17 replies to this topic

[James (Jim) Hillier]

I disagree:

Norton is not, by and and large, considered to be a great AV. It has always been a resource hog (which means it is generally only suitable for high end machines) and is known to insinuate itself into just about every nook and cranny of the system.

McAfee....much the same!!

In fact, I go the opposite. If any of my clients have a trial of those AV's installed or have a subscription which is about to expire; I recommend they uninstall the program and replace it with something like Avast (Free) or AntiVir (Free).

Of the commercial offerings, Eset's product is regarded by the majority of 'experts' to be the best. Mostly because it is not only effective but very light on resources too.

[Information Overload]

In truth I've actually been thinking about switching back to Avast or something free just so I could start testing out some other freeware. But I'm conservative when it comes to antivirus protection, I like the tried and true. One thing I have to say though is that Malwarebytes has saved me a lot of trouble and its freeware itself. The one thing I'd like to know before switching back to freeware is how do you test antivirus software as a reviewer? I really want to test and see which protects me more. I guess I have nothing to lose because the freeware is free and if I want to switch back so is Norton. I do see on cnet that Norton got lower reviews by it users but somehow it doesn't convince me that going professional isn't the best option. I me I download  a lot and some of the things I download aren't from the most trustworthy sites. They aren't from obvious malware sites that warn me before I enter but there are just some sites that aren't the most reputable places. I know that to solve all this I should stop downloading and doing peer-to-peer sharing but I kind of need to to keep my reviews going, well the P2P could stop, but the downloading from disreputable sites is a risk I take every time I download. I know that all the freeware I download from here is free of malware but I want to push boundaries in the hopes of discovering something new.

Hmm... I'm on the edge I guess I just need a little push. I'm going to go find some reviews and see if that tips me over to the freeware side of things. Other than that, and the preinstalled Windows programs I'd be completely freeware independent if I shed my antivirus ties with Norton.

EDIT: (So I don't double post)
Here's my problem I have Norton's Internet Security Sweet and Avast is only and antivirus app not a full suite... could I replace my suite with a couple of freeware programs for the same effect?

[James (Jim) Hillier]

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how do you test antivirus software as a reviewer?

That entails a long and somewhat complicated process. Most would start off by installing an OS in a virtual environment, install one of the AV's and then deliberately try to infect it. That would test preventative measures (real time protection). At the end, scan and see if anything got through. They would repeat that process, starting from scratch each time, for every AV involved in the testing.

AV testing is far from an exact science; there are so many different aspects and variables. What is missed by one may be picked up by another, and vice versa. Most users rely on established services for obtaining scores/results....such as this site HERE.

I always advise against using these test results as sole criteria for selection of AV's....as I said, it is a somewhat inexact science. Yes, it is important for AV's to rate highly in the detection/protection department but in many cases the differences in those rates are not considerable and there are other considerations; e.g. resource usage, ease of use (for many), availability and frequency of data base updates, etc.

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could I replace my suite with a couple of freeware programs for the same effect?

Same or very similar...absolutely!! Avast plus Online Armor (Free) Firewall would do just fine for most. Any good free AV plus some sort of additional HIPS based software would generally do a good job. Most of the current AV's, including the best free ones, now include an anti-spyware component and heuristics (behaviour based) engine.

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I download a lot and some of the things I download aren't from the most trustworthy sites

Then you really should not be relying on installed security software at all, freeware or otherwise. You should look closely at some of the free virtualisation software and do all that from within a virtual environment/machine. A virtual environment is completely isolated so any nasties encountered do not get anywhere near the main system. Have a read HERE and HERE.

[Information Overload]

So I guess I won't be doing any testing of antivirus software anytime soon. Those are good review points though and it'd be easy to install and review usability instead of breaking points and effectiveness.

As for the replacement of my internet suite with a couple different programs I'm glad I can do something to the same effect. This will also allow me to test compatibility between the programs. I learned my lesson, that not all programs can interact with each other well, when I tried to download Private Firewall and had my system become sluggish and overloaded.

As for my surfing and downloading habits they have changed. I no longer do as dangerous a things to my computer, but I will look into this virtual environment software. I still do a lot of peer-to-peer downloads and every once in a while I'll venture off the internet grid and into dangerous zones, but I'm hoping to curb these bad habits.

EDIT: I have one problem with virtualization... I have a netbook and I don't want to mess with the OS.

[marko]

Advertising the fact you download illegally isn't a great move, especially in such a public manner and especially on my site, it happens to be one of my major grievances.   Piracy cost's jobs, it results in misery for hard working, independant developers, many of whom try to contribute to the freeware scene in an effort to promote their products and it also results in a lot of unnecessary hassles.   The aftermath of downloading from such sites was something I dealt with in a professional capacity, and that was at corporate level, but at any level it's unacceptable, it's like insurance fraud, everyone considers it a victimless crime and where I often don't have a great deal of sympathy for the larger companies and media giants who overprice their software and material, it's usually the small guys who get crippled by piracy.  Results? It further allows the big boys to continue pushing their products for a premium and the public rarely gets to see the fine work produced by these small independant developers.

