DECENT Anti Virus

[Kevin16]

Hey

Does anyone know where i can get a decent antivirus software that doesnt take up a lot of system resoures.

I have a crappy HP with 128 MB RAM and it takes my comp. a long time to start up if i have an antivirus.

I have tried Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm (sucks), Kaspersky, and Panda.

Any suggestions? cuz i dont really feel like upgrading.

 

[iss]

ViRobot is a fairly decent Anti Virus program with daily updates and takes up about the least resources of any of the anti virus programs.

 

[Nodsu]

What OS are you using there? If it is Windows 98 then I warmly recommend F-Prot.

 

[Anarchi]

In my opinion Norton is the worst/slowest and causes all kinds of problems on laptops, ive tried various AntiVirus programs, but the one that shines above the rest is McAfee. I realise you tried it already, but I recall that some earlier versions (v6.21 specifically) were slow and problematic.

I am using McAfee 7.0 under XP SP2 and I notice no performance drop at all

The free AVG scanner is also quite good... but the GUI is a bit cheap.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

McAfee is not much better than Norton, same type of bloatware.
The free AVG is more than good enough and uses very few resources.
Get the also free firewall from www.kerio.com and you are set.

Under NO circumstances should you load the (beta-)Virus-crap from M$.

 

[Vigilante]

I've used AVG on some of my secondary PCs cause it's free! And they have recently put out a new version with a much better interface. I would check them out at http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

Also at our store we used to sell Norton but we fix the darn thing more then sell it. So after MUCH research and reading reviews and industry testing and so forth. We switched to Panda.
The only trouble we've seen with Panda so far is that sometimes the registration acts up. Doesn't accept user/pass. But it can usually be fixed easy enough. It has better detection rates then even Norton and McAfee. Plus it updates DAILY. Even more then once a day sometimes. While NAV and McAfee might be every 3 days.
You can still expect multiple processes, services and startups. But that SHOULD be expected of any Antivirus if they are going to protect you from all areas.

As for the smallest AV but still with good detection rates, you might check into NOD32. It is used by a lot of "super-techy" type people. I think I remember them saying it was very small in resources, go to http://www.nod32.com/scriptless/products/95.htm.

Hope that helps you out!

 

[Kevin16]

Thanks for your suggestions

I am running XP Pro but my comp sucks

I have recently reinstalled McAfee 9.0

It is running like 4-6 different processes, but it loads pretty quickly

I think Panda is pretty good also. I have the Platinum edition, but is Titanium better?

i have downloaded AVG a while ago, but have not installed it
I will try that also

Thanks again

 

[Vigilante]

Panda Platinum is a suite. It includes the firewall and a few other things. Panda Titanium is only the Antivirus. I've sold both of them before and think they are fine. But you can expect a bigger resource hog with a software firewall running also. Better to use a hardware firewall like a router.

If you have Platinum, you can tell it not to load the firewall during setup anyway. But there you go.

 

[Kevin16]

Thanks for your replies

I think ill stick with the AVG for now

I use the XP firewall because im not all that concerned about outgoing programs

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Sorry to say, but not being worried about outgoing programs is plain, ignorant stupidity!

If on dial-up, would you like to have your modem call some obscure outfit in Russia or the Fiji Islands or wherever, at a cost of $3.95 or more per minute?

You don't mind your PC being taken over by a trojan, which sends out all your private email, correspondence, creditcard information and what not to some hacker in Bosnia?

You don't mind someone else tinkering with the setup/contents of your PC?

Don't be daft.
Install a firewall, they are free! Look at Kerio, Agnitum Outpost, Sygate, Zonealarm.
You are IRRESPONSIBLE if you don't use one.
The XP firewall is no good because it lets ANYTHING going out.