Best security suite for Windows?

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James Bond

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Topic # 9746 10-Oct-2006 15:24

Ok, I'm a long time Norton Internet Security user but lately I hear a lot of people saying that Symantec is lacking. I've been recommended Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security as my next suite. Any ex-Symantec users in here? Should I ditch Norton IS?

chiefie

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Reply # 48207 10-Oct-2006 15:32

ditch NIS and get either Trend Micro or AVast!

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JAMMAN2110

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Reply # 48209 10-Oct-2006 15:44

Avast - By far the best I've ever used.

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Mayhem

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Reply # 48210 10-Oct-2006 15:55

The best one i have seen is Bit Defender and it is an all in one soloution with an inbuilt firewall, and not too hard on the pocket either. Also they have just upgraded it to Bit Defender 10.

bradstewart

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Reply # 48216 10-Oct-2006 16:57

I have used Trend Micro, Norton, McAfee, Avast and would say Trend Micro PC-Cillin is by far the best. I've brought 2004, 2005 and 2006. I currently use the Vista version.

Download the free trial from the site to give it a go before you buy it.... http://www.trendmicro.com

freitasm

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Reply # 48230 10-Oct-2006 17:34

Avast (www.avast.com), free for home use. It's so good that I bought two copies of their server version for my Exchange server and the Geekzone server.

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Lipex666

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Reply # 48241 10-Oct-2006 19:24

First off is the router if on Broadband - you need one that does not reply to pings and requests from the internet and has a inbuilt firewall like Dick Smith ADSL router - test on sites that offer free port scans etc. Anything dlink or Alcatel is not great.

Free ZoneAlarm (ZoneAlarm Pro is preferred) and AVG Anti-Virus are the best installed for all the family and freinds and have had no issues. Free updates and quick and fast scans.

People say Avast but that I find is not user freindly and millions of popups not for Mum or Dad and the kids (geeks love it plenty of options and tweaking) tried it and slowed down web serving as it checked all your web pages - yes you can turn off buy its a overkill.

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Tarq57

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Reply # 50054 28-Oct-2006 13:15

Personally I'm finding Avast (home) far more user-friendly than Norton ever was. The interface takes a wee while to get your head around, but after that it's problem free.
Other good freewares (yes, free) that seem to play well with windows (XP) are Avira A/V, (no email scanner-avail in the paid version, detection/cleaning rate very high, A+ rating on AV comparitives, finds a lot of trojans)
AVG (easy to use, almost as effective as Avast, extremely popular)
Top rated paid A/V would have to be NOD32, from what I've heard/seen. TrendMicro has a good rep. Steer clear of Macafee...everyone is saying it's as bad as Norton for complexity, uninstall, and resource hogging. (BTW get the proper removal tool for uninstalling norton, otherwise it will leave bits of itself everywhere)
You should really have a realtime antispy, such as SpywareTerminator or Windows Defender (both free), or AVG Antispy (free trial, formerly Ewido) and some on-demand scanners. No one application takes care of all. Popular demand scanners include AdAware, and Spybot. Also look at SuperAntiSpyware. A squared is particularly good for trojans.
Comodo is a good free firewall, if you need the outbound detection lacking in XP's otherwise excellent offering. Hardware/router negates the need for this, if you go that way.
The sky's the limit for other security schemes, especially if you have time, interest, and don't mind fiddling around/fixing stuff. Depends if users of the pc are high risk or not.
You can have hosts files, virtual machine, sandboxes, process guards, limited user-rights programs and a few others, that will make it like Osama's den. A lot of these are free (or donation).

johnr

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Reply # 50058 28-Oct-2006 14:01

Avast home (free) and just use the windows fire wall

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Reply # 50076 28-Oct-2006 17:34

I use Avast Home Edition (free) on three of my PCs at home, and I bought the Avast Server Edition for my two servers. It's that good...

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Tarq57

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Reply # 50219 29-Oct-2006 22:45

Re my last response to this Q:

I've seen posts on another respected forum indicating that Norton 2007 is a considerably improved beast. (personally once bitten once a little cautious, but...up to you)

The thread can be viewed here: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=151655
(posts #5 and #6)

ictgeeknz

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Reply # 51476 7-Nov-2006 16:56

Just slightly off topic, but Windows Defender sneaked out of Beta on October 23.

Windows Defender Version: 1.1.1592.0

Hrmmm... my home PCs which were running an old 1.1.13XX.X version. Not good from Microsoft -- the software should self-update or at least be available via Windows Update or Microsoft Update.

euanandrews

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Reply # 51479 7-Nov-2006 17:40

Avast is pretty popular aint it!

If im to chip in, AVG, once again its free, daily updates, never had a problem

Norton was my first to try, verytime I format and reinstall my OS on my lappy it installs by default with a new subscription, but dont like it, had too many compatability problems and virus's over the years with it, long gone...
Tried Avast, some time ago now but did not like it for some reason...
My Vista install has Trend Micro security centre...does the job but I dont like its interface...

AVG, simple, well supported, does the job, free.

geekboydan

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Reply # 52822 17-Nov-2006 13:46

hmm, i use Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite.
From what i can tell it is good. and it has good reviews

http://www.zonelabs.com