Panda Cloud

[pzaur]

Anyone else using this as part of their anti-virus protection?
Thoughts compared to avast, avira, and avg would be appreciated. I just took avast off looking for something that has a smaller memory requirement since my Dell has 512mb of Ram and is a Pentium M. Yeah, it sucks. The wife just got an AMD Phenom II triple-core with the "Ultimate" vision package and a whole lot more for a laptop...

-pat

 

[its phillip]

I'd recommend microsoft security essentials. It's free & lightweight, but does have slow scan speed.

Panda doesn't score bad on av-comparatives, but they don't test memory footprint or cpu usage. I have no idea how lightweight or bloated it actually is.

 

[pzaur]

It's showing a smaller footprint in the processes view. It's definitely faster/smaller than the McAfee I had on for a while.

-pat

 

[highfigh]

I have been using AntiVir for a few years now and it's dong a good job. I stopped using SpyBot because TeaTimer was slowing everything to a snail's pace. I also had used AdAware but got rid of the two after talking to someone where I bought my desktop, who recommended CCleaner. It seems to work well and doesn't slow things down.

 

[Whitey80]

I have been using AntiVir for a few years now and it's dong a good job. I stopped using SpyBot because TeaTimer was slowing everything to a snail's pace. I also had used AdAware but got rid of the two after talking to someone where I bought my desktop, who recommended CCleaner. It seems to work well and doesn't slow things down.

If I recall correctly, AntiVir is itself a virus. Reports false scans to trick you into buying, and buries itself so deeply in your registry and files that it is quite tricky to remove.
A work PC was infected with it and took me some trickery to get it removed.

It's what you call a "rogue" anti-virus program. It's a scam.

I urge you to take the painful steps to remove and install a real solution, and anyone else reading this, DO NOT install this program


Personally, I have been using AVG along with a couple of malware detectors and have been sufficiently protected, even doing some "risky" browsing ;-)

 

[its phillip]

What? AntiVir = Avira.

 

[Whitey80]

What? AntiVir = Avira.

There's a program called AntiVir which will end up locking out network functionality, must not be the Avira thing. Do a google search of just AntiVir and read through some of the entries to know what I'm talking about. It was a nasty little thing, and a pain in the *** to get fixed up.

 

[its phillip]

There probably is a malware program out there with that name, but Avira's antivirus is still called AntiVir :/

 

[krzywica]

The best antivirus you can ever get is setting up OpenDNS on your router. Its extremely easy and takes less than 5 minutes. Oh and its also free. It will also speed up your internet browsing.

https://www.opendns.com/start/

This stops malicious content before it even gets to your PC and there are not virus definitions or updates to do ever.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

The best antivirus you can ever get is setting up OpenDNS on your router. Its extremely easy and takes less than 5 minutes. Oh and its also free. It will also speed up your internet browsing.

https://www.opendns.com/start/

This stops malicious content before it even gets to your PC and there are not virus definitions or updates to do ever.

OpenDNS is awesome! I have been using it for about a year now to keep my old G4 running tiger that the kid using blocked from adult sites. Highly recommended.

 

[fightinkraut]

+1 to OpenDNS and Microsoft Security Essentials, they are my top picks for free security in their respective fields.

 

[its phillip]

That will just block commonly known bad websites. It is not going to help if you go to a normal site that has been comprimised or if a trusted website is running bad advertisements or if you download something shady. It is a good idea to use the opendns service of course, along with realtime antivirus/antimalware protection. It doesn't hurt to do additional scans with mbam/spybot/etc.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

OpenDNS USED to block Malware domains for free, but not anymore
Now to get full protection you gotta cash out a bit (10$/year)
Still it's worth it, especially on such low ram (512mb)

On side note - Use Google Chrome, OpenDNS and don't open email attachments with executable files and you'd be 99% safe. If I ever get programs/games of questionable nature I use Virustotal.com to scan suspicious files (it scans using 43 different AVs)

I'd say raw speed is more important than false feeling of safety security AV vendors trying to give you...

Windows 7 is big step in right direction in terms of security and speed. I have old IBM x31 laptop with 1gb of ram and since I switched it from xp to 7 - I felt the performance was improved - not light and day, but improvements were clear.

 

[krzywica]

OpenDNS USED to block Malware domains for free, but not anymore
Now to get full protection you gotta cash out a bit (10$/year)
Still it's worth it, especially on such low ram (512mb)

On side note - Use Google Chrome, OpenDNS and don't open email attachments with executable files and you'd be 99% safe. If I ever get programs/games of questionable nature I use Virustotal.com to scan suspicious files (it scans using 43 different AVs)

I'd say raw speed is more important than false feeling of safety security AV vendors trying to give you...

Windows 7 is big step in right direction in terms of security and speed. I have old IBM x31 laptop with 1gb of ram and since I switched it from xp to 7 - I felt the performance was improved - not light and day, but improvements were clear.

"If your good at something never do it for free"

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

"If your good at something never do it for free"

True, but I think a slightly different version applies to my life moto:
Never offer discounts ! Do it for free or charge full price. If you are good at something - you know your value - don't underprice yourself !

 

[jeffsg4mac]

"If your good at something never do it for free"

Thats what I always told my dates about my skills

 

[Patrukas777]

anyone have any thoughts on ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4

 

[fightinkraut]

anyone have any thoughts on ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4

Never really heard anything bad about it, I've found a lot of the top rated programs come down to user preference and specific unique features...for questions on effectiveness I suggest checking out AV Comparatives: http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

anyone have any thoughts on ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4

Nod is pretty bad a$$, extremely light on it's memory footprint, however detection is just good, not great. I do use MS security essentials on my work pc, but it's a serious workhorse pc (core i7 + 8gb ram etc...)
On older pc with 512mb ram I won't rec using any "always on" AV programs

 

[Shock]

OpenDNS is awesome! I have been using it for about a year now to keep my old G4 running tiger that the kid using blocked from adult sites. Highly recommended.

So you effectively took away the only reason they have to go on the internet.