Thinkpads Forum

1)what anti-virus programs do you use?

2)Also do you use ondemand scanners which countinuously scan your hdd while your on it? Does it shorten the life or slow down performance?

I was looking into Bit Defender. Does anyone have any info on it?

Thanks

Mcafee is the one i trust more. I have tried many but my opinion is that zone alarm and mcafee are the best.

On demand scan. no, i prefer scheduled scans so it won't bother me while on the road.

If you can get a hold of Kaspersky, I must say that it is the best virus scanner out. I've tried Mcafee, Bit Defender, Panda, Norton, and they have all let something slip through. Kaspersky has not let anything through yet and I have used it for a year and half. It updates several times a day with out having any effect on your machines performance.

I like AVG myself for now, although you NOD32 and others mentioned are good options as well. I would replace the NAV that comes with the original preload though.

I use Kaspersky. Its abit on the heavy side - but has -alot- of features and is the best AV out there.

Kaspersky is the way to go.

AVG Free Edition.

Regards,

James

I have been a long time happy user of the free version of AVG, but I recently saw some comparison testing of the various choices available at http://www.av-comparatives.org/ and that persuaded me to try Kapersky as it seemed far more effective than AVG in the testing.

I found Kapersky initially tried to do far too many lengthy automatic scans of my system and that slowed system performance down. But after I finally got most of the auto scanning shut down, it seems pretty good. It does impose a bit more of performance drag on my system than AVG did, but not too bad with the auto scanning shut down and all the proactive defense features enabled.

Also, I really like Zone Alarm Pro for a software firewall and Ewido for anti spyware. So right now I have ZAP, Kapersky, AVG, and Ewido running on my system. Probably overkill. If after a while Kapersky works out, I probably will stop using my old friend AVG.

Another vote Kaspersky, along with Kerio (firewall) and Spybot (spyware checker).

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=20914
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=22803
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=9720

There's more, search.

AVG..Been using it for seven years now...no problems whatsoever
Cheers

Using Avast Antivirus which is also free.

I used AVG before that but it slipped several viruses through even though it updated regularly. It shocked me and I installed first Norton which grabbed those infected files and mails. I consulted my friends which I had also told to try out AVG. They had also gotten virus.

Never used AVG since then since I am satisfied with Avast.

eTrust EZ Antivirus (no realtime protecion, on demand scan only). Also NEVER run any web browser with admin rights.

Puppy wrote:eTrust EZ Antivirus (no realtime protecion, on demand scan only). Also NEVER run any web browser with admin rights.

I use Symantec Corporate Security Version 3 (for all the people who won't read, this is NOT the retail version). It consumes very few resources, it scans realtime 24x7x365, it does not slow down the machine, I *am* the administrator, it catches everything, I don't get hacked, I have no viruses, I have no malware.

I would NEVER run a machine without realtime protection. NEVER.
... JD Hurst

Antiviruses can catch already known virus patterns only. Not being logged as administrator or at least run potentially vulnerable applications (like any web browser, email client, video player) with limited user rights prevents these problems by design.

Mostly true. I set client machine with restricted rights for the reasons you mention. I protect myself by using common sense. But whether admin or user, you can receive an email with a virus and for that reason, I keep myself and my clients with real time scanning. ... JD Hurst

Another solution is to set policy to run selected applications with more restrictive rights (especially if you have admin rights). Windows XP/2003 itself provides this feature. Check this article for more information: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us ... 182005.asp

As for malicious attachment opened by email client, any spawned application inherites rights from the "parent" application. But such attachment should be filtered out on the server, of course.

jdhurst wrote: I use Symantec Corporate Security Version 3 (for all the people who won't read, this is NOT the retail version).

Is this a current version? I currently use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition (ver 8.1.1) on a stand-alone basis; is this the same program you use? The downside to my non-networked program is that it will not automatically update definitions. Instead, I need to remember to periodically run Live Update.

Allan

I use Norman Anit-Vyrus since it works with OS/2-eComStation.

ozmann wrote:

jdhurst wrote: I use Symantec Corporate Security Version 3 (for all the people who won't read, this is NOT the retail version).

