Bloatware

[QB]

Hey folks, hopefully this is an easy one to answer.

Does anybody know a good free virus scanner that hasn't turned into bloatware? For reference, I consider Norton 360 to be the height of bloatware; AVG has turned into the free equivalent IMO (plus it still seems to cause overlay issues in TF2 for me).

Mini-rant alert!

I'm so sick of dealing with poorly written software. An example: earlier I realized that I still had the network connection software installed that came with my Linksys wireless adapter. I had needed to install it to update my fresh install of WinXP, but the standard drivers that I assume are present in XP SP2+ work just fine.

When looking at memory usage earlier, I found that the Linksys software was using 311 MB of RAM! I know RAM is cheap now, but COME ON!? I was already planning on removing this software, but that kind of memory usage just reinforced my opinion of "services" software today.

Another example for those who may know/remember: look at a services suite like System Mechanic 2 years ago. Now look at that suite today. Same basic functions are fulfilled, but the software is harder to use and takes up 10x the resources.

Mini-rant over.

Ty for any advice in advance.

 

[trykael]

I use Avast! as a virus scanner, and suppliment it with Threatfire. Both are very good programs, and don't use much in the way of resources at all.

 

[agent86]

Honestly, these days, all virus scanners are bloatware. AVG is about the best I've found.

And talk about bloatware, steam is the worst! But I digress.

When was the last time you had a virus that AVG caught, really? Safe browsing/downloading habits (Firefox helps too) and a router that separates you from the internet can save you from most of the viruses a scanner will generally catch.

 

[Frank Booth]

I love BitDefender. Does a great job.

 

[trykael]

Agent86 - while I agree that safe browsing habits can help immensely in keeping your computer clean, suggesting, even mildly, that someone could forgo virus software is an extremely bad piece of advice. no matter how careful you are, you could always come across an infected site or someone you trust could send you an infect file. obviously no virus scanner can keep you 100% safe, but not having it is like playing russian roulette with a loaded automatic. it's just a bad idea.

 

[QB]

ty

Thanks for the replies. I'm trying Avast for now. Mostly I like to maintain a good virus scanner b/c people are embedding viruses in things as innocuous as Adobe Flash Player. I even got a three viruses in one week from Youtube. I kid you not!

There is no substitute for safe browsing behavior though!

 

[agent86]

Agent86 - while I agree that safe browsing habits can help immensely in keeping your computer clean, suggesting, even mildly, that someone could forgo virus software is an extremely bad piece of advice. no matter how careful you are, you could always come across an infected site or someone you trust could send you an infect file. obviously no virus scanner can keep you 100% safe, but not having it is like playing russian roulette with a loaded automatic. it's just a bad idea.

I don't open attachments in email. Ever.

The kinds of malicious code that exploit holes in Firefox/Thunderbird or IE/Outlook are not the kinds of code that are generally caught by virus scanners. That's like expecting your car's airbag to deploy to protect you from a shotgun blast. Different kind of threat, and the wrong kind of protection.

I only download files from sources I trust, and if I'm not sure or want to be extra careful, I run the virus scanner on that file, rather than running it on every file all the time. Most major repositories of downloadable content (ie, download.com, major game patch archives, etc) run virus scanners on their end.

I agree that it is a manner of personal preference. However, it seems to me that the vast majority of the time, the real threats are the viruses/malware that antivirus software does not catch. I can't remember the last time my work PC's (required) antivirus caught anything remotely threatening. It continually fails to detect Outlook email viruses, though. However, with that many users, I can understand why mandatory antivirus would sound like a good idea.

My suggestion is very much dependent on how much risk you're willing to accept, and how careful you are when using the internet. I've never had a problem though.