Anti Virus Software

I use AVG Network edition on my servers and the SOHO version on workstations and find it excellent, especially as without it I get over 300 virus each day.

I do occasionaly see a virus in emails, but this is usually when a new virus comes out and I get it in an email before the anti-virus vendors get a chance to update their databases with the new virus definition.

To be honest though any computer savey person who keeps their PC up-to-date with the latest security patches should never need a virus scanner as they should know NOT to click on attachments within emails or download illegal files.

I often have to fix computers for friend etc. that get infected with viruses and spyware again, and again, and is always because they always disable auto-updates, and install file sharing software and download illegal files.

If people install file sharing software to get pirate software and music then I have no sympathy for them when they phone every few months complaining their computer is not working again.

I'll chime in on this. I use and HATE Norton. Oh it works just fine but it is so bloated that I can't stand it. I am going to recover my main PC and not reinstall it.

I guess I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy. I use a hardware firewall, a dmz, and a software firewall  The software firewall gets hit by packets that make it through the hardware firewall and dmz about once ever 12-18 months.

Zonealarm has some deal with ether linksys of netgear so it interacts with the some of their routers/firewall's firmware. Supposed to be pretty slick.

Never used outpost, but they have a good rep. Security software competitors tend to play leapfrog a lot. so at any given point in time, one may be better than anothers current release. Next  release, it could change. I think the best thing is to read current and past reviews on cnet and pcmag. Usually for the past three years, the highest rated will switch back and forth between two or three vendors. Picking any one of them is a good idea.

Norton's a good product, despite the bloat. The firewall is relatively trim, but the AV and AS is heavy. Still, it's usually one of the top rated for features and for effectiveness. Effectiveness is what it's all about. That being said, it'll be a cold day in hell before I use them again


Edited by dpyers - 16 June 2006 at 12:48am

One of the tricks to using Norton is to turn off virus checking for outgoing emails. Out-of-the-box it checks email and attachments going out. Turning that off and turning off virus checking on file access seems to fix a lot of Norton problems.