Searching for a new virus scanner and new firewall

  • Thread starter gt4005
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gt4005

gt4005

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Hi people,

I urgently need a new virus scanner and a new firewall. I think my Norton Internet Security 2002 is too old now and I'm asked again to buy a new license.

Which virus scanner and firewall could you recommend? The speed and look aren't so important. The heuristic should be good and the scanner should find most of the viruses etc.

The firewall should be easy to configure and should be good too of course. The programs don't have to be from one producer.

I appreciate any comments about suggestions and even reports about your programs.

Thank you in advance.
 
I use AVG Free. It's pretty good, don't seem to ever have problems with it. I use Windows Firewall and the firewall built into my router, that is all :)
 
I use AVG Free also. The Firewall I use is Zone Alarm. Both are pretty good (Zone Alarm even more so)
 
But there must be crook.

Software which is for free might not have a good support? At my parents I need a good and easy firewall whilst in my own flat a simple firewall would be enough because I use a router there.

I've heard that Sygate don't exist anymore :(

So I'm not quite sure which one to buy. Do you use more than one free scanner just to be on the safe side?
 
Get Eset NOD32. It's the anti-virus app. Something that wins 34 straight VB100% awards must be good. Not only does it have one of the best detection engines, it's also one of the fastest.

As for firewalls, well, I dunno. I just use port forwaring on my router, which does a decent enough job for me!
 
Hi,

yes. Ok I think Kaspersky Antivirus or Nod32 (have tested it, great prog and "fast") should become my new scanner.

The problem I see with free scanners is that they might not recognise viruses a comercial could find. I read about such a case where a comercial scanner found 3 trojans so maybe I would be on the safe side.

Another option for the firewall would be a router for my parents so I could use Wlan when I'm visiting my parents.

A free firewall would be the last backup. A router with Nat etc. should be ok.

Another question to the subscription of those scanners? Which scanner manufacturer wants how much? And I don't have a credit card. It's not as spreaded as in other countries.

Take care
 
I've tried alot of Virus Scanners and Firewalls and the ones that comes out of the competition are these.


McAfee Internet Security Suite (Really complete protection)

Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite (I use it right now, its the best ever. Complete protection, you can set up everything on it, its light compared to big companies like Kasperacy, Norton or McAfee).

Nod32 is a nice and fast operated Virus Scanner. I pretty liked it.

Avast! works like Nod32, but a little bigger. Offers a personal lite firewall, works great if you're not going to go on every spy/virus websites of the net.


I really liked those. :)
 
#1: Don't buy McAfee
#2: Don't buy Norton more

NOD32 is the best AV I've used. However, at $40/year it is a little bit more expensive than the alternatives. I do think it's worth it though.

AVG Free does a great job, especially considering that it's free. Whenever we build a computer for a home user at work, we put AVG Free on it. Something else we do almost on a daily basis is remove Norton from computers and replace it with AVG (not only does it almost always find Viruses Norton couldn't, but Norton slows down your computer sooooo much).

Like I said, though.. If you want the best, go with NOD32. I can say, however, that AVG Free would work just fine.

As for a firewall, well, I don't use software firewalls.. Hate'em. At home I've got a NAT, and at work I have a Linux Firewall setup.
 
I've been a long user of Norton and know how it uses resources but I guess I've been using it for so long I've been afraid to try something else especially a free one.
 
I've been a long time Norton user but only because it's what came with my laptop. I can say without hesitation at least I will never use anything McAfee that **** is worthless.

I still don't mind using AVG Free because I have Zone Alarm Pro which I really like.
 
AVG Free and Zonealarm here :)

Why?

Tried and tested, less prone to conflict with other applications, ease of use, frequent updates, tends not to hog resources and it's free! :)

They won't supply you a bag of poo if they want you to upgrade to a paid version.
 
amp88
Indeed
Click to expand...

You're not seriously suggesting that we should pay any credence to that thread?

Try again, but next time show me something that has more credibilty other than 'a bloke in a forum says'.



Damn, just wasted my time reading that rubbish.
 
I'll just chime in with my 0.02 Euros.. AVG Free - I can't recommend this enough. I love it. I absolutely LOVE it. And I use their Corporate products when doing installation for customers.. Mostly for Email and Fileservers..

Norton stinks. McAfee stinks.

For Firewall - I'd find an old 300+ Mhz box with 128-256Mb ram, a small harddrive and two netcards. And then I'd install Smoothwall. A very capable and secure Linux based Firewall which most people will be able to use. (You could even install a 3rd netcard and create a DMZ for "guests")
 
Flerbizky
I'll just chime in with my 0.02 Euros.. AVG Free - I can't recommend this enough. I love it. I absolutely LOVE it. And I use their Corporate products when doing installation for customers.. Mostly for Email and Fileservers..

Norton stinks. McAfee stinks.

For Firewall - I'd find an old 300+ Mhz box with 128-256Mb ram, a small harddrive and two netcards. And then I'd install Smoothwall. A very capable and secure Linux based Firewall which most people will be able to use. (You could even install a 3rd netcard and create a DMZ for "guests")
Click to expand...
You sound just like me.

