PC Virus Scanners - Which is the Best?

Also been using Firefox since day one and inspite of the volume of queries on MozillaZine support, it has worked like a flipping dream. Going back to IE is about as enjoyable as listening to music on my kid's flashing Pioneer boombox. Tabs.......mmmmmm

Thanks to all who contributed their AV Software experiences (& nightmares) in this thread. I think I may go for the AVG product; based on the feedback here it seems to be a fair bet.

Doing without AV is a non-starter for me - I don't have the confidence I won't ever do something stupid! Also there's no guarantee some evil nurd wont find a way of writing a virus which doesn't rely on my opening an attachment.

First of all though I have to work my way through the 3 pages of registry hacks necessary to remove McAfee 4.0.3 completely from my system - should be a heap of fun

David

"First of all though I have to work my way through the 3 pages of registry hacks necessary to remove McAfee 4.0.3 completely from my system"

I would take this opporunity to re-install your operating system. Your PC will likely work much better (Windows essentially follows the Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamcis) and its preferable to do this now when you can plan and organise properly rather than after some kind of emergency.

Knowing you are able to re-install your o/s and all your data and applications is much more important than having an Anti-Virus program IMHO.

Matthew

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Knowing you are able to re-install your o/s and all your data and applications is much more important than having an Anti-Virus program IMHO.

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On that point Matthew we are in full agreement!

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I would take this opporunity to re-install your operating system.

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seconded.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Ladies and gents,

You should ask yourself these questions regarding email bourne malware:
1. Why doesn't my ISP's SMTP mailserver remove them? (some do).
2. Do I need to spend xx monies on a virus scanner when you can actually perform the same functions yourself using mail filter rules and a bit of common sense.
3. Why do I use an email client and OS which still allows the execution of malicious code without having to authenticate against an admins user name and password?

The answers:
1. Each ISP is differnt in their response times to new outbreaks and others feel it isn't their responsibility. Find out what your ISP does.
2. No you don't. A bit of googling and reading the user guide for your email client will point you in the right direction. View the raw message source to check that the email message is 'really' from who it says it's from and the attachment doesn't have a hidden suspect file suffix like .vbs .pif .scr etc. There are free alternatives if you really feel you need to use a scanner.
3. Using outlook on windows OS is like a red rag to a bull. There are plenty of alternatives. If you must use it, read the instructions regarding security! Keep it patched! Don't open messages directly in the mail. Save it to disk first and instruct your scanner to check all new files added to a directory.

Finally, a well programmed virus does not draw attention to itself and may not cause any harm to YOUR pc (but is a pain in the arse to everyone else on the internet). If you don't know what to look for, how do you know if you've been infected? Get a firewall which can be programmed to log suspect packets and check the logs frequently.