What Spyware & AntiVirus Programs do you use and Why?

[Mayet]

I have heard a fair bit of debate lately on the pros and cons of various anti virus programs and spyware programs so i thoguht it would be interesting to hear everyone heres opinion.

What Antivirus program do you use and why?
What are it's best feature and where does it fail?
What Spyware programs do you use and how do they perform?
What programs do you know to avoid by experience?

[Ferrit]

Norton 2005 stand alone no NIS at all
Counterspy Bought
adaware
Spybot

[Mayet]

How do you find counterspy? Does it work from Win98 up?

I found adaware to have a couple of issues of locking on the deletion after the scan lately.

Ms Antispy is good, except it is not supported by win98 and thats still what many of my customers use.

[Ferrit]

Ok counterspy i believe is XP/2k only and fortunately i have very very few machines with 98 left in my circle. By the time I usally get them they are so far gone they are unrecoverable. So FFR
Adaware and Spybot have been known to be corruptable in my experience. If i find anything weird I remove them and (note this) go remove the folder they are in as well reboot, redownload and then reinstall.
I havent found MS Antispy to be too usefull. Counterspy is near identical and it is at the top of the reviews for speed and accuracy

[TechZ]

NAV 2005, not NIS, and I use Zone Alarm Pro.

NAV- It has protected my pc's for many years, and I can say have never had an infection.

ZoneAlarmPro- As a firewall its extremely good, some say it has a steep learning curve.

Spybot(Immunize Feature)/Adaware/MS AntiSpyware- Always have them installed.

Off late am using CounterSpy trial,and plan on purchasing it soon, from my experience (and some have raved on about it ;) ) its quite good.

Not forgetting a good HOST file http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

[confus-ed]

I'll be my usual contrary self & say that most systems would benefit much more from being flattened & starting again, than trying to clean them up, whatever you use.

Best anti spyware thingee is 'safe surfing' habits, & most anti-virus products are all a much of a muchness anyways once you unblur the distinctions between what is true viral activity & what is trojan, & folks who are a bit keen on dismissing prompts.

[TechZ]

after reading & replying to this thread, I noticed this:


ClamWin Free Antivirus 0.86.1 - ClamWin (http://www.clamwin.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1) is a Free Antivirus for Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. It provides a graphical user interface to the Clam AntiVirus engine.


I understand it may not be the best AV out there, but the working with Win98 part is what drew me to it, for those users with older systems.

[Atodini]

Best anti spyware thingee is 'safe surfing' habits, & most anti-virus products are all a much of a muchness anyways once you unblur the distinctions between what is true viral activity & what is trojan, & folks who are a bit keen on dismissing prompts.

Hear hear!! Unfortunately though most of my users do not practice "safe surfing" as such......:sad:

Here I use basic Norton 2005, without any of the Systemworks / Internet security nonsense, plus M$ antispyware. These along with a (hardware) firewall have kept me free from infections for ages.

John

[BOB IROC]

Norton Antivirus 2005 Basic
MS antispyware
Ad-aware.
I use a hardware firewall built into my router.

Ever since I installed MS anti-spyware my machine runs very smooth (hopefully they will keep it free) I run automated virusscan checks and spyware sweeps and all has been fine.

[Sp0cK]

Viri Scanner:

I have tried most virus scanners and I have always gone back to NOD32.
(Works on win98 - 2003) :thumbs:
*WHY?
: Updates daily, not once a week like Nortan.
: Virtually no slow down on my system with auto scan.
: Uses very few resources.
: Most important, it is the only scanner I have seen to catch unknown viri consistently with out being updated.
: Catches basic spyware and keyloggers. (www.nod32.com)

Firewalls:

I have only been truely happy with Norton and Zonealarm, but if I had windows98 I would use nortan's firewall. In XP I use the built in Firewall in tangent with my Router's Firewall.

Norton's firewall has a simple interface that makes handling it fairly easy and normaly only asks for help when unknown programs try to access the net. Assuming you had it scan your HD for all internet programs.

