My Experience with ANTIVIRUS packages

[johnya]

I just finished a four day painful re-configuration and re-installation of my computer due to a virus attack. Do

not know how it got in. I wanted to share my experience with you regarding the various anti virus and security

protection packages that I tried.

 

In a nutshell

 

ZONELABS ZoneAlarm full package (anti virus, firewall, anti spyware) - that is what was loaded on my machine

Problem: a virus got thru, and subsequently using another package, I found 6 trojans that had gotten in previously

Comments: ZoneAlarm did NOT protect my machine.

 

Bit Defender - I loaded a trial package and it found 6 Trojans that ZoneAlarm had let in and never found during

monthly scans

 

In the process of my HP machine doing a full recovery ( HP DID A GREAT JOB - 5 stars for that ), I ended up

pretty much where I started with the machine 4 years ago - lots of my software had to be reloaded. In the

process of recovery Norton anti virus got loaded since it had been part of my machine when I bought it. The

problem was that I did not know that. So when

I loaded other anti virus packages, they messed up my computer and everything was locked up.

 

So to make a long story short, here is my summary

 

Bit Defender - as I said before had found a bunch of trojans that ZoneAlarm did not. I was able to talk to a

real tech support person on the phone for free, and they helped me get things corrected.

 

Symantics ( Norton) - I had a hec of a problem removing their package - things kept staying stuck in the registry

- Symantics Support was great and they helped me via phone and yes I talked to a real tech support person. ALL FREE.

 

ESET - Tried their program unsuccesfully due to my computer problems - AGAIN ESET tech support was on the phone

with me to help remove their program.

 

I tried to unsuccessfully uninstall ZoneAlarm fully - tried to get them on the phone - no such thing - could not

get tech support on the phone - and was told by ZoneLabs Sales ( yeh you bet I got ahold of SALES on the phone)

that I had to contact support via email - 48 hours later I got a one sentence tech suggestion which did not work

- I finally gave up with them and actually had Bit Defender tech support help me get rid of ZoneAlarm.

 

SO, my recommendations- DO NOT GO WITH ZONELABS - if you ever have a problem they are the only company that I

could not reach by phone for tech support - their email tech support is poor ..... BIT DEFENDER, ESET, and NORTON

are all very good at tech support and each one of them were helpful and had 800 numbers and I was able to contact

all of them within a few minutes wait. ZONELABS not only let malware in, I could not get any phone help from them.

 

I am now still debating between Bit Defender and ESET.

 

My two cents - hope it helps someone

 

John Alives

[phule]

I'm assuming before all of this you were still using Internet Explorer?

[bobatkins]

Did you try AVG? They have free and paid anti-virus packages

[henkelphoto]

I recently got Panda after one of our IT techs suggested it. Seems to be working well, it picked up 58 spyware apps that Norton missed; and automatically updates every time you access the internet. I had problems pulling Norton off my system as well. It actually acts like a virus when you try to uninstall it. I ended up having to download an uninstall tool from Symantics in order to get it off my system. I told my wife if I ever think about loading Norton again to whack me on the head.

 

Jerry

[mrraz]

I've been using Norton's Internet Defender with no problems for more then a year on my HP desktop. I get live updates of the virus definitions at least once a week. I have the computer scanned completely once a week. I also use the latest version of FireFox as my browser. So far nothing in the way of virus' or Trojans.

 

I installed a firewall router with NATing enabled to hide my computer's real IP. It adds an additional layer of security. It also locks down all ports but 80, 443, and mail.

 

My browser is set to delete the history every time I shut it down and only allow session cookies. Additionally, any tracking cookies that show up from time to time gets listed in the exclusion list, so they never appear again.

 

Spybot Search and Destroy is another useful program to consider, but there is really no way to make your computer totally secure short of disconnecting it from the internet or network.

[richsimmons]

Currently, I use Norton Internet Security on two machines, but I also keep a copy of Ad-Aware for the spyware stuff. So far, the Norton has caught a lot of stuff. Prior, I use to only use Panda, which I always found to be very good as well.

[peter_daalder]

<i>I am now still debating between Bit Defender and ESET. </i><p>

I have been using ESET for more than three years now.<br>It has been extremely efficient/reliable and the company also provides excellent tech support, down here in Australia.

[craig_gillette]

I've been very happy with Eset. I believe it has more spyware protection now as well. You can easily use 2 or more anti-spyware products but only one anti-virus.

 

Norton Internet Security caused me some problems a while back so don't use it any more. I remove the Norton AV and install Eset before going on line or if removing Norton AV or others from a preinstallation, I'll download Eset, then go offline, then remove the AVs, then install Eset and update it immediately on going back on line.

 

With two or more spyware programs, sometimes they will alert on quarantined files from the other, etc.

[hjoseph7]

"So when I loaded other anti virus packages, they messed up my computer and everything was locked up."

