antivirus program win xp

[27groo27]

Does win xp home have an antivirus program already installed?

Appreciate responses and any comments about the antivirus protection, does it automatically detect and remove a computer virus; should one initiate a scan periodically ;and any other comments appreciated.

[Ingoal]

Nope, windows doesn't ship with a preinstalled antivirus solution.

I always recommend Norton AntiVirus. If you don't wanna spend any money you can have a look at AVG too...: AVG free edition

...to your other question: all current antivirus solution offer some kind of "auto-protect"-feature - the AV program is always running in the background checking incoming mails etc...all of this is only effective though if you keep the virus definition files uptodate (most AV programs offer automated updates)...

Ingo

[marycp]

I use NAV on my windows xp machine. It's great! Don't forget to keep paying your yearly virus def subscription. Virus protection is only as good as the virus defs.

[cfm]

Yep... Norton AntiVirus is the best of the best. I can't live without it.



But, as marycp said, be sure to update your defs.

[KLB]

I've used NAV for around eight years. It has been very reliable and served me well. With that said, I don't have the warm fuzzies about it I used to. I suspect it doesn't always play as nicely with things like my email client like it used to. No proof, just a feeling.

[cfm]

It's interesting that you should say that KLB, because I've had no trouble with it. Maybe it's because I use Outlook, but it's always played very nicely with all of my systems and their apps.

[KLB]

Like I say, I have no proof just a feeling. Not that I would give up using NAV, I think most anti-virus programs will have some shortcoming and NAV in general is pretty good. Until this year it had never failed to quarantine or at least flag an infected attachment.

This year my NAV has missed several infected attachments. I think this is due to the rate of mutation and spread of several viruses in the past few months. ZoneAlarm did pick them off and I use Pegasus, so the missed attachments posed no threat to my system but it did make me concerned.

The traditional model of protecting computers against viruses results in a window of several hours to a couple of days between when a virus is released and definitions are updated. Due to the rate of speed at which the latest generation of infections spread, this raises great concern.

[cfm]

Like I say, I have no proof just a feeling. Not that I would give up using NAV, I think most anti-virus programs will have some shortcoming and NAV in general is pretty good. Until this year it had never failed to quarantine or at least flag an infected attachment.

Gotcha; just comparing notes.

This year my NAV has missed several infected attachments. I think this is due to the rate of mutation and spread of several viruses in the past few months. ZoneAlarm did pick them off and I use Pegasus, so the missed attachments posed no threat to my system but it did make me concerned.

It sounds like you've got an excellent multi-layer defense system... those are essential, and I feel lucky to have one as well.

The traditional model of protecting computers against viruses results in a window of several hours to a couple of days between when a virus is released and definitions are updated. Due to the rate of speed at which the latest generation of infections spread, this raises great concern.

I've been worried about this also... usually, I sort of lock down my entire system until the defs come out, and then relax my restrictions when they do.

[KLB]

I've been worried about this also... usually, I sort of lock down my entire system until the defs come out, and then relax my restrictions when they do.

I never relax. With computers and the Internet, paranoia is a very good thing.


Redundant firewalls (hardware and software); MSIE, MS Messenger and Outlook Express are blocked by ZoneAlarm; Outlook is not installed on any system; NAV updated automatically and does a complete scan of all systems at least once a week; PestPatrol is run periodically; all email is filtered by Spam Assasin, ZoneAlarm Pro, NAV and custom Pegasus rules; all house guests are strip searched at the door (just kidding).

[cfm]

Point taken. My restrictions are only relaxed slightly.

Your description of paranoia is significantly tighter than mine... you may have inspired me to clean up my act.

[Hierophant]

I also use NAV and only have 1/10th of the protocols in place that KLB has.

I have not had a virus on my computer in 12 years. And then it was because I had decided to try out McAfee. At one time I did have a virus library though with over 600 viruses stored on my hard drive. Never had an outbreak though.

[KLB]

I also use NAV and only have 1/10th of the protocols in place that KLB has.

I have not had a virus on my computer in 12 years. And then it was because I had decided to try out McAfee. At one time I did have a virus library though with over 600 viruses stored on my hard drive. Never had an outbreak though.

I just like to make sure nothing bad can happen. Trust no one, suspect everything!

In all seriousness, the last infection I suffered was a floppy disk circa 1995. It got infected by the "Antiexe" virus from a university computer lab. Since Jan. 30, 2004 my Pegasus/NAV/ZoneAlarm combo has quarantined at least 118 infected messages and I'm sure that many more were stopped by SpamAssasin at the server.

[Hierophant]

See that is why I don't use floppies. Never liked them. Once I got on the Internet in 1993, I have never used another floppy disk, especially one that was inserted into a foreign PC.

I use the same rules for my PC that I use for sex. If I don't know where it has been there is no insertion.

[KLB]

About the only time I use floppy disks any more is when I'm working on a PC and have to boot from floppy or need to copy drivers (e.g. for the network card). I never insert any strange disk (floppy or CD) without scanning it prior to doing anything else. In reality, sharing disks has about the same amount of risk as sharing files via email. In either case virus scanning must be done prior to anything else.

Yesteryear, floppy disks were the biggest risk. Today probably 99% of all viruses, etc. use email and the Internet as a primary means of propogation.

I suspect that boot level viruses that target floppy disks just aren't that popular. I'm sure they just don't pack the thrill of modern multi-modal worms that can spread world wide in fifteen minutes and grab attention on the evening news.

[Hierophant]

That is the truth. If someone wants to send me a file via email, they either need to talk to me via IM or telephone first. Otherwise it gets deleted quite promptly.

[KLB]

This is what I like about the Pegasus/ZoneAlarm Pro/NAV combination. There is absolutely no chance that a malice attachment could accidentally get launched. As a result any suspicious file can simply sit and wait for me to verify if needed and I do get a lot of Word docs and Excel spread sheets for business.

ZoneAlarm Pro renames the extension of all inbound dangerous file attachments to its own mapping. This way if the attachment gets launched ZoneAlarm Pro intercepts and verifies what the intention is.

NAV then scans the message for infections and strips out and quarantines any infected file from the email messages.

Pegasus doesn't allow anything that could be dangerous to be launched from inside of it. Almost all file attachments must first be saved to the file system before they can be opened.