Well I ran into a problem when my friends computer got infected with a virus the day after i just used it to transfer some files into my external. Well have Zonealarm as my firewall and Virus scanner but had the scanner turned off since AVG stated only to have one scanner at a time. Well I scanned my whole computer and external with AVG only to find a couple of tracking cookies but nothing major. For kicks i decided to use the zone alarm scanner and lord and behold did it find a expliot.something. I have been paranoid since. Scanning my computer every couple of hours with both scanners and ad aware. it sucks cause it slows down my computer and I havent been able to play games. Not only that but I got bitdefender today because the reviews showed it was better than AVG. AVG being free and everything the saying goes you get what you paid for. So what should I stick with? or should I wipe my computer (again) and start fresh just in case?
how many virus scanners to have?
- Thread starter Clarko
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i would definitely suggest doing more research to find out which is better (as well as which is free). if both of them are free, then choose which is better. also u dont have 2 run the scanner every few hours. its recommended that you run it after 1 week. now when it comes 2 spyware programs, its recommended that you run those everyday if not every other day.
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I use avast! antivirus (free home edition) for my virus/trojan protection, and Spy Sweeper for my spyware/adware/cookie protection. Those two programs, combined with Windows Firewall (built-in to Vista/XP) and some basic smart surfing habits, should protect you from having to deal with any problems like this at all.
Both of those programs have active scanning systems that scan every website you go to, and every file you download: stopping your connection, and alerting you of the danger even before the infected file can get on your hard-disk. It does this so discreetly and quickly, too, that you will never notice anything is running in the background (unless you are running a really old machine..).
Finally, if I do end up finding a virus/trojan (like that exploit.something thing you were talking about) I use this website (http://virusscan.jotti.org/) to check the file against multiple virus-scans to eliminate false alarms. I suggest you do this as well, just to make sure it is in-fact infected.
But, honestly, get those two programs and you won't have to worry about anything getting on your system to begin with. The active scanning is so effective that I only have to virus scan about once a month, and even then all my files turn out clean. Spy Sweeper you should use about once a week, but just to clear out some tracking cookies - I never find anything of issue.
tl;dr
As for your issue at hand, though, it's really up to you. But, if you're like me you won't be able to fully trust your system again until you reformat and install some good protection. Make sure to check the file out on that site I mentioned above, though. There is a good chance it's a false alarm if only one of your programs detected it.
Both of those programs have active scanning systems that scan every website you go to, and every file you download: stopping your connection, and alerting you of the danger even before the infected file can get on your hard-disk. It does this so discreetly and quickly, too, that you will never notice anything is running in the background (unless you are running a really old machine..).
Finally, if I do end up finding a virus/trojan (like that exploit.something thing you were talking about) I use this website (http://virusscan.jotti.org/) to check the file against multiple virus-scans to eliminate false alarms. I suggest you do this as well, just to make sure it is in-fact infected.
But, honestly, get those two programs and you won't have to worry about anything getting on your system to begin with. The active scanning is so effective that I only have to virus scan about once a month, and even then all my files turn out clean. Spy Sweeper you should use about once a week, but just to clear out some tracking cookies - I never find anything of issue.
tl;dr
As for your issue at hand, though, it's really up to you. But, if you're like me you won't be able to fully trust your system again until you reformat and install some good protection. Make sure to check the file out on that site I mentioned above, though. There is a good chance it's a false alarm if only one of your programs detected it.
You should never have more than one anti-virus program installed. Think of an anti-virus program as a warehouse guard that you tell to shoot any intruder on site. Having two of these guards who aren't coordinating with each other, leads to them shooting each other.
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AVG is a very highly rated anti-virus program, and you should be fine using that as a VIRUS scanner. It is important that you use more than that to completely protect your computer, and understand the difference between the programs. One important note: it is very important to only use ONE "virus scanner" on your computer...having more than one can confuse the programs and cause either false positives or missing of infected files.
Virus Scanner: make sure to have a single virus scanner installed. some are always better than others. if you're looking for free, both AVG and Avast! are good programs.
Malware scanner: you can use multiple spyware and malware scanners on your computer. in fact, it is usually good to use two or three scanners because some pick up certain kinds of infections better than others. for example, i use ad aware, spybot search and destroy, and ccleaner to take care of possible spyware infections. so, choose your favorites and go for it!
Virus Scanner: make sure to have a single virus scanner installed. some are always better than others. if you're looking for free, both AVG and Avast! are good programs.
