| reply to ubermoe
Re: Unobtrusive Antivirus? For business I would go for McAfee VirusScan or Symantec Endpoint Protection. Shockingly, these are not so bad as to regards to sucking up system performances.
The home versions are more of a resource hogs beleive it or not.
For home I would go for NOD32. But only get the AV standalone product itself. And not the whole bundled security suite. |
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 AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ
kudos:1 | reply to joako
Panda Cloud Anti-Virus supplemented by
PcTools Threatfire |
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| PC Tools Threatfire is not suported anymore, so no white list! |
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BobAccount deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey Reviews:
 ·Optimum Online
| reply to joako
I use Mcafee Internet Security. It's pretty unobtrusive. e.g., I've never had it interfere with a software install. I don't notice any performance hits at all.
Be selective in what features you enable. e.g., their anti-spam sets up a local email server. I don't use it. |
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 Phoenix22Death From AbovePremium
join:2001-12-11
SOG C&C Nrth
·Comcast Formerl..
1 edit | reply to joako
said by joako:Tried out Bitdefender Antivirus 2013 and it's totally obtrusive it modifies Google, tries to do way more than Antivirus and I just tried to login to my router and I got a popup from Bitdefender asking if I want to use "safe pay."
Any suggestion for a better antivirus?
you can tweak the norton............uninstall the CG........ after you have the norton installed.......turn off the vault...........drop the toolbars...........etc.etc.........norton, mbytes, and rapport get along fine w/ff18.0.2.........you can't beat free!!
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101ST ABN Div. (AirAssault) "Rendezvous With Destiny!" "Night Stalkers/Phoenix Flight" For Buddy...who lived it! Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses! H.A.L.O!, 5th Grp., MACV SOG, 160TH AVN SOG, Death From Above, VFW, AmLegion |
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AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ
kudos:1 | reply to ron
said by ron :PC Tools Threatfire is not suported anymore, so no white list!
It updates every day (or at least it says it does)
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* seek help if having trouble coping
--Standard disclaimers apply.-- |
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KitFox
join:2002-10-09
Denver, CO
kudos:1 | reply to joako
Webroot SecureAnywhere. Least intrusive, period.Set, forget, and it just works. The AV version has an egress firewall extender as part of its basic functionality, so you can still use any other firewall out there.
PassMark rates it as disgustingly fast. 90 out of 98 possible while the next best were ESET and Norton at 62.
Complicated and new enough that the high volume testing organizations say they aren't sure how to compare it to other AVs and the low volume professional testers who have plenty of time to test found the first thing that caught every single thing they threw at it within two hours. Other AVs caught more stuff immediately, but what they didn't catch was still there a week and a month later.
Takes up about 8MB of RAM and that's it, the entire installer is under 800k. Scans in under two minutes. Doesn't have gamer mode because it doesn't need it, but it still automatically detects games and changes the way it works to get even lighter. Doesn't bug you about whether you want to allow stuff or not. Doesn't ask you whether stuff is safe because it already knows. Doesn't pop up messages saying "I'm checking this, hold on!"
It just installs, gets out of the way, and works. So well that I've put it on several thousand machines and had precisely two complaints. One being that it was too quiet, the other being that the update button didn't ever update. It's not supposed to. Updates are instant and automatic and constant. The VP of development tracks issues directly and fixes things often within hours.
Webroot SecureAnywhere. Get it. Love it. Be happy. |
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| reply to joako
Forticlient 5.0 is light, web filter as good as the big boys, totally free. Check out the protection, detection on VB 100. |
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 Sith HMPI Did What?Premium
join:2004-04-25
Bloomington, IL
kudos:1 | reply to joako
I can second what tmaertin said. Follow his simple instructions after you install Avira Free and you will never hear a peep out of it. The only time you will know it's running is when it stops malware from running. Exactly what it's supposed to do.  |
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 joakoPremium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null
kudos:5
·Comcast
| reply to slajoh01
I've been using the NOD32 trial for a few days. I disabled all the "features" that I didn't need and there's no red OMG you are insecure alerts.
The most obtrusive thing it's done is create by default a folder in Outlook for "Infected Items" which I was able to disable and delete.
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PRescott7-2097 |
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| reply to joako
I like Avira Free the best. It's seems to be the best light weight AV I've found. I block the popups that occur after an update, Google instructions for whatever Windows OS you run.
On most of my PC's I don't run any AV. I just image the drive regularly and if anything happens I restore it byte for byte. Seems easier to follow this route than to worry about AV software these days. It seems no matter what brand you use each version just gets more intrusive and bloated. The curse of all software, AV or other. |
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KitFox
join:2002-10-09
Denver, CO
kudos:1 | said by OverBurn:On most of my PC's I don't run any AV. I just image the drive regularly and if anything happens I restore it byte for byte. Seems easier to follow this route than to worry about AV software these days. It seems no matter what brand you use each version just gets more intrusive and bloated. The curse of all software, AV or other.
What happens if you pick up ZeroAccess or TDL4 and don't know it until after the oldest image has it too? I'll stick with Webroot. Can't call ~700k total size to be "bloated", don't have to Google special instructions to turn off annoying parts, don't have to reimage after an infection (how small is your drive?!) and hope the image isn't infected also. |
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| What about privacy?
