AVG

[PeteC]

I downloaded Avast this time after my computer crash rather than AVG which is what I had. I actually notice that Avast is a bit slower. It scans every time I open or re-open a web page. We'll see in time. Pete

[buksida]

I downloaded Avast this time after my computer crash rather than AVG which is what I had. I actually notice that Avast is a bit slower. It scans every time I open or re-open a web page. We'll see in time. Pete

You can turn that off in the program settings, it will slow you down online.

[PeteC]

I downloaded Avast this time after my computer crash rather than AVG which is what I had. I actually notice that Avast is a bit slower. It scans every time I open or re-open a web page. We'll see in time. Pete

You can turn that off in the program settings, it will slow you down online.

Thanks Buksi, done. Pete

[elem]

I downloaded the AVG 8.5 something version a few days ago - no problems as far as I can see

[SuperTonic]

Just get linux. Strangely I've not had a single virus on it yet and don't see myself having one for quite some time

[buksida]

Changing a complete operating system would be like killing a mozzie with a grenade if there are simple solutions to simple problems so those suggesting switching to Linux or buying a Mac instead of downloading a free AV product are going a bit far IMO.

[margaretcarnes]

My thoughts exactly Buksi. MAC enabled computers here are generally the higher priced ones. MAC is seen as a superior product, although I've never used it so can't comment. But Windows seems to do the job for a lot of small businesses, and certainly for domestic use. I've very few complaints on the value for money front.
There was an earlier comment too about AVG slowing down and causing a problem with games use. However this might become less of an issue, as more prople are buying games consoles, which are much more interactive, good for family use, and use the much bigger TV screen. It's just a bit scary when my sis in law plays tennis on the Wii - not recommended for use near a chandelier!

[SuperTonic]

It was tongue in cheek, if you'd spotted the smiley, but on a serious note, Ubuntu is absolutely fine for day-to-day use. Consider that I have the following on my machine working flawlessly:

- Football Manager 2009
- Fifa 2009
- Sim City 4
- Braid (Brilliant game)
- Dreamweaver CS4
- Fireworks CS4
- MS Office 2007
- Firefox
- A wide selection of programming gadgets
- Old DOS games and apps running on DOSBox
- Various emulators (Atari ST, Amiga, SNES, etc)

I also have some cracking tools within Linux itself, such as Inkscape (like Fireworks and Illustrator but better), Scribus (Publisher/InDesign type thing), GIMP (very similar to Photoshop) and some really nice music programs like Ardour and Rosegarden (linux equivalents of Cubase) and given that the linux tools are free it adds up to a nice setup.

It takes a little time to get this all running, undoubtedly, but it's worth it, because this system is extremely stable and requires virtually no maintenance. I don't worry about viruses, I don't have to defrag, I don't have to put up with gradual slowdown over time (windows always gets slower the longer you use it, Linux just doesn't).

Being 100% serious, if you're using Windows and are fed up with malware and don't feel your AV solution is up to scratch, you could do a lot worse than come over to the penguin side.

[SuperTonic]

My thoughts exactly Buksi. MAC enabled computers here are generally the higher priced ones. MAC is seen as a superior product, although I've never used it so can't comment. But Windows seems to do the job for a lot of small businesses, and certainly for domestic use. I've very few complaints on the value for money front.
There was an earlier comment too about AVG slowing down and causing a problem with games use. However this might become less of an issue, as more prople are buying games consoles, which are much more interactive, good for family use, and use the much bigger TV screen. It's just a bit scary when my sis in law plays tennis on the Wii - not recommended for use near a chandelier!

OSX (which is what differentiates a Mac from a PC now that the hardware is essentially the same) is actually runnable on a normal PC if you have a reasonably modern machine. It takes a bit of tweaking and fiddling to get there but it can save you a few hundred quid if you want to go that way.

[Spitfire]

Hi Margaret,

At the risk of sounding silly and devoid of any knowledge, in any quantifiable depth, all I want from my anti-virus/security software is that it can be initially configured to "sort it out" and do it's job without prompting me with daft questions or interjecting my Internet surfing experience, then I'm happy. Set it up and forget about it, the best security is one you don't have to pay any attention to, updates automatically and needs little, if any, maintenance.

