Is anti virus software worth it?

[roklipni]

I guess AV is a must if you are connected to the internet, because there is a whole lot of viruses just waiting for you ... anyway if you have any important files on your computer you should get an anti-virus, before the files get infected. You could always make backups of important files, but I guess it's not really worth it.

Just my 2cents

[SilentDeath]

Yay for thread resurection...


A hardware firewall will protect against everything but user stupdity. AV is not needed.

[DaveBG]

You can catch viruse only by browsing or chating or being in a network! You shoul have an AV software!

NOD32 is the best AV of all time, and NAV (at second place and heavyer). Firewall and even process guardian app are recommendet!

[SilentDeath]

You can catch viruse only by browsing or chating or being in a network! You shoul have an AV software!

NOD32 is the best AV of all time, and NAV (at second place and heavyer). Firewall and even process guardian app are recommendet!

Thats user stupidity.

[Moby-Dick]

You need more than just a NAT firewall - integellent security is a layered approach.

[Dav0s]

nod32 is indeed the best AV of all time, next time somebody is in the market for a new AV, nod32 is the way to go

[Killermac]

I like AVG it is a well rounded product. It simply works.

KM

[SilentDeath]

You need more than just a NAT firewall - integellent security is a layered approach.

Wearing a seat belt wont stop your car from crashing.

[jonjayal]

Seconded.. if you're paying nothing beats NOD32!

[samriley]

ive gotta vote that yes i think having av installed is a neccessity, even if you do know what your doing and havnt had a virus warning for 5+ years, doesnt mean that you will never get infected, unless your computer isnt connected to the internet at all, and no disks are ever placed in the machine.
on the other hand av doesnt pick up everything, ive worked in a computer shop for a while and have seen machines with fully up to day virus scanner and windows fully up to date come in with viruses. its always best to know what processes should be running and any that you dont recognise check up on the internet as to what it belongs to.

[Kagato]

A hardware firewall will protect against everything but user stupdity. AV is not needed.

Amen to that - if folks would stop opening these "Hawt chicks going down" or "Free pr0n for a year" there would be no need for AV products. At the same time though, it's those who fail to follow simple reason that are the reason that I'll always have a job in the IT field.

[aidanjt]

Right now I'm using ClamWin, which is a windows frontend to an opensource anti-virus library (libclamav), its working quite well so far, not perfect, it could do with some improvements, and it also hasn't made any noticeable impact on performance unlike many other commerical anti-virus scanners.

[seanblee]

I used to use Norton but found it hogged resources, so I switched over to AVG Free on this machine, and Avast! free edition on my family's x64 machines. Both seem pretty good, I'd probably recommend either if you're like me and don't enjoy buying software then having to pay a subscription to use it!

[owen1978]

Used to use AVG alot, but trying out AntiVir

[pion]

nod32 for the win!

[peterb]

A firewall (correctly configured!) will protect from the active virus, but an AV prog will help protect from trojans amd other malware that are received by e mail. Using an e mail client other than Outllok and its clones will offer greater protection against user carelessness (rather than user stupudity!), but make sure that the AV prog will scan pop3 mail whatever the e mail client happens to be.