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Best anti virus for windows 7?


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I have been in the IT Industry for around 15 years and the best way to put it is "you get what you pay for".

AVG and MS Essentials are complete rubbish. Nortons is ok but not really the best as it monopolizes your computers resourses.

I have have over the years use a combination of Kaspersky and Spybot. Both are very good and will usually pick up issues that AVG or MS essentials dont or cant detect. I have recently heard good things about NOD32 but I have not had the opportunity to test it for myself yet.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/ is worth looking at

and so is http://www.bestantivirusguide.com/best-antivirus-comparison-chart

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avg is a resource hungry ****! BUT!

It has served me well before.

AVG used to be less resource hungry. But it now runs all sorts of funny stuff like website protection etc.

Long story short, it blocks the threats before they breach the firewall. I've got 4GB of RAM, so the machine can handle it.

It all comes down to what you're downloading. Dodgy stuff brings the bugs.

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Just had a giggle :gigl: 15 years in IT eh? My husband, Grant, has been in IT since 1977. I knew he was old but sheesh! This makes it clear just how old!!! :sml1:

AVG used to be good but has turned to rubbish. We have been installing Microsoft Security Essentials on many computers we have supplied, and use it ourselves, and never had any problems. Earlier versions did but the latest is doing the job.

If you want a basic, easy to use, anti-virus programme it is the way to go.

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avg is a resource hungry ****! BUT!

Resource hungry how? It looks like it only uses about 2 megs of ram most of the time, unless I'm missing one of its processes. I've never noticed it scanning because I have it set to scan at 2am and only while the computer is idle. Only time I notice anything from it is when a file finishes downloading in firefox. It pops up a message that it's scanning for about half a second.

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Sadly I have been in IT somewhat longer writing my first programs in 1972, and getting my first virus in 1987 ( Amiga disk boot sector virus from the club ). I've seen lots of PCs that have been trashed by viruses while running AVG and never found it to be much good. I used to install Prevx ( free version ), and if it picked up a virus, then removed them manually rather then buying the registered version which does that for you. But in recent years it seems to have too many false positives. Still keep it running though.

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Resource hungry how? It looks like it only uses about 2 megs of ram most of the time, unless I'm missing one of its processes. I've never noticed it scanning because I have it set to scan at 2am and only while the computer is idle. Only time I notice anything from it is when a file finishes downloading in firefox. It pops up a message that it's scanning for about half a second.

AVG Scanning Core Module 300K

AVG Identity Protection Service 7700K

AVG Online Shield Service 1400K

AVG Resident Shield Service 400K

AVG Tray Monitor 3200K

AVG Watchdog Service 7800K

Each isn't huge, but on an older system it could be quite hungry.

Sadly I have been in IT somewhat longer writing my first programs in 1972

On punchcards?

I've seen lots of PCs that have been trashed by viruses while running AVG and never found it to be much good.

Was it up to date? A lot of people install it and leave it, not realising that it has to be maintained.

Keep it up to date, and it will do the job.

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I have Norton. To be honest I never was too keen on it years before but the computer I bought over a year ago came with a free trial.

To be honnest I found it far better than it used to be that I purchased a years registration.

We have had it running on both Windows 7 computers with downloading and a home network and it never slows the computers down or is any way a pain.

Also doesn't have a spaz anymore if you add other software after installing it :happy1:

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I'd also recommend Microsoft Security Essentials if you're after something free. Personally I run NOD32 and I also run it on all our machines at work. But it's not free.

AVG should be avoided, it was alright about 4 years ago, but nowadays it misses so much without you even realising. I have tested MSE on many computers I've fixed up for friends etc over the past year (many used AVG thinking they were OK), and it picked up everything that NOD32 did.

Edit: Probably worth noting that everyone will have their own opinions of what is good / bad. People don't tend to try many AV products and don't know how well they work until they have problems. I could also state about my experience in IT and how many computers I look after daily, but really I'm in the same boat. If you want a comparison, go to someone independant that really put the products through their paces and see what they say. These guys are good http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/summary/summary2011.pdf

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Everyone I know who knows what they are doing with computers and myself use Microsoft security essentials. Low resource use, rates highly and isn't obtrusive.

I also use good ol' Spybot search and destroy for catching malware and tracking stuff.

If you want a paid one, get NOD 32.

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AVG Scanning Core Module 300K

AVG Identity Protection Service 7700K

AVG Online Shield Service 1400K

AVG Resident Shield Service 400K

AVG Tray Monitor 3200K

AVG Watchdog Service 7800K

Interesting, all I have, that's labeled AVG in task manager anyway is:

AVG identity protection monitor: 1740K

AVG Tray Monitor: 3392K

Puts them at about #20 ranked by memory usage at the moment.

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It's not just AV you have to keep updated. Make sure you have Windows updates set to auto, and patch each month. Ditto for Adobe Acrobat and Java - keep 'em patched, plus any other software you've installed. Try using an account with no admin rights.

I highly recommend the NoScript and Ad Block plug-ins for Firefox, as well as Ghostery, ShareMeNot, Better Privacy and Facebook Blocker.

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Interesting, all I have, that's labeled AVG in task manager anyway is:

AVG identity protection monitor: 1740K

AVG Tray Monitor: 3392K

Puts them at about #20 ranked by memory usage at the moment.

Yerp. I don't use all of those, but they are all part of it. and, as mentioned, I do have an older system.

Your machine is practically the mother-ship compared to the fossil I am using. :facepalm:

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You'd be best off running a dual boot with Linux, and using clamAV which is also open source which means free, and built into the latest versions of Linux. Clam can scan all partitions including the windows boot one. Comes in GUI and CUI so anyone can use it easily. Linux also use bugger all resources, and the scans don't take long at all.

I use Symantec Endpoint which is good, but can bring down performance a lot unless your fully up to date with everything on the computer.

My gaming pc Runs no antivirus software, but is pretty secure via the router, and network monitoring software, and I've never had problems with it, but I also don't download dodgy stuff or goto dodgy sites on it.

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Your machine is practically the mother-ship compared to the fossil I am using. :facepalm:

i5 650 @ 3.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 64bit OS. Win 7. I have a NVIDIA GeForce GT220 1024MB DDR3 graphics card.

Windows gives my comp a score of 5.9, out of 7.9, which is taken from my lowest score. My RAM, at 4GB, is low :slfg: and my primary hard drive data transfer rate is too slow. Everything else sits on a score of 7.

Paid $2500. The wife got a better model, for half the price. :facepalm:

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if someone wants to hack you, they will find a way, ive done it forensics, anti-virus are very easy to fool :bounce:

+1

In another life I did some work with a UK ISP on testing (patchs and new) adsl router firmware for their branded router and 3rd party. Once someone has your router they have your network.

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i still work for ISP, the amount of people getting hacked from those stupid cold callers regards all the virus's on there computer is just crazy! i get probs 5-10 calls a day from poeple who have lost control of there pc/router

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LOL. I find it funny to see how long you can keep them on the line.

He said "Your computer has sent us error messages. I'm calling to show you how to fix them"

I asked him "how did you get this number?"

He replied "out of the phone book" :facepalm:

Then I said "Ok, so if my computer is sending you messages, how did you connect my computer to my name in the phone book?"

He said he didn't understand.

So I asked, "What IP address sent you the messages?"

He didn't know what an IP address was. :facepalm:

When I had explained what an IP address was, he begun accusing me of "attacking him" and got really pissy, then hung up.

:happy2: I love these calls. I don't know how anyone actually falls for them though

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