard, I re-evaluated my setup and it looks like:

1) KAV 4.5.104: I am still trying to verify the update function since I do not have a key, but it is looking good. I liked McAfee but the weekly updates spooked me.

2) Ewido: replaces BOClean. I like BOClean, but Ewido has on-demand and real-time scan. Also, I ran into an unexpected glich in BOClean support that left a bad taste in my mouth. Not sure if Ewido is a total replacement for BOClean - it is still a bit unproven - but it is doing a good job over the last couple of months and their database "appears" to be quite comprehensive. I still have the highly trustworthy TDS-3 (and their support group) for my on-demand backup.

3) Giant Anti-Spyware: It is doing a great job. Alerting to changes in the registry. Allowing the good guys through (I also use Ad-Watch). Less FPs than SpySweeper. I think it is off to a great start.

Questions:

1) If I can't get a trial key to KAV 4.5.104, is it reliable enough to purchase anyway.

2) Does Ewido do as good a job as BOClean in trapping executables. I did like BOCleans approach? Is TDS-3 Prot a better option than either of these two?

3) Does Giant have adequate anti-keylogger protection or do I need additional protection in this area.

I have Spbot and Ad-watch which really are great products. Time and time again I fall back on them for confirmation when I think there may be a FP. Also Spywareblaster and Spywareguard. From what I can tell TeaTimer is redundant with Ad-watch. Does anyone prefer one over the other? The final product that I am considering is Process Guard 3.0 which I am waiting to come out of beta.

Thanks for any advice. I think I am coming to a conclusion on all this. Finally.

Rich

 

richrf,
I have followed your thread over in the other section. You really need to get over the CompUSA support thing! BoClean is a fine product and I have always received first rate support. No need for you restate it all here. I have been eye balling Ewido with interest myself. BUT IT WILL NOT REPLACE BOCLEAN unless something beyond my imagination were to happen to Kevin and Nancy's company or product. BoClean=Trojan Defense. Ewido may be fine I have never used it. I certainly follow the logic in the thinking about needing a scanner too.

I use AdWatch from Lavasoft too.

I am certainly not knocking your set up looks pretty strong to me.

Let me share this one last thing with you and then I will say no more about this. It must have been on one of the other Boards I am a memeber of, but someone bought Zone Labs Zone Alarm Pro in a box from retail store. This is a BroderBund reseller type thing too. This creature had all kinds of problems and had to deal with them not ZL. I do not think he every got a valid license key for the product. So the warning you gave in your anti-trojan thread is sound advice based on my experiences. Got to fly best of luck to you.

 

Rich,

1. The KAV 4.5 level program is very solid. If you've examined KAV 5.0 and didn't see any system issues, I wouldn't expect any systemic problems with KAV 4.5. Overall it's a rock solid application.

2. TDS-3 is different in that it has a number of auxilliary tools associated with the basic AT application - these can help with the diagnosis of a problem. KAV will also do a good job in the AT area. Don't know relative performance of Ewido vs BOClean vs TDS-3. I guess I informally view TDS-3 as the KAV of AT's, BOClean is the resource light (NOD32, F-Prot, take your pick here) equivalent for AT's.

3. I would think that between Giant/your AT/KAV this area would be well handled.

Since you didn't mention them, the only things I'd add - if you don't already have them - are a NAT router (even if you have 1 PC) and software firewall for outbound application control. If you have them already that's great, if not that's where I would focus. ProcessGuard is also a good addition to consider. The 3.0 beta seems stable in my hands at least. I haven't seen any problems, but I'm also waiting for the full release before installing it on the remaining family machines.

Blue

 

Hi Blue,

Thanks for the hints. I have ZA Pro which I am very satisfied with. I have a Netgear RP614 router. I don't know if it provides me with any additional protection. Overall, I am feeling pretty good right now especially with the feedback I am getting. It looks like I will go with KAV 4.5.104.

Thanks again.
Rich

 

Hi Mercurie,

The BOClean thing is history for me. Time to move on. I have license copies of TrojanHunter, TDS-3, and Ewido. All are good products. When I needed an on-demand AT, I was able to get a current copy of Ewido quickly and that is what is important to me. Whether or not one is slightly better than the other is not so important. TDS-3 is always there as my backup and I was able to get a clean copy right away also. With so many good products, I figure I'll just choose the ones that are easiest for me to deal with - especially if there is an emergency. I think you would agree that this is pretty good reasoning.

Thanks for your other suggestions. This forum and its members have been a great resource.

Rich

 

Rich, why not run both Ewido and BOClean, i do without problem's or slowdown's. Link to Ewido compatibility list
http://www.ewido.net/en/?section=compatibility

 

Kav does have a good reputation...Kav or Nod32.

TDS-3 and BoClean are far beyond Ewido.
Ewido is ok, I have it, can't compare to them.

Giant is very nice, as is Adaware se, Spysweeper, Spywareblaster.

Process Guard is a must, Wormguard I also like.

 

Personally, I have gdata (kav+bit together) and nod32 and I have ewido tds and th and for on acess I use only nod32 and ewido. they are great together and are real gentle. ewido updates daily and has the strong sigs, a good scan and mem scan. the rest is on demand. TDS rocks but at this time Ewido is giving me a bette feeling then tds... ... ... we are waiting till version 4... ... ...

any way you could not get wrong with these prgs you are talking about. pg is a must.

 

Hi guys,

Yep, I am waiting for PG 3 to be releases. PG 2.5. caused some instability on my system. Prevx is nice also. Once in a while I get a stack overflow condition which I am not sure where it is coming from. Could just be a poorly programed piece of software on my machine. I doubt it is a virus or trojan.

I use TDS-3 on-demand. I have BOClean up and running now alongside Ewido to see what happens. Everything is stable now. SSM does cause instability so I had to take it off. Very nice product but still a little rough on my system. I will compare it to PG. I think Prevx and PG complement each other well, but I think the two running together may cause some stability problems. Anyone running PG 3 and Prevx together?

Cya,
Rich