BleepingComputer.com: I need to get rid of some of my anti-virus programmes.

Hello again everybody. Right now I have a bunch of free anti-virus programmes running, and seeing as I really shouldn't, I'm wondering which I should uninstal and which I should keep; ie, which ones are the best?


Right now I have Nvidia Firewall running instead of Microsoft Firewall. Should I switch, or stay?


For antivirus I have Avira's Antivir, AVG, Spyware Blaster (honestly I can't even tell if this one is running), and Spybot's TeaTimer running. Do I have to delete 3 out of the 4, or perhaps just one? Which do you think would be best? I know AVG is only on a time trial right now, but I think I might buy it considering all the good features it comes with. Antivir, however, has been really good at catching the really bad virus's that try to slip in, so I'm not sure if it would be better to keep that. Any ideas?

Also, any opinions on what is the, hands down, best paid-for anti-virus program on the market today? I'm thinking maybe Trend Micro's PC Cilin, but my knowledge is a tad bit out of date.


Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Fun-filled Festivus, Krazy Kwanza, and a Solemn Ramadan!

This post has been edited by Jamesmorris_k: 21 December 2008 - 12:38 PM

I switched from Computer Associates which I ran for nearly 20 years to Kaspersky, I love it so far. My computer is quite bit faster booting and two programs that acted like they had memory problems now run like lightning. It updates far more frequently then CA did. I am sure there are others out there that do a decent job but Kaspersky has my vote. On another note at work we have been running AVG, we hired a new tech service the first tech was horrified that we would trust our servers which serve over 30,000 client to AVG. Before anything else it was removed and CA was installed so go figure, I asked about Kaspersky he spoke quite highly but his company uses CA.

Phil

Hello! Is this the XP or Vista firewall? It's a big difference.
I read a good favorable,discussion of the NVidia wall here. Thoughts on Nvidia Firewall

I do not recommend that you have more than one anti virus product installed and running on your computer at a time. The reason for this is that if both products have their automatic (Real-Time) protection switched on, then those products which do not encrypt the virus strings within them can cause other anti virus products to cause "false alarms". It can also lead to a clash as both products fight for access to files which are opened again this is the resident/automatic protection. In general terms, the two programs may conflict and cause:
1) False Alarms: When the anti virus software tells you that your PC has a virus when it actually doesn't.
2) System Performance Problems: Your system may lock up due to both products attempting to access the same file at the same time.
Therefore please go to add/remove in the control panel and remove either xxxx or xxxx.

I would choose AntiVir ove AVG, My opinion as I use it..
Spyware Blaster is NOT an AV, nor is SpyBot. So in essence you can run AntiVir,Spyware Blaster and SpyBot.
One of the good points about Spyware Blaster is that it runs in the background preventing spyware from installing in the first place. Remember to update it weekly.

If you are considering purchasing a program, I recommend you go to the website of that program and see if it has a trial offer. If it does, download and install. Using a trial will allow you to find out if the program plays nice with your system, if the program is user-friendly, etc. It won't take you long to find out if it is a good fit for you and your computer. There is no one size fits all when it comes to computer security. What works for one person may not work for someone else-a program may make my system crawl slower than a turtle. But on your system it may not cause any issues.
Try a few programs before making up your mind which one to purchase, if this is the route you want to go.
And if you do want to purchase one of them, wait until the free trial is almost over-many vendors will offer a discount for the product.

Free Trial Page For Trend Micro

Hey again everybody, and Merry Christmas! Based on your replies here, I'm going to stick with the Nvidia firewall and kill AVG. As far as the "best" anti-virus program, I probably should have specified that I'm not talking about interface, comfort of use, all that jazz; just which one has the best detection rate, especially for the really nasty pieces of malware.


btw, I got a really nice 22 inch Sumsung flatscreen monitor for Christmas! 8000:1 Resolution. So I'm super happy about that.
Share any cool Christmas gift stories if you like!

My bank's computer tech and some other folks I have talked to are either very suspicious or uncomfortable about any software company that is not based in the U.S. I don't know why. It is true that All the Web (based in Russia) was used to enable spammers from Russia and other Eastern European companies easy access to computers across the world. There are honorable programmers everywhere and dishonorable programmers everywhere. Is this perhaps misplaced patriotism or xenophobia? Why would anyone be automatically suspicious of large companies based in Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands, where they are subjected to international law and an active press? And many of these european programmers are quite fluent in English.

This post has been edited by fuzzywuzzy6: 25 December 2008 - 06:06 PM

Rising Antivirus is from China and you can see what Matt thought of it here:

http://remove-malware.com/anti-malware-rev...yikes%E2%80%A6/