Windoze geeks. A question..

[jamil]

It's been 10 years or so since I've really messed with anything running Windows. My niece just got a new Dell and wants to know what anti-virus to use. I remember back in the day I used bitdefender. There wasn't a whole lot of difference between them then. Bitdefender was free, so...

Where I work they used to use Kasperskey, but I'm not sure what they use now on Windows. So what do you run and why?

 

[bwframe]

I use the stock Windows Defender built into Win 10.

 

[1911ly]

I use the stock Windows Defender built into Win 10.

Ditto here. My experience with Anti virus has been that it slows my machine down noticeably.

 

[GunSlinger]

I've used Norton A/V from the very beginning, and still use it today with some Windows Defender features as well. I've always custom installed Norton and then tweaked it to my liking. It's never used more then 1 or 2% of system resources when running in the background, and it's saved my system from every kind of attack so far. I love the stuff.

 

[Terrible Ted]

Avast is a free antivirus program that works as well as anything I've used. Free version has some nice features like an automatic software updater (works well for browsers and things like Java, Adobe). You'll want to go through the settings to keep notifications under control. It will have pop-up ads for the paid upgrade every now and then, but it's not too bad. I do analysis for a search engine company, so I end up visiting very malicious websites pretty regularly, and I haven't had any problems running Avast for the last three years or so.

https://www.avast.com/en-us/free-antivirus-download

AVG is another free program that I know a lot of people with my company use. I believe Malwarebytes also has a free real time anitvirus now, in addition to its excellent virus scanner. ESET is a great paid service. Stay away from Kaspersky. US Gov recently banned using them after some major breaches.

 

[AngryRooster]

I normally don't run windoze either. We got a new desktop with it this past Christmas though so I had to find something. I started here https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/ and finally settled on Bitdefender.

 

[wtburnette]

I normally don't run windoze either. We got a new desktop with it this past Christmas though so I had to find something. I started here https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/ and finally settled on Bitdefender.

Great site, I've used the same one when pulling down AV to use. Don't get complacent either, as every year new versions come out and do better or worse than others. Back about 3 years ago Panda was rated really high and I used it, but now it's not rated very well and I uninstalled it and pulled down Avast to try.

 

[jamil]

Avast is a free antivirus program that works as well as anything I've used. Free version has some nice features like an automatic software updater (works well for browsers and things like Java, Adobe). You'll want to go through the settings to keep notifications under control. It will have pop-up ads for the paid upgrade every now and then, but it's not too bad. I do analysis for a search engine company, so I end up visiting very malicious websites pretty regularly, and I haven't had any problems running Avast for the last three years or so.

https://www.avast.com/en-us/free-antivirus-download

AVG is another free program that I know a lot of people with my company use. I believe Malwarebytes also has a free real time anitvirus now, in addition to its excellent virus scanner. ESET is a great paid service. Stay away from Kaspersky. US Gov recently banned using them after some major breaches.

That’s why my company quit using Kaspersky.

 

[jamil]

I normally don't run windoze either. We got a new desktop with it this past Christmas though so I had to find something. I started here https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/ and finally settled on Bitdefender.

I used bitdefender years ago. I formerly worked help-desk at a college, and in my testing it caught a couple if things the well-known av’s didn’t. It didn’t take up noticeable syste resources either. But that was back in the days of XP. Things changed. Nice to see bitdefender is still a viable choice. As I recall, we ended up using avast on most faculty computers. We didn’t use av app on kab computers though. We had Deep Freeze set up on those to restore to a known state nightly. Our support calls on lab computers went say down after installing Deep Freeze.

 

[wtburnette]

I used bitdefender years ago. I formerly worked help-desk at a college, and in my testing it caught a couple if things the well-known av’s didn’t. It didn’t take up noticeable syste resources either. But that was back in the days of XP. Things changed. Nice to see bitdefender is still a viable choice. As I recall, we ended up using avast on most faculty computers. We didn’t use av app on kab computers though. We had Deep Freeze set up on those to restore to a known state nightly. Our support calls on lab computers went say down after installing Deep Freeze.

Great way to do it in such an environment. We used a Windows admin kit at the airline to lock down computers used for check in for pilots and flight attendants. We set them in Kiosk mode and it worked pretty well. Deep Freeze would have been even better. I tried to tell a guy who worked at an internet cafe that they needed that, but he wouldn't listen. Went out of business not long after because people didn't want to run buggy systems that barely ran and they were newer Alien Gear systems.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

On my windows computers I use the built in antivirus, and safe surfing practices. I have 4 hard drives in my computer and one is just for windows. I save all my data on the other drives. That way if windows starts acting stupid I can reinstall with no hassle.

