Free Anti-Virus Programs - Comments Page 1

And...what is your opinion of the need for, the availability/reliability of and the product comparison of antivirus software for Mac OS X users?

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's a numbers game for the virus writers -- they want to cause the most damage possible. And since only 5% of the computer market runs Macs, they tend not to bother with that platform. All of the savvy Mac users I know tell me they don't use anti-virus software.

I have been using Comodo AV and Firewall for quite a while and I am very satisfied. Both are free and they are very effective. Daily updates with the AV and system compatable for beginners and experienced users. -- comodo.com

I agree with you about Norton/Symantec. After spending 2 months dealing with the issues that resulted from a failed update, once I finally got NAV cleaned out of my first laptop, I never again installed it on any computer of mine. I have been very happy with Spybot, Ad-Aware, Avast, AVG, and Kerio (not all at once, or even on the same machines). My XP desktop is running Comodo's free firewall and eSets paid anti-virus. My new Vista laptop is running Windows Defender, and Avast AV. I'm happy with these so far.

It would save me truckloads of time if you would prominently indicate programs that work with the MacIntosh.

EDITOR'S NOTE: None of them! Mac defenders tell me there is no need.

Neither Linux users do need one. I see it as one of better things in using Linux. You can share your PC power doing some usefull work e.g. folding@home and not putting resources just to keep malware off.

I agree with some of your comments about Norton, but as a service professional I've found McAfee to be much worse. In the area where I live the largest employer uses McAfee and of course employees take home a copy of it, install it on their machine and all their neighbours computers. I then get calls to sort the mess created by the McAfee product, computer locking up, can't uninstall it, etc. After cleaning out the registry and deleting their program, I then install the free AVG product. After a year of this, I haven't had one complaint of virus infection, computer running slow, or any problem I can attribute to it. Personally I run Kaspersky Internet Security ver 7, and I am happy with it.

I use Avast Ativirus, Xp Firewall, And Windows defender on my Laptop. If something is working and doing its Job well, then why try to fix it if it ain't broke? When these Programs start to fail me on this laptop then I will take into consideration several of Bobs recomendations on other programs. I also learned real quick that if you go to CNET/ZDNET, PcMag.com, or PCWorld among other site reveiws, you will find all have there own opinions, so find what works for you but don't overkill as I no what it can do to your computer . Thanks again Bob for such an awesome site. 2 Thumbs up for you my friend !!!

I read somewhere maybe in the Tourbus that you should use an anti-virus in linux if you use wine or windows apps in it. Could you tell me a good anti-virus for this and if it doesn't have a gui if possible could you tell me the commands to use to update the definitions run a scan and if the the AV has realtime scanning so that I don't have to run a scan manually. I would also like to know if there is an automatic update feature or not. Thanks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, if you use Windows in a virtual machine setting on Linux or a Mac, then you should install your favorite Windows anti-virus software in the virtual machine.

On the other hand, 5% of all computers is a large number of unprotected machines. It will hit the MAC users soon.

Also, Mediacom cable subscribers have the CA security suite available to them at no charge!

I have been in the industry since the late 70's. I remember when there were no anti-virus programs because there were no viruses. Of course, the operating systems and the apps were buggie enough - who needed more problems? Can you say DOS 4? Norton was one of the early ones, but today it is a mega resource hog, and if I wasn't forced by my employer I would choose something else. I have used both the free and pro versions of CA and AVG. Excellent. AVG Pro has a two year subscription for about $20 US dollars. Man, that is just unbeatable. And you are so right about where most of the bugs come from. Its a tax on the sin surfers. Just one man's opinion.

I had Norton Antivirus installed on my Mac with OS 8 and OS 9. My Mac is now running 10.4 - I use ClamXav (http://www.clamxav.com/) and so far, no viruses have made it past the program. Please don't be hard on Bob - he doesn't know that much about Macs anyway!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Oh be nice! :-) Mac fans always say "There are no Mac viruses because the MAC OS is secure and impervious to all attacks." I do know a bunch of very smart, tech savvy people who use Macs and do NOT use anti-virus software. So the proof may be in the pudding. We just don't know all the ingredients.

Hi Bob, You are so correct about Norton! Sorry but I know you are old enough to remember "Danger Danger Stay Away Will Robinson." If at all possible stay away from Norton, as Bob says it is so intrusive to your entire system it is really a scary thing. There is good news though; they finally came out with a CD that they will mail you to properly uninstall it from your system. Before this came out it took me an entire day, and a 1/2 inch of paper instructions to find all (I think) the places it had installed itself!

I Like a-squared free, It Done a GREAT job here with having kids on the Computer,You Do a GREAT JOB, Look foreword to every news letter.Keep up the GREAT WORK.

For the Mac, I use commercial Intego software http://www.intego.com/ as part as a package suite. And now the reason for the post - although I haven't seen a specific Mac virus - the product also claims to detect macro virii- , their virus software has detected a number of Windows virus sent in email so helped me not pass those on. It isn't only about protecting yourself but also your friends. :-)

Thanks for the help. I've installed avast with wine in feisty, however I don't think that the Real time virus detection is working. The manual scanner and manual updater seem to be working. Should I try another antivirus to get the real-time scanner working? Is the manual scanner secure enough? I assume I should use anti-spyware too. Am I on the right track? If so, I hope this helps others when finding the right antivirus for wine. Thanks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I think it depends on what you're running in Wine. Isn't that a single-program environment?

I think I might need to download a different antivirus. When I ran the scan, it suddenly stopped scanning on my /var/cache/apt folder for some reason. I don't know what a single program environment is. If you are asking if it runs one program at a time, yes. I think you can run more than one instance of wine if you want to run a second program though. I only have one program installed right now, which is avast. I plan on installing Exact Audio Copy, and maybe steam, but probably won't use it for web browsing or email checking, so I imagine I have a semi-low risk of getting a virus, but I am paranoid about security in Windows. I do like to be cautious. Thanks again.

Norton offers a free program which can be downloaded from their site for uninstalling their products. They don't make a lot of noise about it of course, but it is there. I have personally used it to uninstall Norton Antivirus which came with my HP machine, and it worked fine. See the url below, or if that doesn't work try Googling 'symnrt' (without the quotes).

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Check with your employer. Many have links to free-for-home-use AV software. Many Corporate, educational and Government employers together with the software developers, offer the software free as more and more employees are using home PC's for work and swapping files back and forth. I do use Norton this way (Yes, I hear the grunts and groans already) but I have saved $$$ in the update / renewal subscription fees.

Bob, Just like the Norton download mentioned above, McAfee offers a way to fully uninstall their products via a download:

http://ts.mcafeehelp.com/faq3.asp?docid=408294

Personally have used AVG products for more years than I can remember, and they have always worked flawlessly.

is it okay to use both AVG free edition and AVG anti spyware?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, that's fine.