Spyware:

I have learned that if you want to be nearly 100% clean of all spyware, keyloggers and other junk you need to run 2 or 3 dif. spyware programs.
Ones I think work well are; :thumbs2:

*** Adaware SE
** Spybot 1.4
* M$ Antispyware

Also, to minimize the need if not nearly remove the need of useing spyware scanners simply switch your browser to Opera (www.opera.com) or to Firefox (www.mozilla.org). I can go months with either one of those browsers and nearly nerver get spyware on my system. But with 5 minutes (or less) with Internet Explorer I would find spyware on my system (nothing dangerous), but I would get infected. :redeyes:

[jaimicook]

PCCillin 2005 for antivirus as well as software firewall. Linksys ethernet router w latest firmware and AdAware, Spybot & MS antispy. So far, all is well
Jim

[slgrieb]

Well, right in with most of the pack. NAV 2005 plus Norton Firewall 2005, even though I'm behind a hardware firewall. Current versions of Ad-Aware SE Personal, Spybot S&D, and MS AntiSpyware are what I run on my own stuff, but I also have a subscription to WebRoot Spysweeper (though I don't keep it active in the system; no real time protection and I seldom run it) along with the usual assortment of misc. tools like LSPFix, HijackThis, and AutoRun.

On to the whys. NAV because only a few other programs like Nod32, Sophos, and Norman are in the same league in terms of effectiveness, but I think Symantec has better support. Online support is often enough, but sometimes you just gotta talk to a person. I don't like many of Symantec's policies in this regard, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and spend the money.

In particular, I don't like Norman's interface (though they do have US phone support), and I don't like Nod32's email-only support. Sophos also lacks US phone support. Trend Micro and McAfee seem to be improving, but don't have the track record of the top-tier vendors.

Firewall software: BlackIce is to hard to configure. Norton and ZoneAlarm firewalls both work pretty well, but as a dealer I can buy Norton for less than ZoneAlarm Pro, and since I'm behind a router, whatever firewall software I run is just not my first concern. The free ZoneAlarm is only free for personal use, and is a pain to train and configure.

Anti-spyware tools are still in the dark ages. They are about where antivirus tools were 10 or 15 years ago. Not enough information sharing between publishers, and not even general agreement on which programs are significant threats, etc. I have run SpywareBlaster, SpyHunter, Pest Patrol, Spycatcher, SpywareSweeper, MS Antispyware, Ad-Aware, Spybot, and most likely some I have forgotten, and not found one that is 100% effective. All of these will find and fix things that the others sometimes miss.

Spycatcher detects an excellent range of threats, but for many users, it is just too aggressive and may prompt them to remove needed program files. SpySweeper is way too slow, and its realtime protection requires far too many user decisions (confrim or deny changes) in routine use.

Sometimes it is more time/cost effective just to wipe the machine and start over, and sometimes you just have to; but lots of my customers are seniors (or businesses) who have files they REALLY DON'T WANT TO LOSE and (of course) haven't backed up. About twice a week, I download any updates to my Antivirus/Antispyware tools and burn them to CD-RW. It takes just a few minutes to install the programs, update them, and start scanning. I generally have 3 to 4 going at any given time, and I can let them run while I work on other things or go into the field. In real time all the scans may take 3 or 4 (sometimes more, if the machine is slow) hours, but only an hour or an hour and a half of billable time. The customer keeps their data, I get a reasonable return on my time, and we are all happy. The key to this is keeping it going like an assembly line. The more bench slots you have, the better.

Yeah time to go home when... you have yet another edit. One of the best things you can do to keep your system clean is don't download all those "free" utilities like "My Daily Horoscope" and similar stuff. Better yet, use a more secure browser like FireFox.

[confus-ed]

Viri

Grammatical rant ! .. there's no such word, its VIRUSES :p .. however you are a vulcan so I'll let you off .. Live long & prosper ( & get some latin lessons !) :thumbs2:

[Sp0cK]

What is the plural of 'virus'? :rolleyes:

It is not viri, or (which is worse) virii.