There sounds like a lot of good advice coming from the tech gurus on the forum but for me it just gets confusing after a while. Yes, there are some who don't like the "all in one" security suites, but so long as you have a decent system with lots of RAM etc then it doesn't really matter, they only cost 700 baht or so for a real copy, unless you're doing something like what Buksi is up to, one can only imagine what his computer can do, hack NATO defence systems or something like track down hackers having a pop at HHAD etc.

I'm sure I'm at fault somewhere in this post but that's how I see it. Feel free to expose my ineptitude ladies and gents.

[hhfarang]

It's not that complicated. I'm running a nine year old Pentium III 866 GHZ PC. In tech talk it is a dinosaur! I have a dual boot system with Windows ME and Windows XP on it and on the XP side all the software except the OS is free! Everything works fine. There are some messages you have to answer during load and setup as the software learns your preferences but after a few days it's all automatic.

AVG for viruses
Spyware Doctor for spyware and adware
Zonealarm free firewall because the XP one sucks!
Advanced System Care free for a once a week cleanup of disk and memory including the registry and left over useless MicroSoft files.
OpenOffice free office suite (replaces MS office and reads and writes the same word, exel, and powerpoint files
Irfanview for photo editing
Audicity music file editor
Exact Audio Copy music copier
CDBurnerXp for burning discs
PDF Exchange Viewer for opening PDF files

All the above is free and there is free software out there to do anything you want to do now days.

[buksida]

SuperTonic, lets keep the delights of Linux to the appropriate thread such as this one:

http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/linux-t10830.html

... and try to help the rest of the population that doesn't use it here eh?

As hhfarang stated above, your entire list can be accomplished on a cranky old PC running XP if you know how to configure it properly. Nobody needs to tolerate malware or viruses these days using Windows, there is too much free software out there to combat it ... so why start firebombing ants with predator drones?

[Spitfire]

OK, I totally admit that I know little about this stuff Buksi and HHF, but I just looked at the stats on my "reports" section in Kaspersky, I know there many that may mock it, but it "seems" to doing a decent job at the moment and I have to do nothing to maintain it.

Your list HHFseems long, even though you have an antiquated system. In the previous post is it just about saving money (700-800 baht )and you have to get your shit together to aquire the configuration you posted or is there actually a technical advantage?

My system stats are slightly better than what you mentioned for yourself but are there any advantages other than cost? What I mean is, are they(what you mentioned) actually a better application and more valid or effective than the Norton/Kaspersky etc yada yada yada?

My Report sheet looked like this today from Kaspersky,

First figure is "Blocked" second is "Scanned"

Phishing site 0 3636739
Unwanted Content 0 0
Spam 0 0
Network Attack 0 0
Hidden Dial Attempt 0 0
Banner 229219 3636743

Adware and other programs 1788 1788
Vulnerability 1736 1736
Riskware 40 40
Known software 0 0
Adware 12 12

Malicious Programs 23 23
Virus 0 0
Trojan Program 10 10
Malware 35 35

Says though that everything is OK.



Sorry to sound naive gents. Any explanations are welcome, may help the silent majority.

[hhfarang]

I've never tried it but from everything I've read Kaspersky makes one of the best pc protection products out there (at least the paid version). Maybe I could replace my four: AVG, ZoneAlarm, Spyware Doctor, and Advanced System Care with it alone but they are working fine at the moment and that's all I can ask of free software.

The other thing I look for in free protection is software with a small footprint, as in usage of disk space, memory, and processor overhead since I have such an old system. Some of the others I've tried (Avast for one) have brought my system to its knees.

[buksida]

The other thing I look for in free protection is software with a small footprint, as in usage of disk space, memory, and processor overhead since I have such an old system. Some of the others I've tried (Avast for one) have brought my system to its knees.

I'm with that, which is why I use Avast, its currently sitting in memory using about 30 megs, the other 'security suites' will chew upto a hundred.

There is no AV product that is far better or worse than any other, they all do the same thing. Just use what you like and what you're comfortable with. I liked AVG but found the latest version of it quite heavy on the system (I game a lot so don't want to be turning off AV and Firewall to free up RAM).