Anti-virus

[0r4ng1n4]

same boat as MCA, Firefox does wonders if you're semi-intelligent and realize what you're downloading. Absolutely amazed, i reformatted twice before due to 4+ antivirus programs failing to remove, both times they were contracted through IE, using Firefox nonstop now and not a virus for 2+ years.

[imlittlev]

when i went to firefox i never went back. i had all my friends get firefox, now they know better.

[Master_Chief_Alpha]

when i went to firefox i never went back. i had all my friends get firefox, now they know better.

+1

[darth_nevus]

Anti virus is not needed if your computer savvy

+100000

i beg to differ. it has its uses. BUT, having a family who isn't computer savvy is what hurts. they just download stuff and run it. twice in 5 years i have had a complete system meltdown due to a virus, that usually leaves me with a 5 day brownout in my computer world while i attempt to fix it. i prefer to run it, but i only do so sparatically, and keep it disabed half the time.

it does eat precious cpu cycles, and i can't afford them with my single core AMD3000+. so, i pick a time, load the app for a weekly scan, and unload it once its done its job. i can't block my family from using it, and since my eldest son is just starting to play the games i do, i can't leave it on when i am not there. but i can't get rid of it because they still download and play other games. if i stopped that, my wife would go nuts. you should see my adaware logs every month. its not uncommon for them to be in the 2000+ range.

[juneau]

NOD32 for me. Never ever going to use anything else unless something beats it with a stick. I used PCCillin until 2002, but as Pace stated, it became bloatware like Norton.

[BlackArrow]

Paceman,

I always used Norton, but it became too bloated.

I always heard great things about TrendMicro so I switched this year to PC-cillian.

The '07 version of PC-cillian has now qualifies as bloatware (as you said) and my computer is crawling and the program is too intrusive.

The '07 version of Norton has been completely redone and now has a much smaller footprint and I may deep six TrendMicro for Norton or possibly Kapersky.

All the reviews I have seen in '07 place Kapersky as #1

[Dead...Again]

I use AVG Free for Windows XP. For Vista x64, I couldn't use AVG Free, so I installed Avast.
I used to use Norton, but it just got bigger and bigger, and I got tired of paying for the subscription. I like AVG 'cause it works well and is FREE. My wife is usually pretty good about not just installing stuff, but I don't want to take the chance and not run an AV. Plus she won't use Firefox. I used to disable the AV before gaming, but I've never really seen much difference, especially after I switched to AVG.

[Apache Warrior]

I use Kaspersky and like it a lot. I got it because it has been rated #1. The firewall is great too.
Apache

[Thrashdragon]

I frolic naked through the net, skipping along the information superhighway with my dangly parts exposed for all to see.

Or in other words, I don't run any AV software.



I reformat every 6-8 months, and since I don't keep anything imporant on my home PC there is usually very little to back up. The only time I have had a problem is when my fiance downloaded an infected WMA file. I am not certain if it was a virus or if my OS committed suicide when it recognized a Britney Spears song had been placed on my hard drive.

[Storm_Shadow]

I've been using nod32 for nearly 2 years now. It runs any time the computer is on, and I've never had any problems.

Briefly, I tried a trial version of McAfee... It bogged my system down so fast it wasn't funny. Then, it took an act of congress to get the blamed thing off of my system!

[paceman]

If it were just me I would go without AV. In all the years I've been on the net I've never had a virus, and never had my AV say that it stopped or quarantined a virus. But I just can not get my wife to use Firefox. She likes Internet Exploder, no accounting for taste sometimes, and so I keep an AV on both machines in case she gets something.

Thanks to everyone for your opinions. Greatly appreciated.

[lilfoo]

i use AVG but not avidly. if you want to go lite or no AV i would highly recommend Ad-Aware SE Pro w/ ad-watch it is an anti spy wear tool but it can be used as an amazing anti virus by locking up your registry (i click yes or no to every registry change) it even has a automatic setting to auto block but installing programs while not paying attention that it is on makes it difficult.

it is the best piece of software i own.

[Dead...Again]

in case she gets something.

LOL I just thought that was funny