True, the word comes directly from Latin, (I took a stab at the dark when I used viri) Being Greek and American didn't help with my guess.....


... Besides, viri is the Latin word for 'men'.... but if you where to compare what a virus does and then look at men... would you see any differences?
(Matrix)


and the answer is .......... virus = > viruses

Thanks for questioning my grammar :butt:

[Platypus]

my grammer

Oooh, can I question your spelling... ? :D

[Platypus]

Firewall: Outpost (Free, 98-friendly, not resource hungry, works)
A/V: AVG (Free, frequent incremental updates, wouldn't take it into heavy battle)
Prob the commonest spyware trio:
SpywareBlaster/AdAware/Spybot S&D (Free, do the job)
Mucked about with a-squared, but nuisance authentication procedure.

I don't use any suspect sites, or use the NT-based code that gets most of the attention from nasties, so my needs are not great.

[kato2274]

firewall - smoothwall

antivirus - norton corporate client unmanaged - live updated weekly

spyware - Microsoft antispyware (I find it's actually very good) running all the time monitoring. spybot and adaware on standby as well as hi-jack this, CWshredder

[garthg]

Well I have seen too many NAV machines that have been virused. I use AVG Free and for spyware I use Webroot Spysweeper, and Microsoft antispyware software. These seem to do the best for most of my customers. I dont recommend Norton antivirs software or it firewall software. I have seen too many problems running these software on home user machines.

[Richard1]

I use Nav 2004
SpyBot
AdAware
MS Beta

My network has been infected twice in three years once with a pinfi virus from an unprotected laptop and one time I don't even know what happened, I had to reimage the machine.

[Richard1]

Oh yes and my freind Scott just turned me on to Spysweeper. He swears by it but I haven't used it long enough to form an opinion.

[geoscomp]

Grammatical rant ! .. there's no such word, its VIRUSES :p .. however you are a vulcan so I'll let you off .. Live long & prosper ( & get some latin lessons !) :thumbs2:


Didn't we have that conversation quite a while ago -ed? :)

Best anti spyware thingee is 'safe surfing' habits, & most anti-virus products are all a much of a muchness anyways once you unblur the distinctions between what is true viral activity & what is trojan, & folks who are a bit keen on dismissing prompts.

True enough, as long as you have a functional and updated antivirus and a fully patched OS..sophos did a test with an unpatched flat xp install and found a 50% chance of being infected with a worm within 15 minutes of just connecting to the internet..not surfing anywhere..
job security for me I guess.

Lately I've been doing the beta testing for the Symantec 2006 products, but on my own machines I use NOD32, Microsoft Antispyware, Spybot/teatimer/Adaware, the xp firewall and a hardware firewall as well as all the appropriate XP updates.

I'm going to give spyware doctor a try as well..good comments on it in this weeks newsletter from spyware info.com, as well as a ten buck discount.

[houseisland]

For my old PIII 800, I use CA's ETrust suite, not because I have supreme confidence in it but because it doesn't bog the system down the way Symantec and McAffee products do. Limited bloat.

For spyware prevention: Spybot and Spyware Blaster

For spyware removal: Adaware, Spybot, and Ewido.

For spyware detection and manual removal: Hijack This

Ewido is slow but very thorough, but if you install it with its realtime protection enabled it is a major resource hog.

[slgrieb]

Posting this at Mayet's request because I had expressed some concerns about Panda AntiVirus to her. About 3 years ago Panda was being pretty roughly handled in AV software tests, so Panda essentially stopped submitting test software to most labs. They would only consent to have their software tested if the tests were performed by Panda techs in Panda facilities. They would then report the results to the lab. right.

Virus Bulletin has not performed a test on Panda since 2002, http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?panda.xml

Neither has the University of Hamburg http://agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vtc/naveng.htm

ICSA Labs still tests and has certified Panda, but I think their test criteria are the weakest of all major labs https://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/topic.php?tid=dfgdf$gdhkkjk-kkkk

Some years ago (3? 4? can't remember the exact time), Panda did a loud press release trumpeting the news that their AV software was the first product to detect a new virus (sorry, don't remember the name). Because the y withheld information on the virus for 24 hours from the AVPD Consortium, there was even some talk about expelling Panda from the group.