Is this a current version? I currently use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition (ver 8.1.1) on a stand-alone basis; is this the same program you use? The downside to my non-networked program is that it will not automatically update definitions. Instead, I need to remember to periodically run Live Update.

Allan

I should have properly said Symantec Client Security Version 3. Yes, this is current. Symantec Corporate AntiVirus is at Version 10 now. For domain-connected Desktops behind a natural firewall, I use Symantec A/V. For remote machines and laptops, I use Client Security and it can be scheduled to run daily, automatically and silently via Windows Scheduler and I really like that. Set and forget. ... JD Hurst

My laptop from my college comes with an enterprise, though not 24/7 scanning, version of Symantec AV, and also a copy of Symantecs heuristic Wholesecurity program which detects spyware, trojans, and just about anything attacking the system.

jjesusfreak01 wrote:My laptop from my college comes with an enterprise, though not 24/7 scanning, version of Symantec AV, and also a copy of Symantecs heuristic Wholesecurity program which detects spyware, trojans, and just about anything attacking the system.

Most Universities and Colleges do that nowadays as it is cheaper and generally better to off-load most of that type of scanning to the end-user's system rather than overloading their mail servers and networks with sniffers and firewalls every other system to cleanse traffic. Symantec Corporate is, generally, better than the version of NAV that comes preloaded from what I have seen.

christopher_wolf wrote:<snip> Symantec Corporate is, generally, better than the version of NAV that comes preloaded from what I have seen.

So much so, that Symantec could rake in truckloads of money by dumping all the retail products (and, unfortunately the programmers and support staff) and go with just the Corporate Product. Symantec Client Security can be easily installed by an end-user in unmanaged mode and can easily be set up for automatic scanning. One product instead of several; better performance; better support. Just better all around. ... JD Hurst

Unfortunately that's not their business model.

Symantec charges for end user support, and that allegedly brings in big dollars.

Switching to corporate for end users would be AWESOME... but would defeat their business model.

It's the same revenue scheme used by many in the computer industry these days... the money doesn't come from the product but from accessories, support, warranty, insurance, etc.

jdhurst wrote:<snip> Symantec Client Security can be easily installed by an end-user in unmanaged mode and can easily be set up for automatic scanning. One product instead of several; better performance; better support. Just better all around.

I agree about the anti-virus. Do you think the Symantec firewall is as good as Zone Alarm's?

Also, automatic virus scanning setup is easy. Do you have it set up for automatic Live Updates?

Allan

@gimp - With one product, and the same number of users, they get the charge dollars as now, but easier support. Multiple products cost even though support has been charged to the customer.

@ozmann - Yes. Client Security updates itself automatically and silently (no screen popup). Very nice. The firewall is good enough considering it is integrated with AntiVirus and one live update does the whole thing.
... JD Hurst

Kaspersky Internet Security 2006 (6.0) is the best!

Symantec is the worst. McAfee is apprently good for large scale deployment. AVG Free covers the large amount of viruses and suffices without hogging system resources.

NOD32 and ClamAV are also things to try.

christopher_wolf wrote:Symantec Corporate is, generally, better than the version of NAV that comes preloaded from what I have seen.

I'm confused. My z60m came preloaded with Symantec Client Security 3.1, which appears to consist of Symantec Client Firewall 8.6.0.134 and Symantec Antivirus 10.0.0.846. Is this a corporate or retail version? When I run LiveUpdate, one of the items listed is "Symantec Antivirus Corporate (OEM)".

It's going to be expiring in a month or so, so I've been reading these threads looking for alternatives. My employer offers an unmanaged version of Symantec Antivirus Corporate, but I'd need to manually download definitions and also find a firewall (and I'm not that fond of ZoneAlarm). Might be simpler to continue with what I have, if it's the corporate verion.

JoAnn R.

wayrad wrote:.... also find a firewall (and I'm not that fond of ZoneAlarm).

Try Kerio. It's what I use, and I prefer it to ZoneAlarm.

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/kerio.cfm