Anti-virus software question

[Growth&Courage]

I have a problem with my existing anti-virus program that seems to be making my computer run much slower. It scans everything. It normally takes less than a second to view a photo from my gallery, now it takes anywhere from 5-9 secs! Everytime I see pix on the net it also pre-scans that too, which contributes to the slowness. (& frustration)

When I put my anti-virus program on the "off" mode, the pictures appear to open up faster but I obviously don't want to leave it "off" whilst on the net.
What anti-virus program does not do this? (any free, decent & quality downloadable ones from the net??)

 

[stilleto]

you should have the option to scan only when you tell it to or just email, etc.
except... when you open a picture, it saves it in your cache, so your antivirus software is doing a good job by scanning it. it could be slow if your computer is slow though- you might want to upgrade your memory if you can.
I used Norton anti virus, but its not free.
along with a firewall btw. and popup blocker.
hope that helps.

 

[SoKlueles]

i use the avg free edition
its good as far as i can see
and i dont think i have any viruses and it automatically updates and stuff
pretty cool

and did i mention that its free?

 

[stilleto]

free software can be great, but viruses change all the time. to really be on top of things, you need updates.

 

[digger]

Avast from Grisoft -- fast, free, and it auto updates. That's what I use on my Windows box (hey, it's a nice game machine, for 20 minutes at a time...)

 

[hawaii50]

i run norton 2003 pro. its really good and fast!

 

[redguru]

Avast from Grisoft -- fast, free, and it auto updates. That's what I use on my Windows box (hey, it's a nice game machine, for 20 minutes at a time...)

Shocked to see you even have a winbox, but you are definately right about AVGFree, nice small footprint in comparison to the big AV guns.

Get AVGFree here

 

[Island Son]

Or you could see if there's an option to "smartscan" or "scan only program or executable" files, as well as file transfers and emails. That'll speed it up.

 

[hawaii50]

I have a problem with my existing anti-virus program that seems to be making my computer run much slower. It scans everything. It normally takes less than a second to view a photo from my gallery, now it takes anywhere from 5-9 secs! Everytime I see pix on the net it also pre-scans that too, which contributes to the slowness. (& frustration)

When I put my anti-virus program on the "off" mode, the pictures appear to open up faster but I obviously don't want to leave it "off" whilst on the net.
What anti-virus program does not do this? (any free, decent & quality downloadable ones from the net??)

wait... what anti-v are you using?

 

[BrothaBill]

Ok, I just spent 1600$ on a new wifi laptop and I use AVG free on my home computer and Im setting my laptop up right now, its pretty sweet b/c I can make movies and stuff with the software and upload them to the web and I have a scanner, printer etc... for faxing and photos and all of that. Just my head is swimming with this and work right now. Where can I upload movies to the net to post, I have software to run tv and record of my cable tv and stuff but now I can edit and make my own multimedia to run on the net and for my powerpoint presentations.
Also, I used adaware for popups, I have Norton on here but its like a virus itself when the trial expires, I need a firewall what do you guys suggest to go with avg and adaware so I can ditch Norton

 

[redguru]

Ok, I just spent 1600$ on a new wifi laptop and I use AVG free on my home computer and Im setting my laptop up right now, its pretty sweet b/c I can make movies and stuff with the software and upload them to the web and I have a scanner, printer etc... for faxing and photos and all of that. Just my head is swimming with this and work right now. Where can I upload movies to the net to post, I have software to run tv and record of my cable tv and stuff but now I can edit and make my own multimedia to run on the net and for my powerpoint presentations.
Also, I used adaware for popups, I have Norton on here but its like a virus itself when the trial expires, I need a firewall what do you guys suggest to go with avg and adaware so I can ditch Norton

AVG has a firewall version now, but I think thats part of thier commercial product.

ZoneAlarm is a good free one, if I remember right.

 

[hawaii50]

get a ROUTER and software firewall. you'll be good to go

 

[BrothaBill]

Sweet red, I have to make sure my computer is spyware clean so Im running avg before I install zonealarm right now. Ive never had a wifi laptop and am running in the motel right now using their system, do you know how to protect my laptop from wifi hackers or someone breaking into my computer, I just want to make sure its secure b/c of confidential information on my computer that Ill be using it for work

 

[redguru]

Sweet red, I have to make sure my computer is spyware clean so Im running avg before I install zonealarm right now. Ive never had a wifi laptop and am running in the motel right now using their system, do you know how to protect my laptop from wifi hackers or someone breaking into my computer, I just want to make sure its secure b/c of confidential information on my computer that Ill be using it for work

Well, you'll never be 100% safe, only way to do that is turn the computer off. Zone Alarm should be just fine to protect you from people trying to hack the wifi data.

 

[hawaii50]

Sweet red, I have to make sure my computer is spyware clean so Im running avg before I install zonealarm right now. Ive never had a wifi laptop and am running in the motel right now using their system, do you know how to protect my laptop from wifi hackers or someone breaking into my computer, I just want to make sure its secure b/c of confidential information on my computer that Ill be using it for work

here ya go http://www.markusjansson.net/exp.html got some good tips on xp security.. and some links to some other good resources.

 

[blut wump]

Routers, firewalls and NAT boxes will protect you from people trying to get in. The only way to be sure about stopping anything going out is never to have run anything you ddn't write yourself. Sadly this includes the OS so, as redguru says, leave the machine switched off if you're really paranoid.

I run Mac OS from home and keep a beady eye on the router's lights for unexpected flashing. On the road, it's all down to your firewall. ZA is one of the good ones.

 

[BrothaBill]

Sweet mofos, thanks for your help, karma transfer 1000k to you guys

 

[hawaii50]

Routers, firewalls and NAT boxes will protect you from people trying to get in. The only way to be sure about stopping anything going out is never to have run anything you ddn't write yourself. Sadly this includes the OS so, as redguru says, leave the machine switched off if you're really paranoid.

I run Mac OS from home and keep a beady eye on the router's lights for unexpected flashing. On the road, it's all down to your firewall. ZA is one of the good ones.

yeah.. my boss used to be SUPER ANAL about his box getting unplugged off the network anytime it wasn't being used... i never bothered to figure out what he was protecting.. i'm sure it was super illegal though. lol

thanks for K lucias!!!