Free Antivirus Software?

I've been using Norton Antivirus for years and always thought it was a good virus scanner until it actually found some virii (or viruses). Now I realise it's shit - it only occasionally picks up a virus even though I know my mini-LAN is full of them, and when it does find them, it can't cure them - stupid shit!

I even downloaded the extra Norton utilities specifically for some of the viruses I've had in the past, but they got infected and stopped working too - WTF?!

I've just reformatted the hard disks on both my computers, backing up only the source codes for my programs and no EXEs at all (having to recompile them, meaning that one of them is down until I make the new version because I can't get the same version of one of its components to recompile it as it is), but I'm sure the main virus is still here - all the same symptoms are showing up.

This time I'm probably not gonna bother installing NAV, so does anyone know of a good FREE antivirus program that I could maybe download from somewhere? I don't wanna surf through and find one because then I'll probably find one that contains a virus itself, so I thought word of mouth was a better approach.

AVG is a pretty good free one, I hear. I can't remember the website off-hand.

I have had far better luck with AVG over Norton and stuff like that.

grisoft.com

however that doesnt mean it is the best, if there are others i would be interested in trying them

OK, thanks! I'll try that now then.

for the linux users:

http://www.f-prot.com

I have Symantec anti-virus, which is behind Norton. It has picked up a lot of Trojan Horses and such and has successfully quarantined them. I know it ain't free, but it works. As far as worms and email viruses go, I haven't had problems lately. Just don't open attachments to emails that come from unfamiliar email addresses, and you'll be fine.

i have had more shit get thru norton than AVG, yes even when fully updated. however i really liked the system works.
like i said i am always looking for something more or better. i am not aginst paying for software i just dont like to buy shit.

i just updated my laptop to service pack 2, seems good so far. except the fact i got to tweak it a bit more to remove that damn auto-update message. I do my own updates when i have time.

I don't have XP so I can't update to SP2, but since I started this thread, I've reformatted both computers again and installed both NAV and AVG. I've also decided I need a firewall and have decided to give ZoneAlarm Pro another try, but it's already started to fuck with my internet settings and block stuff I don't want blocked so I dunno how long it's gonna last.

Heh, I got an e-mail yesterday from my ISP, Tiscali, saying they'd detected hacking activity from my computer and they think it's infected with W32.Opaserv Worm and I should purchase antivirus software and a firewall. Goddess, they're fast. What pissed me of the most was the way they said it - no "please" - just "If you don't already have virus protection, buy anti-virus software such as Symantec/Norton Antivirus and a personal Firewall such as Symantec/Norton Personal Firewall."

GGG said:

Just don't open attachments to emails that come from unfamiliar email addresses, and you'll be fine.

Don't worry, I'm not a complete retard.


Anyway, I'm considering switching to Linux. I've never used it before so I'm gonna have to look it up a bit more first. Anyone wanna explain to me why it's so much better than Windows, forgetting for a second that Windows is the biggest pile of festering dog turd ever written, please? Does it run Windows programs on its own or do you need an emulator, and where can I download a decent version?

Thanks!

Don't use "ZoneAlarm Pro" (the 15 day trial version), but just "ZoneAlarm" (the free firewall). And you can un-block programs easily.

Also, you reformatted and re-installed and you STILL have a worm? Heh.

if you are a gamer linux may not be for you, note all Id software games run on linux, or soon will(Doom III).
Linux is an entirly different Operating system. So no, windows stuff will not work for it without emulation. most distros ship with wine which will let you run some windows programs
linux also has many aternatives or ports of common windows programs. like open office or star office, i think there may be a wordperfect port for linux. Some programs run great, i use open office and it works great for your basic needs.
however being a different OS means you need to learn it.
unlike windows, well 2000/NT/XP, linux is a command line based system. the GUI runs over it, think DOS and win3.11. however it is better than DOS and win 3.11

personaly i use linux 95% of the time, windows is used for 2 games, thats it.

linux is NOT perfect, there are bugs. hell no software is perfect. however crashes are very very rare if you set things up correctly. spyware/adware/malware is a thing of the past in linux. however i wouldn't dout that companies are atempting to make spyware for linux.

