So, which anti-virus programs do you have equipped on your computers to defend against the dangerous nasties of the cyber world?

I used to use Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy, though both programs have generally begun to let me down.  Since then, I've switched to using a suite that includes avast! Home Edition, which is my primary real-time protection program -- and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware Home Edition to perform scheduled sweeps of my systems once every three weeks.

They've been pretty great as far as free programs go, but are any of you using paid-for programs that are more efficient?

I have only used freeware like Avast! since I was at school and had no money. Now I have a little money (if any) and would love to purchase one if it's worth paying for.

A few issues I have with Avast! is it sometime detects inoffensive software like iTunes as malware, or fails to detect a killer virus like Antinny.G albeit infrequently. Aside of that, I'm pretty fine.

Honestly? Nothing. In eleven years of online computing, I've never infected any of my machines with any virus, trojan or worm. Maybe I'm just not doing it right?

iTunes inoffensive? That's not what my iPod-using friends have told me

I have a McAfee that came with my ISP, and it works rather well. My experience with freeware is that it's just as likely to install adware as delete it.

I use Glary Utilities and AVG.

Likewise, although I've been cautious and successful both through not using a lot of software and using a Mac.

I just slap Norton on my computer once a year, I don't really like it but for the most part it stays out of my way unlike some programs used before.

When my supscription runs out I reformat my computer to clean it out before installing the following year's model.

Easy.  If you're using Mac OS X or Linux, you don't need anything else.  If you use Windows, use Kaspersky in combination with any non-IE browser and you should be fine.

-Mike

what about that new swine virus??

now you can go to Mexico and get violent nausea and diarrhea before you even drink anything...

I would definitely recommend a product called 'NOD', it's a light and effective client.  Won't bog your system down.

If you're using a MAC or Linux, yeah you're probably OK. If you're using a Windows machine and not using anti-virus, then you definitely have a virus! It's like not going to the dentist for 11 years and saying "well, how bad can it be?" The answer is, bad! I do like avast. I had some trojans infect my computer probably from some website (Atlus recently infected a bunch of computers due to someone hacking into their site) and avast eliminated 'em I've used other programs in the past, but currently avast seems to be far superior.

cheers,

-avatar!

Yeah, it's not cool at all -- especially hearing that there's a potential outbreak here in Queens.  I mean, I'm right freaken here in Fresh Meadows; St. Francis Prep is exactly one exit away from where I am.

Angie, all the better reason to stay inside and game all day in a protected cocoon, I suppose...  Stay uh, clean?!

Don't be deluded into thinking that Mac is safe just because it's not the dominant OS.  Safari on Mac is the most quickly-hackable browser in the world.

I use TeaTimer, Avast, PeerGuardian and primarily use Firefox with NoScript and Adblock.

I just have the standard Windows stuff plus Norton.  I find that keeping my system fully patched and updated does most of the work.  The only computers I've had get infected are work computers since they don't keep them updated well.  Once a computer does get infected, in my experience, the big guys like Norton and McAffee are useless.  You need stuff like Malware Bytes, Spybot, etc. to remove the problem.