Best of the Virus products I've used.
Written: Jul 29 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy installation, fully automated features, best I've ever used
Cons: see review
The Bottom Line: The one product no one should be without is an Anti-Virus program. Among the choices available McAfee is simply the best I've found, bar none.
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| daklown's Full Review: McAfee VirusScan |
Being a computer nut (also referred to as a geek), I've used several different anti-virus programs. When it comes to the sheer ability to sniff out and stop a virus from invading your computer, none I've used have matched McAfee products.
I've used many different versions of McAfee over the years and I've tried others including Norton from time to time. You see, I'm a computer consultant, and my customers expect that I be able to tell them the pros and cons of more than one product to allow them to decide which to select. Price isn't always the best determining factor and you shouldn't make this very important decision based on price alone.
Read reviews on as many products as you care to, but look for some specific information. Among the things you want to know about anti-virus programs are;
Ease of use - this one installs and sets up in minutes without you having to do much more than insert the CD.
Range of features - McAfee has automated the majority of tasks making this one the easiest I've seen to work with, from checking for viruses to getting rid of them and to blocking attacks against your computer.
Protection - McAfee leads the pack with it's "shield" and "firewall" included with version 6.0 and beyond. The shield blocks viruses while the firewall prevents outside persons or programs from accessing your computer.
Having built my own computer and carefully programming it to perform the way I want, I felt pretty safe using just the McAfee anti-virus package. When version 6.0 came out I was slow to upgrade because I'd been having no problems (at least none that I was aware of) other than what appeared to be normal internet slow down from time to time. After upgrading and installing the 6.0 with it's firewall software I became aware of things happening behind the scenes that I didn't know were going on - like "port scan attacks" - where an outside source attempts to read through the ports of your computer. Dependent upon the sophistication of the program which is "attacking" it may only be able to read things like your ip address, which site you are attached to, or in some cases, which program you have running. At any rate, I think you should be protected against unauthorized access to your system. McAfee provides the protection you need.
Virus protection. You may remember the MichaelAngelo virus that spread like wildfire, and even made the news when it came about. I was using McAfee anti-virus at the time, in a much older version. Although it didn't recognize the virus by name, it halted the system and informed that the virus existed. I managed to save the virus off to a diskette and clean my system using that version. The next day, I went down and got the most current version and ran a check on the floppy. Sure enough, it proved to be MichaelAngelo and the McAfee software had stopped it dead in it's tracks even before I had upgraded. You see, viruses have signatures which the virus software detects. Since the vast majority of viruses must exist within a very tiny portion of a program in order to remain hidden, it makes it difficult to sneak one by a program that ferrets out these signatures.
Don't let the fact that the software captured a virus without the most recent version fool you into thinking you're safe with an older one however. As programmers work to perfect their nasty little bugs, they too review the many different virus protection softwares. They are constantly looking for ways to beat even the most sophisticated of protection programs just to be able to say they can. By staying current, you stay protected.
Even if you don't chose McAfee, which I highly recommend, you should chose a good anti-virus program and keep it updated to protect your system.
CONS - the firewall doesn't always remember your choices - for example, you tell it to always allow a certain program to access the internet - then it pops up and asks again on another attempt to access. It remembers the majority of these but I've had it ask more than once on several. This is just a nuisance, but one I'll gladly put up with to keep the added security that this product offers. I'm sure they'll get the problem corrected in the next release because McAfee works hard to keep their customers satisfied.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
daklown
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Member: Dale Eicker
Location: Texas
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Chemical Plant Supervisor, Professional Clown, Computer Consultant, and Jack-of-all-trades.
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