Malware scanner: you can use multiple spyware and malware scanners on your computer. in fact, it is usually good to use two or three scanners because some pick up certain kinds of infections better than others. for example, i use ad aware, spybot search and destroy, and ccleaner to take care of possible spyware infections. so, choose your favorites and go for it!
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I rarely use antivirus, but when I do, I use Avast.
Watch what you download and you'll never have a problem. I've run without antivirus for as long as a year without a hitch, but then messed up and clicked a pr0nz link on accident while browsing through Newgrounds.
~Gooda~
Watch what you download and you'll never have a problem. I've run without antivirus for as long as a year without a hitch, but then messed up and clicked a pr0nz link on accident while browsing through Newgrounds.
~Gooda~
Exactly the same here. Watch what you look at and download and you don't need anti-virus. I don't have avast running while playing games, but when I download something I just run it in the background.
Very good analogy Dr.
Unfortunately, he's right. Two would just be overkill, not to mention probably resource hogs.
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If Vista counts as one, then I have two. I use Mcafee normally.
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I have billions of scanners and thousands of viruses i dont mind them they dont do anything do they?
So like do you just go around ruining good threads?
Also (to add to the thread), I only use AVG for my virus scanner, and I use Ad-Aware 2008 for adaware. Then i use ccleaner to clean up the cookies and my registry. That's pretty much all you need. I wouldn't recommend getting more than 1 virus scanner.
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#1 defense against a virus.
I used Mcaffee up until about 3 weeks ago and had AVG as a backup or "2nd opinion".
Right now I have BitDefender and it works better than both put together.
I also have VirusTotal for scanning small files.
http://www.virustotal.com/
It is internet based but, it scans with I think 50 virus scanners.
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alright ppl heres the verdict.
norton sucks so dont even touch it.
mcafee costs way too much
avast...pfft please
the best antispyware pregrams out there are spybot search and destroy and another program called superantispyware professional
the best antivirus is by far AVG 8.0 free. like the title says it is free, and those of you who have not tried it are missing out. Its a small, efficient little program that does one heck of a job catching threats before they get onto your computer.
ad aware is also pretty good but it costs money
norton sucks so dont even touch it.
mcafee costs way too much
avast...pfft please
the best antispyware pregrams out there are spybot search and destroy and another program called superantispyware professional
the best antivirus is by far AVG 8.0 free. like the title says it is free, and those of you who have not tried it are missing out. Its a small, efficient little program that does one heck of a job catching threats before they get onto your computer.
ad aware is also pretty good but it costs money
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Avast? Avast is win. Low resource usage, great detection, beaten only by NOD32. AVG is a great free one, but it's FAR from the best.
Learn2internet plx
~Gooda~
Learn2internet plx
~Gooda~
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eh, avast has never done anything for me
It's never good to have more than 1 virus scanner in my personal experience. I used to be so paranoid that I had Norton, AVG. When I scan with Norton it would say, the AVG files are corrupted/infected and when I scan with AVG, it would say, the Norton files are corrupted/infected. I do not know how all that programming works but now days I just use AVG and that's it.
Also keep in mind, no matter how good the virus scanner is, it's the user's personal habits that determine the final risk factor. My mother's computer has no ad scanner, no virus scanner, she does have the firewall up, but never has had one problem except her hard driver failing once due to old age of it.
Also keep in mind, no matter how good the virus scanner is, it's the user's personal habits that determine the final risk factor. My mother's computer has no ad scanner, no virus scanner, she does have the firewall up, but never has had one problem except her hard driver failing once due to old age of it.
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That's the same defense I used - when I was the only one using the computer.
If you've got - relatives, friends, siblings, or even a visitor - who may be using your PC, it's a good idea to run some kind of AV.
I wouldn't be the one to make the mistake on my PC - someone else would.
For that - I've got a 6 copy business license of Nod32. Won't run anything else.
---
For AV software, right now - there's not much more to say if you're looking for "the best" - it's Nod32 hands down.
If you're looking for just "good" AND "cheap" - get AVG - it's free.
But definitely, if you're willing to plink down $40 - don't waste your time with anything else. Get Nod32.
It's because one is hiding/protecting itself from the system, it gets detected by the other - and it thinks that it's a virus, and vice versa. That's how these programs don't get infected. There's also the case of the quarantine area. You'll just be passing virii back and forth between the two. So, you'll be wasting your time and tying up your system endlessly passing a "problem" from one hand to the other.
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