Interestingly, this virus was only detected on a single Spanish website which was taken down immediately after discovery. Panda is a Spanish company. What a co-incidence. Bottom line is this just isn't a product or company I'm willing to trust with my data or my customers data. ICSA certification or no.

Really, anybody who takes the AV issue seriously should take a look at the major labs test methods and results. The top performers in AV software are a small group, and there are pros and cons to each of those products that may influence your choices. I would just like to see folks stop reccomending products that perform poorly in test http://agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vtc/naveng.htm

after test http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?avg.xml

[medic13]

well I use ZoneAlarm security suite
SpyBot
AdAware
MS Beta

[Guts3d]

So far I am the only one who uses Norton Corporate, I guess... According to our MAJCOM, everyone working on military bases across the USA can legally use it on their home computers as long as they work for the Department of Defense. We can also use the full Norton suite of speed killers... I mean firewalls and etc. Spyware Blaster, Adaware, Micro$oft Anti-Spyware and Spybot round out my choices as well.

[ADS_Tech]

NOD32
MS Spyware
Adaware
Spybot 1.4
Firewall - I always try to get b/b customers behind a router with firewall, and then use the MS firewall. If not, its ZA.

I have completely gone off Norton. Its become a behemoth of a prog requiring too much user input. NOD is much easier for the average PC user to deal with.
The only thing with NOD is you have to set the scan/action variables right ready for the user, otherwise it then requires too much user input itself.

As Ive mentioned in another thread before, I always put a "Housekeeping" folder on the desktop of any PC we deal with here. It it are shortcuts to all the above tools, along with a .txt file on how to run them all once a week.

[deepblu]

Sygate Personal Firewall Pro
Panda Activescan
SpywareBlaster
Ad-Aware 6.0 Pro
Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3
WPA encrypted wireless router

[Potato Salad]

NAV 2005
Adware Pro
Panda Scan
Zone alarm
and ocasionaly trend micro housecall

[Potato Salad]

Well I have seen too many NAV machines that have been virused. I use AVG Free and for spyware I use Webroot Spysweeper, and Microsoft antispyware software. These seem to do the best for most of my customers. I dont recommend Norton antivirs software or it firewall software. I have seen too many problems running these software on home user machines.

Well most people think they jsut set automatic update and leave it alone and itl keep up to date but acutally you have to manualy update it once every 2 weeks or so.

[thaynejo]

Antivirus: Norton AV. I use both 2000 (I refuse to update it) and 2005 on different machines. The reason I use the older version on that machine is because the machine is a bit slower and runs on a dial-up ISP. The other machine is an Athlon 64 and runs mostly on a high-speed connection. I have not noticed a system slowdown due to either version. I have been running both on Windows XP, but have no complaints. The best part of the software is that it is reliably updated and does not run with too much overhead.

Spyware: AdAware from Lavasoft; Spybot Search & Destroy. Between the two when run alongside NAV, the only spyware I that will get through will come from disreputable sites. Both have regular updates to both the software and the definitions. Spybot also has a program called TeaTimer that can be run in the background and set to run at startup. It can get annoying when you are installing a new program, but it will ask you every time the registry is modified if you want the change to be allowed. The only problem I have found with Spybot is that when updates to the program are made, they do not let you know and the newer definitions do not work with the older versions. You then have to go to their website, download the newest version (I believe they are on 1.4 now), and then install it. It is a little bit of a pain, but well worth it in my honest opinion.

Avoid: MS Antispyware. It has a history of finding and blocking some legitimate programs (I have seen it block Firefox a couple of times). It also seems to run slow and take up more than its share of processing power. That is just my preference.

Avoid: McAfee VS. It has a HUGE overhead and will completely slow down your computer while it runs its autoscan and updates. Don't even try running it and trying to open help for the first time on Office 2000. It takes up to 10 minutes for help to open then.