During a Full Scan ALL Files are analyzed in the cloud; even though this is done on MD5 /SHA/CRC, the entity which is behind the cloud is being informed about ALL your files/folders/executable from your PC.
Performing a full scan you willingly surrender your PC to the cloud or whoever is managing the cloud.
This is similar with this situation:
1.The Police Dept. issue a list with dangerous goods and you check this list against whatever you have in your pockets ( this is a classic AV)
OR
2.You go to the Police Dept. once a day and they will strip search you (including cavities!) against the list they have it (AV without resident database / cloud AV)
So, how is the individual privacy affected while using WSA ? (beside EULA) |
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| reply to ubermoe
said by ubermoe:The weird thing is that I don't see any single mention of Kaspersky, it's either because you know something about it that makes it bad which I don't know or it's not that popular. Didn't Kaspersky just take a dump on its users recently?
Oh, here it is:
»news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-575677···p-users/ |
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| reply to joako
Avast in Silent/Gaming mode is the least obtrusive A/V I've ever used (well, except MSE, which let a rootkit through when I was going through random Google results looking for information on Arbor Vitae).
Firefox + NoScript + AdBlock Plus + Avast |
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 jmorlanHmm... That's funny.Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
kudos:4 | reply to KitFox
said by KitFox:Webroot SecureAnywhere. Least intrusive, period.Set, forget, and it just works. The AV version has an egress firewall extender as part of its basic functionality, so you can still use any other firewall out there.
PassMark rates it as disgustingly fast. 90 out of 98 possible while the next best were ESET and Norton at 62.
.....
Webroot SecureAnywhere. Get it. Love it. Be happy.
I did a 14 day free trial last week after reading this rave review. I uninstalled it after 2 days. It made Firefox almost unusable by disabling embedded style sheets and JavaScript on certain sites. I was no longer able to upload photos to a photo gallery I manage. My home page was a shambles. It also disabled cookies by default popping up a window every time a site wanted to set a cookie. This was the way their "privacy guard" feature was implemented. It installed toolbars in Firefox and silently on IE. It found three infected files all of which were false positives. It removed autorun.inf files from my two external USB drives without telling me first. It did not quarantine anything, just deleted stuff it didn't like.
Far from being the "least intrusive" it was one of the most intrusive AV's I've ever tested.
My opinion only after a brief test using default settings. Your mileage may vary.
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"It turns out we're very good at not seeing things" - Jack Hitt |
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Mele20Premium
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
kudos:4 | KitFox  works for Webroot.
Anyone considering trying it might want to first do a search of this forum as that will produce several threads, one maybe only six months ago, on Webroot SecureAnywhere.
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson |
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KitFox
join:2002-10-09
Denver, CO
kudos:1 | reply to MSE_fan
said by MSE_fan :What about privacy?
During a Full Scan ALL Files are analyzed in the cloud; even though this is done on MD5 /SHA/CRC, the entity which is behind the cloud is being informed about ALL your files/folders/executable from your PC.
Performing a full scan you willingly surrender your PC to the cloud or whoever is managing the cloud. Fun question set.
Non-PE files are ignored, so no, not all files, folders, and executables have information sent to the system. Documents, pictures, music, folder names, etc, are ignored. There is no possibility for "the cloud" to say "Hey, this is a 'stolen' copy of a movie, so let us know everybody who has it" for example.
"Cloud" is simply a term for "Internet-accessible computing resources provided by the AV vendor" in this case. Or, more precisely, "A much bigger computer than you have on your desk" and "much more information about good and bad and unknown things than can be held in definition files" and "Instant correlation worldwide".
Your strip search analogy is amusing. XD Let's take that a little deeper and increase the accuracy...
In both cases you still have a client running on your system that examines stuff. So sorry, you're not checking your pockets, there's Guido the Security Guard doing that for you even with conventional AV. Guido is actually stripping you down a lot harder and probing those cavities deeper with conventional AV, in fact, because conventional AV doesn't know how to determine a PE file from an MP3 or a text document, so it just looks at EVERYTHING.
In regular AV Guido has a limited list of "We know this is bad" that he is referencing with every single check or not. Plus, he checks the details of the ring on your finger every single time, because even though it's not on the Bad list now, it could be in the future. Guido has no way of knowing that ring is known-good.
In Cloud AV as implemented by Webroot, Guido only checks things that can directly affect you. It knows a text file from a PE on basic initial check and doesn't poke the text file or worry about it. Guido takes the hash of the PE files and sends a list for inquiry. That is replied to with "Good", "Bad", or "Unknown". The hash of good stuff is recorded locally and for a while, Guido won't even ask about it. Bad stuff is acted on. Unknown stuff is watched like a hawk and Guido sends regular updates to the cloud on what it does and some extra PE details until it is determined to be good or bad based on that detail.