 

I have to chuckle at that one, because my school made the mistake of offering Norton Anti Virus software package for free

to all their students a few years ago. Alllot of students including myself went through a couple of days of hell before the

whole thing got straightened out.

 

I had McCafee for a couple of years, but had to dump them because they had the tendency to renew your licence without

your permition. They would just send you a note stating "We debited your credit card for such and such amount, for your

convenience". They also had the tendency to send you Updates where you had to restart your computer for it to take

effect.

If you did not restart your computer right away, the message to RESTART NOW would keep coming every 2 minutes.

One time I was in the middle of a heavy Photoshop session and the Update sent by McCaffee restarted my computer

automatically crashing photoshop and every thing that was online at the time. It took me 3 days to get my computer going

again.

 

Then I tried Avast which is totally free, but slow as heck !

 

I've since upgraded to Trend Micro http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/

 

They were rated #1 by Consumer Magazine last year, but now McCafee is back on top and Trend Micro is #2 , or #3 ? I

also use MS FireWall which comes free with Microsoft XP. TM has it's quirks, but so far it is about the best I tried. I

cought at least 3 Trojans and who knows what else with this package which all got deleted immediately.

 

To tell you the truth, it took a couple of tries before Trend Micro zapped one of those Trojans.

[starvy]

do try the free package from avast antivirus. i use zone alarm's free firewall and avast virus scanner. one in a while i run spybot search and destroy.

 

any idea how these got into your system? which browser are you using?

[beartooth1]

We've used Zone Alarm for 5 plus years and never a bit of trouble....My father builds web sites, e-commerce, and the like... he prefers AVG... and has never had problem... Internet Explorer is the problem. Use Firefox its much safer.

[crabseye]

Avast, Spyware Blaster, Spybot, and Windows Defender (Vista) or Windows Firewall (XP), with a router with security enabled. And safe browsing. Keep visiting those nasty porn and "filesharing" sites and you're asking for trouble.

[marc_bergman1]

I have used Zone Alarm for about 4 years without a problem. I just bought (3) yearly subscriptions for my computers.

 

Any anti-virus software has to be continually updated.

 

They just did an update while I was writing this. I seem to get new updates several times a day.

[mendel_leisk]

"If you did not restart your computer right away, the message to RESTART NOW would keep coming every 2 minutes"

 

Microsoft is good for that too, after their updates are downloaded.

 

I've been using Trend Micro for close to a year now, but will likely go back Norton Internet Security (lesser of evils, nothing more). Trend Micro's interface is not that good (read: near impossible to fathom), lately I cannot find a way to stop in-progress virus scans if need be, and it's started pop-ups about 2 months back warning that my expiration is only 3-4 months in future.

[chris_werner]

Unfortunately, both Symantec (Norton) and MacAfee have become bloated over the years, and fallen behind some upstarts (e.g., Avast, AVG, Trend Micro, Avero (sp?)). I actually have had good experiences with ZoneLabs - sorry you didn't. :-(

 

Doubly unfortunately, the "best" package changes so frequently that it seems impossible to pick a horse and right it. Just today, I was discussing our next step on antivirus with my technology manager at work, and we ended up deciding that we'll probably have to accept changing vendors every 2-3 years. From a consumer perspective it's not quite as bad as a lot are offered free, but it's still a major pain.

 

One piece of advice, FWIW (since it's free, probably nothing) - watch system performance as you explore different packages. My earlier comment about the two leaders comes from our documenting performance issues those programs caused us that other antivirus packages didn't. And to add insult to injury, the others found more viruses/spyware/malware as well. In fact so much I started questioning whether we were seeing false positives; but we weren't.

[ianmaleny]

Never had a problem since using Linux.

[wpahnelas]

there's something to be said for keeping your image-editing system separate from all the nastiness of the internet... but it's getting more difficult, as software companies now take for granted that every computer is online; some even require activation via the internet (NIK software's NX2, for example).

[Ian Shalapata]

I would second the Panda suggestion. Complete suite of anti-virus etc. Been using it for 3 years now. No problems what-so-ever.

[dbcooper]

This is a primary reason I dumped the Windown OS and got a Mac.

[johnya]

I finally decided on Kaspersky - the installation was easy quick and smooth..... not one problem.... I did a scan right after and it found 3 infested files which I was able to delete .... again these corrupted files were in my computer when I had ZONE Alarm and it had NOT found it. I want to make it clear to everyone reading this that my main issue with Zone Alarm is that when I had problems, I COULD NOT GET A REAL PERSON on the phone to help. I also have a comment to those who say they like ZONE ALARM... well how do you know that you dont have some corrupted files or spyware that it has not found... as I mentioned after I dumped Zone Alarm, Kaspersky found more stuff that I never knew I had.... and my computer now runs so much faster and smoother then when I had ZoneAlarm. That is another thing, ZoneAlarm really slowed down my computer and was a pain all around... Kaspersky seems to do things more in the background and does not take up as much memory ... GREAT PACKAGE... I recommend it.