Harley Davidson Forums banner

Virus protectiion

5K views 46 replies 25 participants last post by  rapier57 
#1 ·
The wife's laptop has been popping up with a lot of weird stuff lately and I found out her anti-virus protection ran out 3 months ago. What do some of you use and what do you personally recommend to buy?
 
#2 ·
I have used MacAffee and Norton. I like Norton the best. No viruses in 15 years.
 
#6 ·
I work in IT. Whatever antivirus you decide to use, the most important thing you can do is assign a password to an administrator account that you don't use to login, and remove admin rights to your account. If you do this, even if you have no antivirus software installed it protects you from over 80% of the malware out there. As a non administrator, the worst a virus can do is to infect your profile but not the operating system. Then you create a new profile, copy your stuff over, delete old profile and you're good to go.

Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#26 ·
I've personally and professionally used many different antivirus products over the years. If you must keep using Windows, the above advice as well as continuously reminding users not to open or click on suspicious attachments and links has made more difference in reducing malware infections than any antivirus product I've ever used.

Other than that, I have switched many people over to linux and their support requests always drop to next to nothing. I installed Ubuntu linux on my mom's and brother's laptops years ago. Other than telling them how to get on their wireless home network, and what program to use for the internet and email, they have had zero issues and zero malware over the last 4 years. They are both computer 'tards, and after switching them to linux their support calls went from a couple times a month to never, and they are using their hardware long past when most throw them away. Over the last few years I have installed linux on dozens of people's computers. It resulted in much more free time for me by eliminating calls to help them remove a virus or fix their slow as molasses computer. I've even lost customers who experienced frequent malware infections by charging them $60 to install Ubuntu linux, then I never hear from them again with the exception of an occasional question.

The only reason I'm using a Macbook Air right now instead of linux is because it was provided free from work, it's extremely light with very long battery life, and all I need to get stuff done is Chrome with Google apps, and Citrix Receiver.
 
#12 ·
IMO.
AVG used to be good.
Spybot and Adaware used to be good. They were even endorsed at one time by MS. Not anymore.
Just a FWIW

Regarding OSX. Yea....it`s an option. But for the average User?
They want to plug and play. Not going to take the time to learn a whole new OS.
Look at the skill level you guys have. Those who do not have formal training have still spent loads of time reading, learning, experimenting to know what they know about PCs. They have an interest in their workings. It is a hobby for some. A passion for others.
The average User.....not gonna happen.
 
#16 ·
Regarding OSX. Yea....it`s an option. But for the average User?
They want to plug and play. Not going to take the time to learn a whole new OS.
Look at the skill level you guys have. Those who do not have formal training have still spent loads of time reading, learning, experimenting to know what they know about PCs. They have an interest in their workings. It is a hobby for some. A passion for others.
The average User.....not gonna happen.
This is true.
 
#17 ·
In my opinion there is not much to learn when switching to Mac.
As far as antivirus on windows, depending on how and what kind of virus, and how bad, you will never get it out of the system. Reformat and start over. I can usually have one back up faster than the virus removal.
Then make sure protection is kept up to date.
Finally, realize like 60% of virus' are spread through email.
Like 90% of virus' are caused by a user saying it's on to run said virus on computer by numbly clicking yes install this or opening an email attachment.


sent from motorcycle dot com app
 
#24 ·
I'm computor illiterate, i lost 2 PC's with McAfee's paid subscriptions. New computor, i use Avast......so far so good. They have a free version, but i did'nt feel right useing their product and not paying so i payed for a subscription.
 
#28 ·
Once you install any Adobe product on linux or Mac, they are just as vulnerable to infection/hacking as a Windows machine. The only difference is that out of the box, a Windows machine has users running as an administrator, while Mac and linux have users run as non-admins. The only linux and Mac malware infections I've seen both came from Adobe Flash and Reader. On both Mac and linux, removing the malware was as easy as creating a new user profile and copying over docs and pics from the old profile then deleting old profile in something like 10 minutes time.
 
#29 ·
I use Trend even on my Apple.
 
#30 ·
I get Norton and McAfee for free through the military but what I have noticed is that after a while I start having issues with them. I went with Viper on my home computer and haven't had a complaint in 2 years. It's an awesome system that doesn't slow your computer down.


-Rohan
 
#31 ·
Viper is well respected. Just not real well known.
McAfee has survived on advertising and name recognition alone. Stinks as an AV IMO.
Norton was excellent. Then went through a spell where it was a resource hog and detection rates were terrible.
It has gotten better but still far to intrusive and non-user friendly.
Just my opinions.
 
#32 ·
I retired after 20+years in higher ed IT, and Info Sec. When I did, I bought my iMac. I've had a Mac Book since about 2009 and it is still running strong.


But, I have no illusions about OSX. There are known, active attacks targeting Mac desktops. There are two free security apps you can use to protect your Macs. Sophos AV and the App Store 1Antivirus (Symantec). Either one is good and should be on your Mac.

I use the Sophos product.

After all those years trying to keep Windows systems and networks updated, protected and clean, this is so nice.



Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#39 ·
I too have spent 20+ years in corp and higher ed IT.
I have had great success with both Norton and sophos...
I think both products work very well for home users; the newest version of norton is very comprehensive.
Best thing you can do is keep a good product updated and active and be careful what you do on your computer.
Coupons, free music and movie sites are often loaded with spy/adware and viruses... Porn sites even more so...
Don't agree to open/run/install everything you find online.
Regularly backup your important docs and pics.
Jump drives are large and cheap...
good luck
 
#41 ·
One of the reasons that Microsoft Windows is more susceptible to malware infections is that by default, your Windows account is an administrator. As an administrator, any infection gets beyond your account and can infect the whole system. We used a report from Microsoft that stated that over 80 percent of Windows malware could be prevented by removing admin rights from users to convince the managing partners at my employer to agree to taking away users admin rights. Linux and OSX by default users are not admins and any admin tasks require entering a password. When freinds and family have repeated virus problems, I create an admin account with password, remove their account's admin rights, and tell them that if they are prompted for the admin password, to take the time and think about if they REALLY want to allow whatever is prompting for admin password, and decline if they aren't sure. That usually cuts don't on repeated calls for help.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top