Most recommended Antivirus ?

[Hellrider]

Well what is the best Antivirus in your opinion ,preferably ones that take as less resources as possible ?

And is there a free Antivirus thats actually good ?

 

[hool10]

Well what is the best Antivirus in your opinion ,preferably ones that take as less resources as possible ?

And is there a free Antivirus thats actually good ?

The answer to all of your questions is: yourself. Many people don't even have Service Pack 2 installed with no anti-virus, yet they still don't get viruses. You must have a router with firewall though. I heard Norton is terrible and from personal experience, System Mechanic is terrible. Just eats up a ton of memory.

 

[Hellrider]

In that case what Firewall is the most recommended ? (or is it the default windows one you're talking about ?).

I'm currently using F-Secure Antivirus(it got a firewall with it too), just checking what people here say is best.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

Check out Avast for antivirus, and the free version of ZoneAlarm for a firewall.

If you're willing to pay, there are some other good options.

 

[Homie]

AVG Is the best i heard.

 

[Hellrider]

And how about a good firewall ? is the free one mentioned enough ?

 

[hool10]

Well I learned a really good tip from Leo Laport back when TechTV was still around. He said to have a software firewall and something the hacker can't tamper with. Routers commonly come with a firewall called a hardware firewall.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

...NOD32 are the best ones available for free

There's not a free version of nod32 as far as I know. I've used the commercial version, it seems good.

 

[bam23]

I use NOD32, been virus free forever

Then again, I'm always very careful of what I do with my computer.

 

[eQUIV]

I like Kaspersky Antivirus

 

[Saturos]

I agree with most of those solutions. I personally use AVG anti-virus/root-kit and SpyBot S&D and never got a single line of code form Malware. But whatever you get, stay clear from Norton and McAfee if you are at all remotely interested in playing games on your PC.

 

[No Limit]

I like AVG. But I don't install anti-virus on my personal computers, if you know how to stay safe out there you dont have to worry about viruses. Keep your computer patched and try to stay away from the porn.

 

[Hellrider]

Well I learned a really good tip from Leo Laport back when TechTV was still around. He said to have a software firewall and something the hacker can't tamper with. Routers commonly come with a firewall called a hardware firewall.

Do I need to do something to get that 'hardware firewall' working ?

 

[Saturos]

I like AVG. But I don't install anti-virus on my personal computers, if you know how to stay safe out there you dont have to worry about viruses. Keep your computer patched and try to stay away from the porn.

I could agree with that too. However, most folks aren't aware how viruses and spyware are contracted in the first place. Here are some tips.

1. never ever click on any third party ad banners
2. never click on any pop-ups. Click on the corresponding taskbar button and use alt+F4 instead
3. Like NoLimit said, beware of porns
4. never open an attachment on your e-mail client from a spam site
5. likewise, If the mail is from a legitimate source, scan the attachment first
6. never enter any passwords via attachment. enter a legitimate URL and go to the site from there
7. If there are others that use your PC that aren't technically inclined, disabling third-party cookies can help reduce the chances of accidental infection
8. Lastly, preach this information to any non-techies in your family that will be using your PC

There are other precautions as well, but these are the basics.

 

[Barney Fife]

I use McAfee, it comes free with my Comcast connection.
I'm happy with it and it doesn't hog on system resource. it does it's job.
I love Mcafee Firewall, its one of the best, easy to setup and control system and user software. Its also compatible with other hardware firewalls like my Linksys router.

 

[Saturos]

I use McAfee, it comes free with my Comcast connection.
I'm happy with it and it doesn't hog on system resource. it does it's job.
I love Mcafee Firewall, its one of the best, easy to setup and control system and user software. Its also compatible with other hardware firewalls like my Linksys router.

I guess it depends on the services that are installed too. I personally wouldn't bother installing an entire internet security suite. AVG doesn't tie itself to the system in undesirable ways like some packages do. Norton for example can't be fully disabled in the services snap-in without completely uninstalling it and managing automatic updates can be a chore if one doesn't know all the loop holes around it's configuration.

 

[hool10]

Do I need to do something to get that 'hardware firewall' working ?

Nope. All you need to do is buy a router first and buy a wired one! The wi-fi ones are very slow, especially for gaming. The router has an inbuilt 24/7 firewall in it that protects you from tons of viruses. Usually viruses go to different ips and essentially "knock" on the front door. If your door is open then it goes in. It's just an added security layer that doesn't interfere with mainly anything. All you need to do is put your connection from your dsl/cable modem into the router then your router to your computer. You can also have 1 or more computers use the connection as well and setup a home network off it. It should setup the firewall instantly because it's built into it.

 

[Hellrider]

What's a not-wired router ?
And btw can viruses\spyware spread through the network,let's say the other computer in my house is connected to this computer's router,and it has viruses\spyware, can it spread just like that ?

 

[Operational]

I have a hardware firewall from my Router, AVG Free for my Antivirus, All of Windows updates, FireFox as my browser and occasionally do a scan with AdAware.
I can't remember the last time I had a problem with Malware.

 

[PvtRyan]

I have a personal Short Recoil. No virus passes through his 2 by 1 meter body, and if they do, he rips their spines out of their bodies and pees down their eye cavities. Then, he goes after whoever made the virus and kills them and their family.

 

[Kyorisu]

Routers commonly come with a firewall called a hardware firewall.

Which is still a software firewall. They call it a hardware firewall because it's a piece of equipment designed for that task rather than an app on your PC. Either way iptables ftw!

 

[hool10]

What's a not-wired router ?
And btw can viruses\spyware spread through the network,let's say the other computer in my house is connected to this computer's router,and it has viruses\spyware, can it spread just like that ?

Well it can if you allowed your firewall to accept it through. Hardware firewalls operately in the background and block all the bad stuff mainly. If a virus some how manages to do that though, you probably have a firewall setup on another pc anyways. A non-wired router are those wi-fi hubs that you find everywhere nowadays.

Which is still a software firewall. They call it a hardware firewall because it's a piece of equipment designed for that task rather than an app on your PC. Either way iptables ftw!

I have yet to ever find that happen. You can tamper with a software installed on a pc sometimes but a hardware firewall it's something that is physically there.

 

[Kyorisu]

/face palm.

Firewalls do not stop viruses, they are designed to stop randoms from exploiting your open ports. Some viruses and trojans are designed to destroy or go around your software firewall application. Hence why you need an AV to stop yourself from running porndialer.exe. I use a dedicated gateway which passes each packet through a firewall chain, only what is requested and or needed is allowed in/out and all other packets are dropped.

A hardware firewall is a stand-alone device for multiple users connecting to the internet.

A hardware firewall uses packet filtering to examine the header of a packet to determine its source and destination. This information is compared to a set of predefined or user-created rules that determine whether the packet is to be forwarded or dropped.

Hang on a tick. Doesn't my gateway in effect do the same thing? Which would mean part of it's gateway services is providing a hardware firewall via software. Hax I say. Go back and read what I typed earlier. A hardware firewall is SOFTWARE running on a piece of HARDWARE such as a router.

google hardware firewall those quotes come from some of the top hits.