Best Virus Protection Software?

[catnapper]

When was the last imte you updated your virus protection? Its only as good as your last update. Viruses change almost daily.

My hubby's computer got an awful virus a month or so ago, it took nearly a week for McAfee to develop a repair for it, but they did and it was downloaded the second it was available.

Oh, I've used Norton's, Panda, and McAfee. I HATED Panda, which is Staples brand. It was awful and in many ways acted like a virus itself. Norton's had a few bugs of its won. So far I like the McAfee.

[Aquamarine]

Well, with AVG, it updates by itself whenever there are new updates available. You know, I even thought about getting Panda...I've heard it might be the best one out there (but this was from only one person). Guess that doesnt sound so good now...I've had Norton but for some reason it wasnt allowing me to go online and people have told me Norton is a virus. I might just have to try McAFee...Thanks for replying

[IRescue452]

Don't use norton, it gives you a mega virus when you try to take it off the computer. It happened to me, my grandparents, and a friend. It infects your files and uses up all the computer's power if you try to take it off. AntiVirus companies are a bunch of scammers. McAfee never gave us problems yet, but you have to update so often, which is true of all antivirus software.

[Aquamarine]

Eeek well its a little too late...We had Norton and we still do...kind of. We still have the little icon on the bottom right hand corner but its disabled. We're gonna have someone remove it from our computer soon. Hopefully there will be no problems.

I'll look up McAfee later on today. It looks like this may be the winner.

[Blue_Frog]

Well, heres my 2-cents worth...

Like previously mentioned, any antivirus is only as good as its most recent update, as an antivirus is just that - its to prevent a virus, but not necessairly help to clean it out once an infection has occurred.

Having said that, once a virus is detected in your computer - depending on the virus type (virus, worm, trojan, etc.), theres several ways to tackle the problem. Could you give us a little information>

- What was the full name of the infected file that it found (filename.***)
- What was the full virus name?
- What operating system do you have (windows xp home, windows 2000, etc.)?
- What is the antivirus you currently have on your computer, the software version, and what is the date of the virus definitions (the most recent update?)

This way we could help to point you in the right direction for removal -- and depending on the problem, Symantec (Norton) has a ton of free tools on the website to help remove the problem.

I'd be more than happy to give you a hand to the best of my abilities - i used to work for an antivirus company as tech support for virus removal -- can't guarantee that I can fix it, but i might be able to help

[Blue_Frog]

Symantec Free Online Scanner (only tells you the infection name, does not clean)
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/d...d=ie&venid=sym

Symantec Trialware Page (30 days free)
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoff...oads/index.jsp

McAfee Trialware Page (30 days free)
http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/index.html

E-Trust Innoculate Trialware Page (30 days free)
http://www3.ca.com/solutions/Collate...T=19506&ID=271

E-Trust Free Online Scanner (scans not cleans)
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx


*** Note: Do not install more than one antivirus on your computer at a time - they will conflict with each other based on the way they interact with your operating system ***


Also, since we're touching on virus problems, an entire other class of problems can come up with Spyware, Ad-ware, etc. Try ...

Lavasoft Adaware
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Ad-Aware_S...onal_d506.html

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpyBot-Sea...roy_d2471.html

[Aquamarine]

Thanks! I'll answer those questions later on today since I dont have time right now.


I just found out it is a trojan horse...AVG is scanning my computer right now and it indicates that 5 objects are infected...

[Aquamarine]

Well, heres my 2-cents worth...

Like previously mentioned, any antivirus is only as good as its most recent update, as an antivirus is just that - its to prevent a virus, but not necessairly help to clean it out once an infection has occurred.

Having said that, once a virus is detected in your computer - depending on the virus type (virus, worm, trojan, etc.), theres several ways to tackle the problem. Could you give us a little information>

- What was the full name of the infected file that it found (filename.***)
- What was the full virus name?
- What operating system do you have (windows xp home, windows 2000, etc.)?
- What is the antivirus you currently have on your computer, the software version, and what is the date of the virus definitions (the most recent update?)

This way we could help to point you in the right direction for removal -- and depending on the problem, Symantec (Norton) has a ton of free tools on the website to help remove the problem.

I'd be more than happy to give you a hand to the best of my abilities - i used to work for an antivirus company as tech support for virus removal -- can't guarantee that I can fix it, but i might be able to help

- I dont know the whole file name because I cannot access that file...so here's part of it..
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Owner\Application Dat... (i dont know how to get it so i can read the entire file name. I've clicked on it and everything and I still cant see the whole file name)

-Well last night the virus was called bloodhound.Exploit.56
Right next to the file name it says 'Trojan horse Downloader.Generic2.KMB'

- We have Windows HP vs15x (hopefully i am answering these questions right...I'm clueless when it comes to computers )

- Right now we currently have AVG free Edition...the most recent update was on 8/14/06 at 2:34. We do still have norton but like I said before...its disabled.

Thanks everyone for trying to help me out...

My dad is going to have his friend come by to see if he can help us.

I just dont understand all these viruses...how exactly do you get a virus? I thought you only got them if you downloaded something.

I'm tempted to just have everything from this computer removed and just start over...Eeeee this is just so stressful...

One other thing, I have the option to move this virus and the infected objects into a 'vault'. Should i just do this? What exactly do trojans do to computers? lol sorry for all the questions..i'm just...lost and tired lol.

Edit~ I just looked up some info about McAfee and viruses and I'm pretty sure this is the trojan I have...
http://vil.nai.com/vil/Content/v_137760.htm

[Lady's Human]

You don't have to KNOWINGLY download a file to get a virus, which is why the "scan on download" option needs to be found and activated.

Again, download Spybot S+D, and the Lavasoft Ad-aware SE Personal. These in combination will eliminate the spyware that probably downloaded the virus.

If Norton is disabled, it should be removed. Multiple a/v programs sometimes cause conflicts with each other, even if not used.

DELETE the infected object. Putting them in a vault merely locks them away, you need to remove them from the H/D. (The vault option is normally used by sys admin types to track down and find the source of the virus)

[RedHedd]

- I don't know the whole file name because I cannot access that file...so here's part of it..
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Owner\Application Dat... (i don't know how to get it so i can read the entire file name. I've clicked on it and everything and I still cant see the whole file name)

If you're looking at the file location through Windows Explorer (you'll be looking at a regular file tree-type window). the file name is in a column. If you look up at the top of the column you can resize it by dragging the little divider line to the right to reveal the whole file path OR you can just right-click on the file name and look at the Properties. I don't recommend just deleting this one file - it's probably has tentacles buried deep in the Windows registry. Use a virus program or spyware program which will remove all traces of the offending file.