Hello All,
For those of you who have had me in for service, you know how much I detest all programs Norton and McAfee. They come pre-installed on computers with free trials and then people continue to renew/upgrade their subscriptions with these inferior products.
In this weeks tip I'm going to talk about some of the best free and pay anti-virus/spyware programs on the market.
1. Why should I ditch Norton/McAfee?
a) These programs are designed to control every aspect of security in your system, so they sink their teeth into every operation your computer performs, thereby slowing everything down.
b) They load anywhere from 6 to 12 different programs EVERY TIME you turn on your computer that just sit there, hogging resources.
c) They scan slowly - a Norton and McAfee Scan on a 20GB hard drive can take almost 2 hours! The alternatives I'm about to talk about can do the same 20GB hard drive in about 25 minutes while taking up about 1/3 of the memory/resources!
d) They are expensive relative to superior products
What free alternatives are there?
For anti-virus alternatives, the best programs in my opinion are:
1. AVG Free
2. AOL Active Virus Shield (based on Kaspersky labs product)
3. ClamAV
Each of these products is free, can do automatic updates and automatic virus scans (on schedules). In my experience each one of these performs faster, finds and cleans problems faster and more successfully, and uses less system resources than Norton or McAfee. The main problem with them is that they are free and therefore don't have the proprietary technologies and continuous degree of updating as pay products. Please don't take that as too much of a negative - with proper security configuration (hosts file, firewall) these products provide an excellent line of defense.
For Anti-Spyware alternatives, the best programs in my opinion are:
1. Spyware Terminator
2. AVG Anti-Spyware (formerly EWIDO)
3. JavaCool SpywareGuard
These programs all offer free updates and perform REAL-TIME anti-spyware scans as well as scheduled system scans. Spyware Terminator is the best in my opinion because it captures a wider range of threats and has more configuration options. It also comes with the option to install ClamAV during its installation. However, for novice or beginner users SpywareGuard is an excellent, easy to install and configure product. AVG Anti-spyware used to be my favorite, until I realized that it's REAL-TIME scanning function expires after 30 days.
What if I want the extra protection and security of pay programs?
1. ESET NOD32
Features:
I highly, highly, highly recommend Eset's NOD32 anti-virus/spyware product. It is simply an amazing product that catches known and unknown viruses with nearly 100% accuracy. It has built in anti-spyware protection, unsafe program protection and harmful website protection all in one interface. NOD32 does NOT have built-in anti-spam or firewall like other suites. However, there are a number of top notch free anti-spam and firewall applications available (see next week's tip!)
Price:
At $46.80 for the 1st year, and $37.00/year afterward, it comes in well below Norton and McAfee. They also provide users with FREE upgrades to their software - please don't confuse this with free anti-virus updates. This means if they upgrade the actual PROGRAM that uses the updates, you get that update for free as well with your subscription.
Performance:
NOD32 only loads 2 programs into memory, taking up about 25MB of RAM on most systems, whereas McAfee and Norton use anywhere from 60MB-100MB. Talk about resource savings! You'll notice the speed improvement immediately (unless you're running a blazing fast machine to begin with).
2. Computer Associates eTrust Security Suite
This is the other anti-virus product that gets the Nerd Thumbs-Up. At $59.99 it comes in under Norton and McAfee Suites and again, uses less resources overall. Like Norton and McAfee the Suite includes firewall and anti-spam products in addition to the spyware and virus protection. Renewal comes in around $49.99 after the 1st year, and upgrades to the software are included as part of the yearly renewal process.
You'll want a fairly new computer to run this application. It does provide excellent protection and is a great product, but it uses resources in amounts between NOD32 and Norton. If you've got an older computer with Norton or McAfee you won't notice AS BIG OF a difference than if you went with NOD32.
If your security software is expiring soon, give Nerds On Site a call, 902-980-0989 and I'd be happy to discuss the options with you.
Prices quoted in this weekly tip are valid until March 2007. Prices do not include installation and setup of the software, however you can order the software and perform installation on your own if that is preferred.
Installation/Configuration of anti-virus software purchased from Nerds On Site: $30.00 + tax
Complete security package (using free products): Firewall (Kerio), anti-spam (POPFile), anti-spyware (Spyware Terminator), anti-virus (AVG Free) $119.00 + taxes.
Until next time,
Ben
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