Hope that helps.

[sam7557797]

On my PC's I use:
Firefox
AVG Free
MS Antispyware Beta
Ewido (Purchased, but free is excellent, just no real-time or autoupdate)
Prevx Free
Hardware firewall

Prevx is a bit advanced for newbies and some intermediates.

[cheeseh]

I used to recommend Norton AV (standalone not NIS or system works) because it had the best detection around, but the problem with Norton since about version 2002 (although got really bad with 2004) has always been its resource hogging. Plus Norton always has a fit on installation on WAY too many systems.

Now my recommendation goes to Trendmicro Pccillin. The newest version is great. It has detection on level with if not superior to Norton now, and it uses barely any resources, not to mention it almost never has a problem installing. Even the Pccillin 2005 internet security installs easily and works great.

[The_Silent_One_1]

Antivirus Products

(Norton)

Norton has lost it's shine for me about 2 years ago. I just saw too many infections on Norton-protected systems. I still see infections on Norton 2005 "protected" systems. Also, when Norton Antivirus or Internet Security "goes south", it can be a major hassle to get it back up and running... (sometimes requiring a format). I also disliked Norton's appetite for resources and the fact that it insisted on showing it's systray icon even while disabled. (I know it's petty)

(F-Prot)

I liked F-Prot for awhile. It's really easy on resources and can be scheduled when to update etc. However, I have seen it fail to find too many things for me to recommend it to most people. I did try to get a wholesale agreement with F-Prot but after beating around the bush for a month they flat-out refused because someone else in town sells them ???? Anyways, out of talking to their "guy", I got involved with Panda.

(Panda)

Their 2005 Titanium Antivirus is currently the most impressive that I've used for basic protection. Protection seems to be pretty good and I have installed it a few times on systems that had had Symantec and they almost instantly detect malware. On the downside, they have pop-up reminders and alerts and self-checks more than I'd like and they don't offer as in depth options as some others. I like them for lower level users or on systems which I know will be used for file-trading. Currently it's my favorite all-in-one protector. No systems have come back infected yet.

(AVG Free Edition)

I install this on some systems that are only personal use machines. (ie. not being paid for by company cheque) The price is right and I don't believe that I've seen any come back with infections.

(Clam Antivirus)

Just started using this. Reminds me of F-Prot with it's low footprint and update scheduling. Hopeful of great things from it.

(Antivir)

Haven't seen it for awhile but seemed kind of awkward

(Sygate Personal Firewall)

Use this on home systems pre-XP. Usually try to use the main programs once that they will use online and check the box to not show the prompt again (for allow/deny)

(Windows XP SP2 Firewall)

Usually turn this on whether behind router or not unless they have another firewall program such as Panda Titanium

(Spyware Blaster 3.4 or latest)

Usually use this on Windows 98 Machines to help prevent certain types of malware

(Spybot Search and Destroy)

Used to use a lot 3 years ago. Now I hardly do anymore as it seems like it is outgunned quite frequently

(Adaware)

Don't use much anymore for same reason as Spybot. Does good for light malware but can't handle heavier threats

(Pest Patrol)

Have a subscription but don't use as much anymore... some false positives and was really really slow. Better than some though for thoroughness.

(Spy Sweeper)

Have subscription... too many pop-ups for my liking but one of the better removal tools.

(CounterSpy)

Have a subscription... less obtrusive than spysweeper.

(TDS-3)

Unfortunately discontinued :( but was one of the best antitrojan detectors when a lot of antivirus products semed to be naively lacking.

(Hijackthis)

Very handy for quick checks for evidence of infection. Can't recall if I've seen major malware that didn't show up here in some form or other.

(Broadband Routers)

Often Recommend these to people to help guard the gateway.

