[Closed] Best Anti Virus Software

NOD32 or Kaspersky get my vote.

As above, NOD32 or Kapersky.
Comodo or Avast are still good freebies.

Tescos recently had cheap deals on Kapersky, iirc it was a 3-user license for £25.

i have a friend in IT who said its garbage

From an IT point of view, where they need to be able to dynamically roll out virus policies, definitions and updates across large corporation then it's probably far from ideal. But it works plenty well enough for a simple home setup.

I use Avast! and find it nice and unobtrusive.

I meant his opinion, on Home not in a work environment. every time a search result from AVG comes back with around 12-40 warnings (tracking cookies?) not being an expert myself, i dont know how serious this is? if i purchase kaspersky, will this sort it out?

just found this...

"Don't keep removing them every few days. Block them permanantly!

If you are using Internet Explorer for a browser, you can permanantly block all 3rd party (tracking) cookies. Go to tools > internet options > privacy > advanced > checkmark "override automatic cookie handling" > third party cookies > tick "block" > ok > ok.

----------------------------------

Or even better, just don't worry about them at all!

Cookies are just small .txt (text) files that by themselves cannot hurt your computer. Cookies are "set" by almost every web-site that you visit, on every visit. You can delete all your cookies today and by tommorrow you will have dozens again.

They are not a virus or spyware, but some people consider "tracking" cookies to be an invasion of privacy.

Tracking cookies are mostly "3rd party cookies" from advertising servers. They can track your movements around the web in order to deliver to you customised, targeted advertising.

It all depends on one's level of paranoria."

so looks like im worrying to much...... ;0)

AVG rubbish and you're thinking about buying Norton?

Get Sophos. ;~)

i have used norton before, but not again, and Sophos? will look into that, thanks.

No single AV scanner is head and shoulders above the rest, if you really want good protection then use a couple of different ones. Or just run your dodgy stuff inside VMs and revert to a previous snapshot each time.

Avast is excellent, does your friend in IT work at PC World.

kaspersky. download avg from cnet

Spyware Blaster stops any dodgy cookies ever getting on to your computer.

It's install once then forget.

Since installing it I've never had any spyware come up in a search with other software.

And it's free too.

I use that along with Avast for viruses.

The best way to protect your PC is to not have an idiot sat in front of it. Being sensible will protect your PC far more than a little icon in the corner. Most problems we see are from malware that people have "invited in" to their PCs.
[url= http://nick.brown.free.fr/blog/archive/2007_11_01_archive.html ]This guy[/url] and [url= http://blogs.technet.com/steriley/archive/2007/09/22/antivirus-software-who-needs-it.aspx ]this guy[/url] say a bit about it.
Install all the latest OS updates, switch on firewall, switch off autorun, login as a user not admin, never open files you don't trust. Don't just jam your usb stick in any well used usb hole elsewhere and bring it back to your home PC and expect not to get infections.

Or just don't use windows* 🙂

*I use windows at work and home, hate using other OS's but you have to accept the track record on virus/malware.

EDIT I'm not saying dispense with AV altogether but don't think it will save your ass if you do silly stuff.

2 AV at the same time... Why bother?

Don't just jam your usb stick in any well used usb hole elsewhere and bring it back to your home PC and expect not to get infections.

Haha, that's a euphemism if I ever heard one! 😆

2 AV at the same time... Why bother?

They can sometimes clash apparently and mess your system up.

Not sure who you're referring to but I'm not using 2 AV's.

false positives

not to mention the cpu drain using 2 checkers... hence "why bother" (I think someone was thinking 2x protection?)

Haha, that's a euphemism if I ever heard one!

Spyware Blaster stops any dodgy cookies ever getting on to your computer.

It's install once then forget.

Since installing it I've never had any spyware come up in a search with other software.

To repeat what was said above, cookies, even if they are "dodgy/tracking/third-party cookies" are NOT viruses or spyware.

They are just little text files that websites use to store your details (like the way you automatically login to STW). Advertisers (including third-party advertisers) use them to track which adverts you have seen/clicked on, where you go on the website etc.

You may object to tracking/advert ones on privacy grounds - but they are NOT spyware and do not pose any threat to your PC.

Well Spyware Blaster stops Spyware AND tracking cookies from getting onto your computer.