 

[jamil]

On my windows computers I use the built in antivirus, and safe surfing practices. I have 4 hard drives in my computer and one is just for windows. I save all my data on the other drives. That way if windows starts acting stupid I can reinstall with no hassle.

Well. My niece graduates high school this year and is off to University next. Ain’t no way she’s going to have safe surfing habits.

 

[wtburnette]

Well. My niece graduates high school this year and is off to University next. Ain’t no way she’s going to have safe surfing habits.

Best thing for any computer is adblock plus, or some other flavor if you prefer. Ads are one of the biggest avenues for malicious software.

 

[jamil]

Best thing for any computer is adblock plus, or some other flavor if you prefer. Ads are one of the biggest avenues for malicious software.

Yep. Also I used to use a browser plugin that was bought out by McAfee eventually. I think it was called SiteAdvisor or something like that. It displayed an icon on the browser for the site you're on, and next to search results, say in a google search, which indicates it's security findings for the site. Kinda like a red/yellow/green indication. ranging from malicious stuff found, to questionable stuff, to no stuff found.

When I was a helpdesk guy, I constantly had to clean crap from people's computers. Mostly the same people. Usually women. Usually the English department. Not sure why (dudes musta been more careful on the porn sites they visited). Anyway, they all visited craft sites to download crap.

So I installed this plugin on all their browsers and told them not to visit sites that are red. That eliminated a lot of calls. Except for an old English teacher who once called me because smoke was coming out of her printer and thought maybe something was wrong with it--YA THINK? Anyway, I still had to clean crap off from her computer every few weeks when she'd complain about all the symptoms you get when you're computer is infected.

So I finally asked her if she's paying attention to the icons from this plugin. She said, well, yes, she's paying attention to them, but she only stayed on those sites long enough to download her whateverthehell it was.

Was really glad when she finally retired. She was the number one consumer of help desk resources.

 

[wtburnette]

Yep, that person would be my stepmother. I have to clean her computer at least once a month, almost always the same reasons she got infected...

I use Web of Trust (WoT) for the site reputation thing. At least on Chrome. I now realize I don't have it for FireFox, so I'll need to see if it's an available plugin...

 

[Tanfodude]

If you have Comcast, Norton suite is free. Otherwise just use Windows Defender.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Sophos home is what Im using now. Works well. I use Sophos at work and they do a good job. Another vote here for Avast.

Their home product is still in beta and pretty good. Free for up to 10 PCs, all controlled via a cloud controller so you can log in and manage them without sitting in front of them. It also does some rudamentary content filtering by subject. Alas, no way to blacklist sites though. So its parental control lite.

And personally I steer clear of any Norton/Symantec products. They are relatively bloated and really slow systems down. I used to love their products but IMHO the've been crap compared to newer companies for a good 10 years. I mean, I install Sophos Enterprise and the full installer is less than 250mb. Norton's last I checked was 5x that.

EDIT: Anyone with an older version of windows (pre-win10) ignore the defender suggestions. Win8 and older were a joke. This is the first thing I think of when I think of its effectiveness.

 

[Hoosierdood]

I use Webroot antivirus. It works well, doesn't slow my computer, and doesn't have pop ups that constantly show up while I'm working.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Apparently the built-in AV that comes with newer Windows versions is supposed to be quite good.

I've run both the free AVG and AVAST almost interchangeably these days. I've also used Panda but it has been a while.

I don't know how Windows' firewall is - but that's another good thing to be running. A good Firewall, even free ones, can really help to "hide" your computer/ports from prying eyes. I also run MalwareBytes - another free program that does a ton of stuff. I USED to have CCleaner as well. But not too long ago they were determined to carry malware themselves. Screw that.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Apparently the built-in AV that comes with newer Windows versions is supposed to be quite good.

I've run both the free AVG and AVAST almost interchangeably these days. I've also used Panda but it has been a while.

I don't know how Windows' firewall is - but that's another good thing to be running. A good Firewall, even free ones, can really help to "hide" your computer/ports from prying eyes. I also run MalwareBytes - another free program that does a ton of stuff. I USED to have CCleaner as well. But not too long ago they were determined to carry malware themselves. Screw that.

That was an isolated incident. They were hacked and an infected installer was put out for download. It was only one specific version. Its clean again.