Can some agency subpoena Webroot for "What is on this computer?" Possibly. They'd need to know the MID of the computer, which means they'd need to have access to the computer first. Then when they have access to the computer, they'd see what's on it anyway or they couldn't get the Webroot MID. And in fact, they wouldn't be able to get the MID anyway, since it's encrypted in the agent and only decrypted by Webroot's servers. Even then, they'd only get a list of MD5s of PE files. No documents, no music, no videos, no pictures. No file itself is sent to the cloud either.
@JMorlan:
It will definitely cause problems with CSS and JS in Firefox if you run the System Cleaner (Complete feature) with FireFox running and ignore the message that says to shut down Firefox. In fact, most of the problems you describe are Complete functionality. The Toolbar (password management, Lastpass-based), asking about cookies (You deleted them with the Cleanup), etc. To recover Firefox CSS/JS stuff, simple clear the cache from within FireFox. Then don't run system cleaner with FireFox running.
Deleted autorun? It won't delete autorun.inf files unless something it considers to be a threat makes them.
I have seen exactly three true FPs on any of several thousands of systems that I have managed, and all of those were easy to understand as VT showed over 50% positives on the files in question. And yes, it does quarantine things recoverably. If it "deletes" something related to cleanup, restoring the item that was the origin will also restore the deleted data fully.
It does not change any browser settings at all other than attempting to install the LastPass-based password toolbar -IF- and -WHEN- you go into the agent and tell it to, and that only in the Internet Security and Complete versions. I specifically recommend only the AV version in your case and don't assume that something is an FP unless you wrote it yourself. otherwise, just shoot a message to support. I've had complaints about FPs that were easy to show as not FPs when I looked at them.
I did specifically say "The AV version", and I said "Install it and forget it". Instead, the Complete version was installed and then poked at tremendously with apparently an incomplete understanding of what the user was doing.
Easy solution here: Get AV-only. Even a trial. Less expensive, doesn't install a Toolbar, doesn't clean up FireFox and allow you to ignore the message that says to shut down FireFox before running the cleanup otherwise there could be problems. And check on those claimed FPs, because they may not be.
At the same time, I can't say that everything will work perfectly for everybody. Heck, I even disable the ID shield on -MY- copy of Webroot because it has some annoying side effects otherwise with the combination of things I run.
If you would like direct advice on "Do this, don't do this, there, you're good to go", feel free to let me know. In summary:
- Get AV-Only
- Install
- Turn off ID Shield if you use a lot of stuff that messes with the keyboard (fake keystrokes, macros, etc) or mouse or screenshots. Or just if you want to be happier, since I have been driven absolutely nuts by the ID shield since the product was first released.
- Don't touch it
-- If it detects something that you swear is an FP, restore from quarantine if you're brave and submit a support ticket for it to be resolved in a few hours at most.
Either way, regardless of what people claim on here, I will continue to install it on several hundred to several thousand consumer and enterprise endpoints per week because it makes my life and other peoples' lives a heck of a lot easier. I will not stop just because of a bad experience due to what matches the fingerprint of user error, and every AV can be made into a nightmare by user error.
@Mele20:
I can state quite plainly and accurately that I am in no way a Webroot employee, nor retained by them, nor paid by them, nor do I make anything from them by recommending them. The current major work I am doing is actually contracted IT Management for an elementary school. Thank you for the acknowledgement of my knowledge of Webroot stuff though. |
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| Hi KitFox,
There is a Kit on Webroot forum (Retired Webrooter now) and comparing the style and the enthusiasm in promoting WSA ,there are reason to believe that KitFox and Kit are one and the same person, hence the assumption of Mele20 .
“Non-PE files are ignored….Documents, pictures, music, folder names, etc, are ignored”
Read this aricle:“PDF Virus Demonstrated”
»securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/284···nstrated
If non-PE files are ignored….Documents, pictures, music, folder names, etc, on a Full Scan this is completely wrong or you are misinformed.
“The hash of good stuff is recorded locally and for a while, Guido won't even ask about it”
This is a mechanism implemented by most of the AV developers (if not all) ; for example Avast has “persistent cache”, a mechanism which allows to skip rescanning good files so this is not an argument in adopting WSA.
Anyway, getting back on the initial issue (privacy), your affirmation is enough for me:
Can some agency subpoena Webroot for "What is on this computer?" Possibly
As long as WSA will not have a resident database ,is a no go for me; there are at least 5 other AV’s cheaper, better detection and more secure that WSA , so why anybody would take the risk? |
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 DownTheShoreHelp Moore OklahomaPremium
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ
kudos:12
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to dandelion
said by dandelion:I had NIS that I bought for 4-5 years with my XP and with this new computer (Win 7) just got it through comcast ..the year free one..but dont' think you can use just the virus protector, worth a try though. I don't believe in a single security program for protection however. I also have a host file and use firefox with adblocker and noscript. Good luck on whichever one you pick and someone mentioned you need to adjust most you have. I did some minor adjustments on NIS to tell it what I liked.
PS Never had the problems with it you mentioned. Hopefully that doesn't mean you have malware 
If you bring up the Advanced screen, you can turn off whatever modules you want, with time spans ranging from 15 minutes to system restart to permanently.
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Patriotism is not waving a flag, it is living the ideals
I want to retire to the Isle of Sodor and ride the trains.
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