Warez and file sharing is renowned for viruses, malware and all other manner of nasty surprises lurking around and there can be no such thing as a 'responsible' warez site, their very existence is illicit and attracts those downloads which do serious harm to PC's.   I've stopped fixing computers of friends and family who continue to download from these sites because despite my best efforts to inform them of the issues, they persist in downloading or allowing their children to download, and I'm no longer prepared to spend a few hours cleaning their machine.   This means they now have to visit and pay the local PC repair shop when their PC slow to a stop, false economy quite obviously but for some they 'just don't get it'.

As for reviewing commercial software, the option is there to review freeware alternatives and then contact the companies in question, direct them to your review and ask for a full copy to review - I can guarantee that if these companies found your site reviewing software which you had obtained illegally you would stand little chance of gaining any respect from the providers and could even find yourself in a lot of trouble should they decide to take it further.

If you wrote articles which were then simply copied by someone else on their website and that website performed 100% better than yours, wouldn't you be a little peeved?.   Wouldn't you consider this theft?.   All your hard work, yet someone else reaps the rewards!.  Isn't that a warez site?.

As for FreewareBB, we're a freeware site, we don't have a need for shareware discussions as 99% of the people hitting the site are doing so after searching for "freeware" so let's try to stick to a freeware based discussion from now.

Cheers
Marko

[Information Overload]

Ugh! I don't mean to be a pest. I don't mean to break the rules every were I turn. Honestly I've never downloaded warez or pirated any copyrighted software. the worst I've done is get fansubs for shows that haven't, and sometimes never are, translated and brought overseas. The worst malware I've gotten was from downloading freeware. It was before I knew of this site and would simply do a Google search for the freeware I was looking for.

I'm sorry for causing so much trouble on the forums for you and your staff!

[jjj]

MSE  for the last six months - before that briefly Avast after many years with AVG. Now install MSE on friends computers who have little experience.

The only computer which failed at home in February's Microsoft Update issue  had Avast Free installed.

I believe that MSE has greatly improved recently and may be due for another try ,however your Windows must be genuine and pass authentication.

[TheRaven]

marko, on 29 August 2010 - 07:12 AM, said:

Advertising the fact you download illegally isn't a great move, especially in such a public manner and especially on my site, it happens to be one of my major grievances.   Piracy cost's jobs, it results in misery for hard working, independant developers, many of whom try to contribute to the freeware scene in an effort to promote their products and it also results in a lot of unnecessary hassles.
Cheers
Marko

Uhh, yeah; I am ticked that I didn't see this post earlier.

Piracy to test applications out is one thing as many businesses use the data collected from these incidents to develop a more intuitive "trial" and freeware support system for low income and new clientel but, to exploit systems commercially in such a manner for profit is a whore's act and a lazy one without intellect. If you have enough intelligence to start a business and maintain it to any degree of success and you have to pirate software you are a slug with no soul and the intelligence of a monkey (not the primate variety) -- simply you are garbage. Whores are money pits and they never fill up because it's easy to toss around someone else's hard work, blood, sweat and tears when you don't have to do it for them. Propping your rights up at the expense of another is a pinko, loser, and socially inept personality matrix of an inferior construct. Bragging about such activities is promotional to the effect and really does not bring enlightenment to any platform; it certainly does not entertain any assertion outside of poor taste.

If you can start and run a business that can support digital media exchange then you should be smart enough to manage resources and budgeting where you can make a logical assignment providing your business' growth in a more meaningful fashion; piracy really isn't going to promote your product/company in any withstanding light.

Piracy on the individual, private-sector level is only going to hurt the individual's intellectual growth retarding their wisdom in such manners as well. It's the easy way out in the wrong direction; get involved with a community of your peers and start developing more meaningful software like the Debian Project or connect with other developers at Code Project and the like. With all of the available resources out there for developers even an average user can develop themselves in a manner promoting a power user level mindset making them prospects for other companies and groups.

Many times piracy orbits around an uninterested individual with a rebellious attitude. That attitude is you giving into the jerks that want to see you fail and spreading the disease of ignorance is like icing on the cake; while you become efficient at pirating software in the shadows and living a dumbed down life style the antagonists are out and about sitting in seats that your butt should have been filling -- remember that.

Propaganda is the oldest war-time business philosophy on the planet next to prostitution and piracy supports both of your enemies' plans. As I have often heard in manufacturing circa "you have to be smarter than the equipment you use," I have come to a point of reasoning that you also need to make sure that you are not becoming someone else's equipment to justify their lack of dignity.

Make the jerks your tools and you'll probably wind up with an army and be happier for it -- where enemies become allies and allies evolve into family. Your competition out there is only going to benefit from your illegal activities and that's what they want because you are now out of the picture. It's allot easier to get away with monopoly when you don't have any competitors and that's business I guess but, that's an antiquated model that needs to be put to rest.


Cordially;
Rob