CibbuanoAbout Virus, AntiViruses and softwares.
November 23rd 2006 01:00
Well, everyone of you has an AntiVirus (if not then GO GET ONE NOW). But with a lot of softwares to choose from it is definitely hard to pick one. But if we narrow down and focus on the best free softwares we get down to three. But before we move on to that does every one of you know what is the difference between a virus, trojan, worm and spywares? If you are one of those who says they are all one..then you are WRONG. They are all malwares..yes. But they are all not viruses. Ok let me givethe ones who are not fully aware of this a very brief differentiation.
First off, malwares (malicious softwares) are softwares that are malicious. Hence all of them fall under this category. Ok let us look at the terms and stop the confusion.
Virus like the human virus has the habit of spreading and that too it is spread by humans like it happens with the human virus. Spread by humans in this case through emails, floppy disks etc etc. And they spread from one machine to another machine and multiply. Almost all viruses are attached to a executable file and the moment you execute it, it makes you sneeze with the fear of a Vital information resource under siege (yes that is what VIRUS stands for). Almost all the viruses are written with the intention of destroying datas or damaging the PC.
Worms are a subclass of virus and this one can travel on it's own from one computer to another. Like the worms taking over your address book in the mail and sending itself to all the people in your address book. The biggest fear when it comes to a worm is that it can multiply itself in your machine and thus send hundreds of worms from your machine. They can also tunnel into your system (remember blaster worm?) and allow bad people to access your pc.
Ok now Trojan horse. Just like the name suggests this prog comes hidden in some other progs. It might appear to be a useful program until you start using it. People are tricked into opening it by promoting it as an useful tool or some other package. But once you open it it can open backdoors to your PC through which the creator of the Trojan can access your PC. But less malicious ones do not open backdoors but can change your desktop etc:- Trojans do not self replicate or spread itself.
Spywares are softwares that resides in your PC and spies on your browsing habits. They are basically made with the intention of making money by the creators by analysing the behaviour of the user for unfair marketing purposes. But they can be dangerous when they take the form of key loggers and log everything you type and send it to the creator. They can even hijack the browser and stuff.
Adwares are softwares that are used for downloading or displaying advertisements to your PC with or without your intention.
Spyware plus adware are one of the most irritating stuffs out there.
All viruses are illegal but all spywares are not yet considered illegal since some of them are dowloaded to your PC with your consent. How? Some of the softwares that has spywares has under the terms and conditions words such as "personal information of the user will be collected" and so on and so forth.But how many of us read all that before we jump on click the "I ACCEPT" button?
Ok, having very briefly covered those aspects let us move on to the best free Antivirus softwares out there now.
AVG ver 7.5.4 (The latest version)
Download here.
Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic 7 6.36.01.01 (The latest version)
Download here.
Avast! Home Edition 4.7.892(The latest version)
Download here.
All of the three listed above are great free Antivirus softwares getting rave reviews. They are all neck to neck with each other when it comes to performance. However it all depends on what is the performance of your PC. It depends on your operating system, CPU etc as to how smoothly it will operate. One of this might be slow in one machine where as it would run
smoothly in another. Download one of this and try it on your PC. If the performance becomes slow especially when it does the virus scanning try another one. And ha remember to update every day.
Ok now let me tell you it is good to have more than one Antivirus progs. on your PC. But it is NOT advised to do so since having more than one Antivirus can lead to a clash or a PC crash. So how do you ensure the double protection agains viruses? Simple...install an ANtivirus on your PC and use the free online scanners provided by one of the top ranked paid AntiVirus providers.
The best free ANtivirus progs are good in detecting viruses but they are not as good when compared to some of the best paid ANtivirus softwares out there. So doing the double protection I mentioned will take care of that part too. Use the free Antivirus along with the free online scanning offered by some of the best paid AntiVirus software makers out there. Got it?
Oh yeah, here are two among the best PAID Antivirus makers offering free online scanning.
BitDefender--Free online scanning.
F-secure--Free online scanning.
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Comment by Jimbo
Comment by Vimal
Avg's latest version is much better. Did u try that? If not the latest versions of avast and Antivir which I have menioned here are good too. When it comes to spywares use more than one since spywares are not as well defined as a virus one anti spyware prog might not detect a spyware another wld. Windows defender 1.1.1, and spybot search and destroy ver. 1.4 are other good spyware tools.Use it along with adaware.
Anyways thx for stopping by.
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
Why does my head ache?
Do you think someone may steal my $2 I've earned from Orble. Now I'm really worried. I'll keep what you've provided by me and when I'm feeling calm I'll have a go. Not sure I need any of what is suggested, but I'm thinking about it, that'll help my neural connections, that's probably why my head is hurting.
A lot of info, thank you. Did you write it youreslf or just simply pinch it from somewhere, as so many do?
katyzzz
Comment by Jimbo
I've recently formatted so I don't have the virus anymore, but I've got the new AVG - it actually has a decent UI, which surprised me, considering that all previous releases have been stuck in Windows 3.1 mode. Not a fan of Windows Defender, especially since Microsoft tend to screw things up - vis a vis, Msg Plus suddenly being spyware.
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
Why does my head ache?
Do you think someone may steal my $2 I've earned from Orble. Now I'm really worried. I'll keep what you've provided by me and when I'm feeling calm I'll have a go. Not sure I need any of what is suggested, but I'm thinking about it, that'll help my neural connections, that's probably why my head is hurting.
A lot of info, thank you. Did you write it yourself or just simply pinch it from somewhere, as so many do? Loved the picture, did you do it yourself, some of it looks vaguely familiar. Glad to see you having a go, you've done it very well. Where's the colour?
katyzzz
Comment by Vimal
I wrote it myself just like everything I write. I am a techie myself and I have another blog where I post stuff in more detail. All articles I write I write with my touch and information and yes some times I refer other articles and information to widen my knowledge. But in the end I write it with my own analysis and brings in my knowledge too.
Anyways, good you asked and hence me being able to clear your doubt
And btw to be safe on the net it is always advisable to have 5 basic things. An Antivirus, A firewall, Anti-Trojan, Anti-spyware, Anti rootkit. Yeah I know it wld be a bit confusing if you are not really tech oriented. But they are all free and thus you can save that 2 dollars (I hope you are kidding btw) lol.
Comment by Nina
Comment by Daressi
Btw , virus - virii , it sounds like Latin language .
Comment by Jimbo
Comment by Vimal
If you feel like having one more spyware then you should try windows defender 1.1.1 . I know what people think of when it comes windows lol. But this is cool. Or you can try spybot 1.4 but it does not go well with all machines are there are certain bugs in it but otherwise it is an awesome tool.
Nina,
It is great that u are using two anti-spywares. Both are good anti-spywares too. Also do the free online virus scanning offered by the best paid Antivirus makers once in a while and that way you can ensure that you are doubly protected on your ANtivirus side. Anyways thx for stopping by.
Comment by Daressi
Comment by Vimal
You must talking abt the zonealarm suite not just the firewall. Yes when it come to the "suites" zone alarm is one of the best.
Jimbo,
According to the link I gave you earlier Wikipedia does not back the usage of Virii in the english language and they have mentioned why there. BUt if you are comfortable with it so am I comfortable hearing you say that. So it is all good
Comment by High
Be safe!
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http://www.high-mountain.tk
Comment by Vimal
Comment by Kams
Geek Metro
Bloggers Tips
Though i myself don't use any Anti virus. I am a Zone Alarm guy since its born, and as always its protect you better then anything. All those people who are pron to chat, high download addict better go for anti virus.
Comment by Vimal