Anti virus help

[Barneyballbags]

I used to use Microsoft Security Essentials, which I found to be really good. AVG Free was good too.

It may not be AVG which is slowing your computer down. If you had any other Anti Virus software on it (McAfee, Norton etc) and didn't uninstall it properly, then it could be that which is clogging everything up.

Most computers come with software such as this pre-installed when you buy it. The first thing I always do is remove it!!

I'm using a MacBook Pro now, and I'm not using anything apart from the security measures which are pre-built into the OS (Mac OS was built to be secure 'out of the box', unlike Windows which needs Anti Virus stuff to give it a hand). I haven't installed anything else.

 

[greenstiles]

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5

cnet said 'outstanding'

try the free trial version..............best i've tried really digs up stuff that, AVG, SPYBOT, even MALWAREBYTES could not get.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Actually OS X isn't that secure, Barney. Security and user-friendliness are mutually exclusive.

Right now they mostly seem to be struggling with BackDoor.Flashback, a trojan that's been found in over 600.000 Macs and has even infected a few hundred computers at Apple's own main headquarters in Cupertino.

In the past, virus developers never bothered with Mac because their share of the market was too small.
Now they're starting to write viruses specifically targeted at Mac, and they prove to be just as successful as they are on Windows.


The only reasonably safe OSses are the Linux-based ones (Ubuntu, for instance). Their share of the home market is still too small to be interesting. You (or any malware) can't edit any system file without the entire PC grinding to a halt while waiting for the administrative password to be manually entered. The software is fairly secure, but the owner can still be stupid enough to give access if a Linux virus ever emerges.

Microsoft tried to do something similar with the User Account Control, but that one wasn't stopping any malware from installing itself. Oh, and everyone always turns UAC off anyway.

 

[chriscl]

For Windows PCs, the combination of Microsoft Security Essentials and Malware Bytes' Anti-Malware program is a decent setup, both 'free' and both lightweight.

Also CCleaner for general Windows "housekeeping" is worth installing.

 

[silverclaws]

Actually OS X isn't that secure, Barney. Security and user-friendliness are mutually exclusive.

Right now they mostly seem to be struggling with BackDoor.Flashback, a trojan that's been found in over 600.000 Macs and has even infected a few hundred computers at Apple's own main headquarters in Cupertino.

In the past, virus developers never bothered with Mac because their share of the market was too small.
Now they're starting to write viruses specifically targeted at Mac, and they prove to be just as successful as they are on Windows.


The only reasonably safe OSses are the Linux-based ones (Ubuntu, for instance). Their share of the home market is still too small to be interesting. You (or any malware) can't edit any system file without the entire PC grinding to a halt while waiting for the administrative password to be manually entered. The software is fairly secure, but the owner can still be stupid enough to give access if a Linux virus ever emerges.

Microsoft tried to do something similar with the User Account Control, but that one wasn't stopping any malware from installing itself. Oh, and everyone always turns UAC off anyway.

Agreed, my MBP is running Virusbarrier X6 and it has flashed up a warning about trouble only twice in two years, so , it is out there and more so now since the vista disaster saw a lot of people migrate away from windows.

Now, it is a paid for anti virus suite, which expires in a couple of months time and I will be updating it, because of what I am discovering about the so called invulnerability of Macintosh products, they are not as good as they make out, stylish yes, my aluminium unibody is beautiful, but the thing has problems, the OS is being found to be faulty and it's operation of the Wifi card. Apple are ignoring the ongoing faults and this wifi fault is been going on for four years, Apple forums the problem is being reported by owners well into eighty pages long, but Apple do nothing they are ignoring the users and undoubtedly resting on their laurels, as lets face it, their marketing works.

But anyway an Airport extreme card off ebay is about twenty quid and this thing being out of warranty I can fit it myself, if it fails again, then it will be the next suspect; Snow Leopard and Lion it is being reported did not fix the issue.

 

[kaya]

Thanks for the recommendations gents, I'm still not sure which to use but at least I've now got a choice.


cheers kaya