(Best Protection)

Safe Surfing - No Porn, No File Trading, No free Programs without checking with me first, always say yes to Windows Critical Updates, don't re-enable your outlook express preview window, delete suspicious looking e-mail and double-check the date of your antivirus definitions every once in awhile. (Those that follow these drastically reduce the risk of any kind of malware infections)

[The_Silent_One_1]

Posting this at Mayet's request because I had expressed some concerns about Panda AntiVirus to her. About 3 years ago Panda was being pretty roughly handled in AV software tests, so Panda essentially stopped submitting test software to most labs. They would only consent to have their software tested if the tests were performed by Panda techs in Panda facilities. They would then report the results to the lab. right.

Really, anybody who takes the AV issue seriously should take a look at the major labs test methods and results. The top performers in AV software are a small group, and there are pros and cons to each of those products that may influence your choices. I would just like to see folks stop reccomending products that perform poorly in test http://agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vtc/naveng.htm



When I posted, I had only read the first page of quotes. I happened to read this after the fact and would like to comment.

I am not very loyal when it comes to Computer Products. I've from AMD to Intel and switched back and forth from Nvidia to ATI. I used to Like Norton Best. I also used to like F-Prot Best. Norton is the most accessible to re-sell, but I became disenfranchised with it. If Panda starts failing me and I notice that my customers are getting infected, I'll switch to whatever seems to be most affective. Right now the most affective for average users from my experience seems to be Panda.

I often keep an eye out for what the major magazines recommend and often use it to influence purchasing on utilities and peripherals. However, I've been somewhat jaded by antivirus reviews for the last several years and how Norton is often portrayed as the Sir Lancelot of Antivirus products. My particluar experience with home and small business has just not shown that to be the case. Norton seems to be naively vulnerable to certain types of attacks. I don't know what those attacks are and how Norton is compromised, because I don't doubt that it is good protection against most stuff, but the fect remains that I have seen it compromised time after time.

I assume that some of this is because it has so much market share that it has become an easy target for those planning to circumvent security. I'm also assuming that some of these attacks are multi-pronged virus/trojan/worm/adware/spyware/rootkit attacks, but my experience has been that if someone has an antivirus product that has been compromised, it is most likely Norton.

[MorseLady]

I have always preferred NAV and usually quickly despatch the free programs and trials which come with OEM installed new PCs and then put Norton on. I tried MacAfee recently when I had problems reinstalling NAV 2005 but it seems too lightweight and I was not convinced it was protecting me as well as NAV would. This Evesham XP Pro machine came with eTrust, again it seemed too lightweight to be useful.

I like some of Systemworks like the diagnostics and WinDoctor but not speed disk as that seems to contradict the efforts of Windows defrag.

I do n ot like Norton Firewall, it seems to slow the computer down and is intrusive and I much prefer the free version of Zone Alarm but Pro seems as problematic as Norton to me and I agree that safe surfing habits are the best protection and those of us who know about computers are probably in a better position to protect ourselves.

I use AdAware and keep it up to date and although sometimes run Spybot it comes up with nothing if I have already run AdAware.

The above applies to both my XP Pro main machine and my XP Home spare machine. My husband's XP Home machine has my third copy of Norton 2005.

I use a Linsky Wireless Router for my NTL Broadband and that has a firewall.

[culpe555]

At my main job we are running Panda Enterprize behind a corp. firewall. It has been excellent after we upgraded all the computers to W2K. We were previously running a stand alone Mcafee before we got Panda but it got to be to much resources used on the old Pentium 500's and trying to run 5 different programs at once. At my part time job we are running E trust EZ-Armor on XP (because our isp offered it with the package) behind a DLink wireless router.

At home I run AVG- free behind a DLink wireless router and Adaware. It is running on a older Pentium 650/ win 98, a W2K/ AMD 2000 and a XP /AMD 3000. We seldom have any problems at any of the locations. We keep up to date with the updates on everything and try to practice safe surfing.

[slgrieb]

Well, since this thread is all of a sudden active again, I wanted to update my earlier remarks about Eset (NOD32). The now have a U.S. office in San Diego as well as London, Bratislava, and Prague. I think this makes the product a lot more attractive to us Yanks.