advantages:
Price - i have better things to spend $100 than a copy of windows. or $499 for microsoft office. linux is free, you can downlaod it or buy it. i think i paid $20 for mine.
stability - its worked on by far more people than windows and thus recieves more updates. aswell as more testing. however stability is found in non alpah or beta programs
updates - as i said, its gets updated almost weekly. one reason viruses and spyware have small chances of causeing problems
user base - there are many many people who use it. many companies; novell, IBM, HP, Apple, and many more use linux and unix.
security - more updates means security is usally updated too. many distros have a firewall built in. like in windows if a virus comes up there is almost a patch soon after. also "root" offers security in the fact if you dont run a virus as "root" chances are good its destruction is stopped or minimal

disadvantages
user friendly - this is changing. suse, as example, is very easy to install and use. however there are things that need work. also some thing require you to "compile(SP?)" them to run.
software - most companies are locked into useing microsoft technology. this technology is not or will not be avalible in linux. however this too is changing, but stil 95% of what you see in a software shop is windows only. some programs have been ported
games - many games use direct 3d, thus they may never be made for linux. however most, if not all, Id software game can be run in linux. Wine can run some games but this is hit or miss.
hardware - there is hardware out there that will not work. ATI cards for example are a total bitch in linux. same with 99% of dial-up modems (win modems). this is the biggest headache for new linux users

if you go to try linux, there are many distros around. 2 i recommend are suse and knoppix. knoppix boots off a CD and does NOT install anything to the hard disk. comes loaded with software to try.
suse.com
linuxiso.org
knoppix.org (i think?)

Just don't get viruses. It's easy.

Mordeth: Don't worry, I believe that it is immoral to charge more than about £10 for something that has no unit cost - trial versions of such software should never remain trial versions, but you should never pay for the full versions ;)

Mordeth & læmænt: Ya, the opaserv bastard comes back every time - I used to back up all my install programs on CD and thought it must've been hidden in them, so last time I just backed up my own programs (source code only, no EXEs) and the bastard still came back a few days later cos I had no virus scanners installed. So now I have two virus scanners and a firewall installed and I'm not gonna use Trillian this time since the worm always seems to come back when I use that.

Sephiroth: Thanks for the information - that's exactly what I needed. I think I'll try Knoppix and if that's no good I'll do the partition thing with Windows on one partition and Linux on the other - I guess that's as easy as it sounds, but would I have to format the one partition with some Unix format program instead of the DOS one?

And the command-driven thing - that's fine, my first computer was an MSX, just MSX-BASIC on there, no GUI was invented for it AFAIK. Then there was the good old 086 with DOS and X-Tree Gold, then the 286 with Win 3.11. And I've had various computers with Win 95, 98 and 98SE on them and I still use DOS for file management today, so I shouldn't have a problem adjusting to the Unix/Linux system I hope. Oh, and there's the Unix book that must've fallen into my bag when I passed the bookcase at school a couple of years ago ;)

The OS and command-driven interface that Linux is based in is Unix isn't it? Or is that something totally different and extinct?

And as for price, you bought Windows and Office?!! Were you stoned?!

i think you can use fat32 for linux, never tried it. it is recommened you use ext2 or ext3, also resier(more bad spelling!!) windows, by default, will be unable to read linux partions. however linux can read windows.

if you decied to partion i sudgest doing the fallowing first.
back up anything important, shit happens. i have never managed to trash anything during a linux install, but still.
defrag the drive.
dont wipe out the MBR, wiping it out can cause problems, but they are easy to fix with the windows restore function.
use the linux based boot loader, lilo or grub. the windows, NT, 2000, and XP, bootloader can be a bitch for linux. also you can use a boot floppy if you choose not to mess with either.

many distros have an automated, wizard like, installation now. mandrake, suse, redhat are all nice for starters.

linux command line is similar to unix, but stuff is gonna be different. i havnt really messed with much unix, i did just set up a freeBSD system. however due to work i have been unable to mess with it much. some stuff is similar to DOS, but Linux and unix are multi user and multi tasking

Ok, thanks.

So, Unix is to Linux what C is to C++, or something like that?

MaTT [TiK] said:
So, Unix is to Linux what C is to C++, or something like that?

Er, no. Linux is an Unix OS, like *BSD, AIX or others. It's just inclusion of classes.

Sephiroth said:

if you are a gamer linux may not be for you, note all Id software games run on linux, or soon will(Doom III).

Yes but many Linux/Unix and FPS fans and even companies provide Linux/Unix binaries (and sometimes they are even GPLed).

linux is NOT perfect, there are bugs. hell no software is perfect. however crashes are very very rare if you set things up correctly. spyware/adware/malware is a thing of the past in linux. however i wouldn't dout that companies are atempting to make spyware for linux.

There are antiviruses for Linux, for example I run sometimes chkrootkit.
You forgot distrowatch, to know the latest distros.