Re: Anti Virus Software



"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Symantec security apps are known far and wide as being the most
problem-causing, computer-slowing behemoth in the Windows world. Norton was
a good name and arguably the best ever -- until Symantec bought it a decade
ago. You also run it in tandem with SpySweeper with Antivirus(Webroot.com),
which means you have two real-time anti-virus applications running at the
same time and that's a BIG no-no.

As for the rest of your list, I've *heard* of Spyware Doctor (can't remember
if it was positive or negative feedback), and only recently of Webroot and
it's products, but I've never heard of ThreatFire.

BTW, using more than one real-time spyware scanner is a bad idea, too. One
AV, one realtime anti-spyware. In the case of your Webroot product, You can
run ONLY that in the background, not that plus anything else. As matter of
fact, I only very recently started using SuperAntiSpyware as real-time
protection. Before I had AV and a handful of on-demand scanners that I run
when I remember (every week or two.) Haven't found much besides the
occasional tracking cookie on my system since my daughter quit using the
system for places such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, five different IMs,
etc. Even then, I only found a couple of lightweight nothings that didn't
matter.

Wanna guess what the most effective tool in my arsenal is? I read my email
in Plain Text Only using OE (other email clients would do just as well, for
the most part, but OE is always already installed and that's what I use. If
it's only rendered in plain text, an HTML email stuffed with malware and
scripts to install them can't run when you open it. In the VERY few cases
when I actually need to read something in HTML (email from Microsoft is a
good example, because it's an unintelligible mess otherwise), I check it all
carefully to make sure it's legit email, then I open it, then press
Alt-Shift-H (or View>Message in HTML.) I'm betting that if everybody only
read their email in PT, the number of infections around the world would be
much less than half what it is now.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

Thanks for the advice about the scanners, but I thought that was what I was
already doing: My Norton scanner doesn't do spyware, just viruses and my
Spysweeper has its virus scanner off and just checks for spyware and
rootkits. The two programs don't seem to interfere with each other (Back when
I had McAffe, it and Norton did interfere with each other a lot!). Threatfire
is made by the same people who made Spyware Doctor and judging from their
claims on the PC Tools website, it's made to be used in tandem with Norton,
McAffe, and others as it seems to focus on rootkit detection and supposedly
"zero-hour" threats (That's their words, not mine) or real-time protection.
I don't use an email program anymore as I don't look at my email that much:
At one point, it was so long since I looked at my email that OE told me I had
to setup all over again. So I just go directly to my email server's site when
I want to check my email.
"Gray Brown" <mllyod@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4316DD99-DDE2-4C86-B791-909D115BE92B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ouch!! Well I did say I wasn't expert when it comes to security software.
I
guess it's easy to suck when a lot of virus makers are probably aiming for
you. Not that the other groups don't have people aiming for them either,
but
I figure the ones that are more commonly known and used get picked on most
and as a result, end up sucking. Of course I could be wrong.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Good theory, but the products you choose to use pretty much suck all the
way
around.

Better list: Avast! Antivirus, SpywareBlaster, Spybot Search & Destroy
(WITHOUT Tea-Timer or SD Helper or Immunize -- just use it as an
on-demand
scanner,) SuperAntiSpywere (used the same way), and AdAware.

All of the above are free to home users.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Gray Brown" <mllyod@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:B878CC9C-5F40-4629-A2B3-345C58A63E5D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


"JoeP" wrote:

Hi all,

I am looking for a very effective anti virus software. The price of
the
software for me is not an issue. I would like the software to be
pretty
automated but I am an experienced user so if the interface is not the
most
friendly but it gets the job done the best then that is ok with me.
Something that scans windows very deeply and thoroughly and that can
actualy
remove what ever it finds is what I'm looking for. I currently have
McAfee
Enterprise edition and I just want to make sure that it did not miss
anything.

Any response is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Joe



I know the feeling, however I'm not all that expert in the computer
security
thing either, but I've noticed that whatever software you choose to get
you're going to have to scan with it regularly and watch the sites you
visit.
Otherwise, all kinds of stuff slip in anyway (Recently, after not
scanning
for over a month, my computer picked up so many viruses, worms, and
whatnot
that when I finally used Spyware Doctor on it, my computer wouldn't
work
right and I ended up doing a full system restore which led to a problem
I'll
be asking about shortly!). So much for "real-time protection!"
It's a good thing that money's no object with you. There are many
sites that will allow you to download antispyware for free, but usually
the
catch is that only by purchasing the full version or upgrade will the
program
actually get rid of the stuff it finds which means you'll have to do
your
own
debugging after the program finds out what's infected your computer and
where.
That being said, I'm using a combination of Norton
AntiVirus(Symantec.com) & SpySweeper with Antivirus(Webroot.com) on one
computer, Spyware Doctor & Threatfire(both pctools.com) on another, and
on
another Norton AntiVirus Corporate, Spyware Doctor, & Threatfire. The
general
idea being that no one program does everything perfectly, so have more
than
one and hope the strong points of one cover the weaknesses of the
other.
Also, I've noticed that the Yahoo toolbar and the MSN toolbar carry
free
anti-spyware buttons if you choose them.







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