Best antivirus software?

[Chism]

What antivirus software do you recommend?

My dad is wanting to get an antivirus program and I need a recommendation. He had an OEM version of NAV 2000 that the definition updates ran out on. The subscription will cost him $20. He reinstalled it once without me telling him what to click on and then had to call Cox@Home because it changed his Outlook Express email settings. I told him about AVG, but he thinks "he'll get what he pays for". His OS is Windows 98SE and he is willing to pay for the software. What would you recommend?

Is AVG 6.0 any good?

Does McAfee give you free definition updates for as long as they support the program or just a year worth like Norton?

[CloudEngineer]

I reccomend NAV2002

trie it out theres a demo of it i've seen it at downloads.com

Havn't personally used AVG before.

but my cuz has it currently installed and i find that it can't compare wif NAV2002 (my opinion)

[MxxCon]

NAV2K2 can monitor email w/o specialy configuring email clients.

AVP and AVX are pretty good too.

seems like mcafee overstuffed it's antivirus and it's very bloated now.

[xzor9]

I'd also recommend NAV2K2

[MulletRobZ]

I personally recommend Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2002 Professional Edition! Not only does it protect against viruses, but it offers a lot of useful tools that work more efficiently than those that Microsoft supplies with its OSes! :)

[Vinh]

norton antivirus 2002

[Kris]

Sophos

[Chism]

Thanks for the input so far guys. The recommendations seem to favor Norton AV. I'll keep checking this post until my dad decides to make his purchase. At his work everybody seems to favor Norton, but that is also what came with their computers.

[vassie]

I'd say NAV2002 too :)

[Jon]

Well McAfee Virusscan 4.5.1 sp1 is fine, but thats corporate :)

I prefer it to NAV2002, but I use nav2002 at home, for the simple fact that I'm designing our new AntiVirus infrastructure, and I'm seriously tired of seeing virusscan4.5.1 all day long!

[semifamous]

Best Antivirus software?

Step 1: Get rid of Outlook Express and get a different email program. (i.e. Eudora, The Bat, Pegasus, Incredimail, or whatever)

Step 2: Don't open any attachments you didn't ask for. Period.

I know it's not what you're looking for, but that's really a lot easier than having to update some Anti-virus software every week.

Actually, knowledge is the best way to fight viruses. And it's cheaper too. ;)

[Jon]

Semifamous,

I used to take that attitude, maybe 2 years ago.

Now I'm 100% convinced antivirus software is needed (personal firewalls however, are not.).

Common sense will stop a lot of nastyness, if not most, but given the number of viruses kicking about that exploit problems with OE and IE, I'd never suggest any one using windows didnt run AV software.

You can sit there for years and never see a virus, and think 'what is the problem'. Your one in hundreds of billions, think about the numbers.

But then you could quite unknowingly pick up something pretty nasty, CIH being a good one, from alsorts of sources, including supposedly technically competant friends, companies who claim to have scanned the mail (every one makes mistakes at work once in a while), etc. And then you're gonna lose all your data.

Installing an OS and a few apps is no big deal, but in this age of digital multimedia, most users have gigs of mp3s and movies.

Personally I dont wanna loose them, and and archieving mp3s to cd is a nightmare.

Knowledge is essential, but its no longer enough on its own , unless you read bugtraqs lists,ms security bullitens,antivirus vendor lists, etc, religiously, every day, meaning you know what to avoid.

One last point, given the cost of fast-as-f*ck machines, you cant argue that a service using 10-15megs is a performance hit. If you wanna play a game, right click its icon and disable on-access scanning. Simple!

Jon

:old:

//edit : I agree OE is a huge risk to use, but following simple steps such as not using preview pane, not opening attachments from anyone unless you *expected* it, etc, its perfectly safe. Or at least until the next exploit is published...

[Chism]

I'm talking about my dad :old: (age 57). He uses Outlook Express and doesn't want to have to switch to a different program. He says that it would be too confusing :roll: . He was wondering what I did to it when I updated it from version 5 to version 6.

Telling him not to open attachments doesn't work. Today he tried to open 2 unknown attachments that somebody he knows sent to him without saying what they were in the email body. Luckily I was watching over his shoulder.

Me, I use Eudora and never open attachments that I'm not expecting without virus scanning them first. I haven't been infected yet (sound of knocking on wood).

Keep those recommendations coming. He hasn't bought anything yet. I did install AVG yesterday. My dad doesn't think that a free program will protect his computer very well though.

[thuggers]

email dosn't seem to be the only clear entrance for viruses anymore.

I seem to have someone watching me ip: 24.109.9.5 whoever this is seems to try and infultrate my computer with codered every single night. I leave my firewall up but it is still ****ing me off, anyone got any reccomendations?

[Wildcard]

Mcafee 6.0 here....

[MulletRobZ]

Don't go for PC-Cillin, whatever you do! You can only purchase it online and it's not as flexible! :(

[ericlims]

Yo, pal..what makes u say that PC-Cillin is bad?

I dunno but i've been using it since two years ago and i think it's pretty okay ...works fine with the auto update function if u ask me..

anyone out there feeling otherwise please let me know why..

Thanks:D

[iconman]

Originally posted by Wildcard

Mcafee 6.0 here....

Same Here!

[JodyWatts]

Norton Anti-Virus 2002 !!

[sunnyy4]

NAV 2002... the most kick-@$$ antivirus software i ever saw!

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

*personal opinion*

I find Norton AV2k2 to be pants when it comes down to finding an actual virus.

I heard about Panda Antivirus and had a look at the Titanium edition and it was finding emails, docs, and zip files that were infected that norton passed over without a hitch.

I go for Panda Antivirus Titanium over Norton anyday.

[E3L]

NAV Corporate 7.6 (not 2002) :)

[Roger H. Veteran]

hehe.. do you speople still use those things too? I mean are you donwloading any exe's from people you don't know and all that. It's best to just have a firewall and when you're browsing around da net and all that trojans and stuff will be stopped and then just simply don't down any files from people you don't know...

bat, pif, com, ... etc.. you get the idea.

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

Originally posted by SHoTTa35

hehe.. do you speople still use those things too? I mean are you donwloading any exe's from people you don't know and all that. It's best to just have a firewall and when you're browsing around da net and all that trojans and stuff will be stopped and then just simply don't down any files from people you don't know...

bat, pif, com, ... etc.. you get the idea.

uh hehehe i guess you know everyone from every site that you've ever downloaded anything from then huh.

my bf's dad got not one virus but TWO getting attachments from people that he DOES know and unfortunately one was a worm that ended up being sent along down the chain.

The old saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and I believe that to be damned true.

[Glare]

In our tests Panda Software's Antivirus Platinum or Titanium have proven to detect well over 60,000 viruses and trojans. This is more than any other AV program out there and also, it is a more thorough program that detects things that over software passes over. If you want to purchase this, it would be your best choice.

[Chism]

The decision was made and Norton AV 2002 was purchased and installed. Thanks for all of the input. :)