Smoothwall is what I always recommend (what I'm using at work), agree on the Norton/McAfee thing, and I use AVG for all of our customers (AVG Free for residential, AVG Pro/Server editions for Offices / Networks).👍
 
@Flerbizky
Yeah I've an old - vbery old computer in the cellar. K5-166MHz with 32Mb Ram I think :D

But it would be overstrained only by the gui :( So I'll download AVGFree and look for a router. I've to think of the fact that it must be easy and there shouldn't be any problems with users on Win XP (Norton don't like to run when you're not an admin) etc. and that my parents can't speak English or have any glue bout computers.

So thanks guys. I'll download AVGFree and I think zonealarm. I'll look if the sygate firewall is also available in German.

Speak you laters guys :)
 
gt4005
@Flerbizky
Yeah I've an old - vbery old computer in the cellar. K5-166MHz with 32Mb Ram I think :D

But it would be overstrained only by the gui
Click to expand...

I'd give it a shot. Minimum requirement is a 150Mhz box - and you should be able to pick up an additional stick of 64 or 128 megs for 5 bucks (be it Dollars, Euro or Pounds)..

Smoothwall doesn't have a gui - as long as you're sitting on the box, you're looking at a command line interface. What is does have, is a small web server so you can do administration in a nice interface. Doesn't put much strain on the box...
 
Flerbizky
I'd give it a shot. Minimum requirement is a 150Mhz box - and you should be able to pick up an additional stick of 64 or 128 megs for 5 bucks (be it Dollars, Euro or Pounds)..

Smoothwall doesn't have a gui - as long as you're sitting on the box, you're looking at a command line interface. What is does have, is a small web server so you can do administration in a nice interface. Doesn't put much strain on the box...
Click to expand...

Cool! But there's another little problem. Which distribution should I pick up? And I'm not a Linux user. I would like to use Linux with my notebook but it doesn't run from my USB harddrive (extern). I'm a noob in Linux :(

And on my desktop at my parents Linux won't install itself because it has problems with my SATA Raid. Great isn't it? :(

A colleague of mine has tried it and he failed more than once. It's so annoying not be able to run Linux on my desktops. I don't play so I use a safe and nice OS. And with Linux I would have a great hobby too.

Should open a new Linux thread because I like it but there's one point when I said stop trying. Use and configure what you have.

EDIT: I should add that he works with Linux so he knew what he did.
 
gt4005
Cool! But there's another little problem. Which distribution should I pick up? And I'm not a Linux user. I would like to use Linux with my notebook but it doesn't run from my USB harddrive (extern). I'm a noob in Linux :(

And on my desktop at my parents Linux won't install itself because it has problems with my SATA Raid. Great isn't it? :(

A colleague of mine has tried it and he failed more than once. It's so annoying not be able to run Linux on my desktops. I don't play so I use a safe and nice OS. And with Linux I would have a great hobby too.

Should open a new Linux thread because I like it but there's one point when I said stop trying. Use and configure what you have.

EDIT: I should add that he works with Linux so he knew what he did.
Click to expand...

We should probably open a new thread for discussing Linux flavors..

As for the Firewall, go to www.smoothwall.org - That's a small distro that'll only do Firewall stuff...

(S)ATARaid Controllers and linux do not mix very well.. It can be done, easily, but the problem is, the "raid" controllers on most mobos aren't what you'd call "real" raid controllers. Sure, they do span or mirror drives, but they still allow the OS to access the individual disks, something Linux prefers, and will do if it gets the chance, but not something Windows cares too much about (stupid).

I've been playing around with Fedora Core4 lately, and I really like the new package handling they're doing. Should be pretty good, and hopefully, other Linux Flavor builders will catch the idea so we can get a more unified way of dealing with packages..

Open a new thread if you feel like it - Could be interesting !...
 
Sorry for asking but I know flavor in another way??

Yes I think I'll open a linux thread. Maybe we could combine it with the firewall thing? So the thread could be marked as important?
 
gt4005
Sorry for asking but I know flavor in another way??

Yes I think I'll open a linux thread. Maybe we could combine it with the firewall thing? So the thread could be marked as important?
Click to expand...

Ohh.. Flavor is just another word for distribution (I believe that's what you're asking)..
 
So I've installed Zone Alarm and AVG Free with Kaspersky Antivirus Pro and it's fine!

Now I'm thinking of deinstalling Norton from my notebook too. The subscription on it is valid until Sep 06.

But I'm really impressed by ZoneAlarm. What do you think?
 
I use Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite, its the best I've ever had...

But 3 is just too much. You would be fine with just Zone Alarm. Try the Internet Security Suite, it has firewall, antivirus and various of other protections (email, instant messaging, cookies, etc...).
 
gt4005
So I've installed Zone Alarm and AVG Free with Kaspersky Antivirus Pro and it's fine!

Now I'm thinking of deinstalling Norton from my notebook too. The subscription on it is valid until Sep 06.

But I'm really impressed by ZoneAlarm. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I think that I've found something better than Smoothwall !...

m0n0wall...

Sorry.. No experience with Software Firewalls (Why does that sound wrong in my ears ?....)
 
Hey MugenVTEC

Ok I'll have a look at it. Here in my flat I use a router and so I think free progs would be the best here.

For my parents I could look after Zone Alarm Pro or I buy them a router and leave the progs on the computer so I could use WLAN at my parents too.

Thanks Flerbizky
I'll read it :)
 

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