[Elijah]

Hi,
What program are the best? Avast! Anti-Virus, Avira Anti-Virus, or AVG
Anti-Virus? Free versions. Also, what firewall is the best, ZoneAlarm,
or Comodo?
Any Comments? Any programs that I over looked? Thanks,

[mjd420nova]

I really like Zonealarm as it has a good learning curve in the beginning when you have to grant permissions for each program that must past through your internet connection. You learn which programs are connecting in the background without you previously knowing it and you can then stop them or allow them. A really good way to get to know your system and its requirements.

[kcihtred2]

i used to use comodo and avast, but they are no where as good as zonealarm and AVG (btw the reason i switched from comodo to zonealarm was that avast and zonealarm conflict)

[Elijah]

Hi,

Thanks for you comment. I use ZoneAlarm and Avast! What problems were you having with Avast! I might be able to help. I think personally That ZoneAlarm is better than COMODO. I also think that Avast! is better than AVG. (Every time AVG would update, it would crash my computer!) Avast!, however, does it quickly, and quitely.
It also does not take up allot of memory when it udates!
One more question. A little while ago, PC World was saying that Avast! was aneseccity when it came to free security programs. Now they are saying Avira is the best Anti-Virus freebe.What are you opionions? They would be greatly apreciated. Thanks.

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi :



Let me start off by mentioning I am One of the regular Volunteer "Helpers" on the Online Avast Support

Forums . Avira/AntiVir is "better" than Avast ONLY IF you have a tolerance for its many "False-Positives"

which should require a lot of Investigation of each alleged "detection". This was mentioned by the

INDEPENDENT Testers at www.av-comparatives.org in their Nov 07 "Retrospective/ProActive"

Test where Avira received only a "Standard" Certification Level whereas Avast received an "Advanced"

Certification Level.

[snorg]

I been using ZoneAlarm and Avast on two PCs for a long time, I have never had any hint of conflict trouble.

[kcihtred2]

it was the virus shield and the firewall confliction. It was back about 6-9 months ago. they may of solved it by now, but im not sure. Ive liked AVG better, so im not going back

oh and can i make a recommendation for a third software? its pctools spyware doctor, you can get it from best buy for $30. and its 3pcs and 1 year subscription. its nice, and it got a 95 rank from pcworld! :)

[Skillz]

Use Avast! instead of AVG. Use COMODO instead of ZoneAlarm. AVG has poor virus detection rates compared to Avast! and ZoneAlarm firewall leaks too much.

[Elijah]

Hi,

Thank you for your comment. I tried using COMODO, but it told me that it did not install all the way. So I went back to ZoneAlarm. I might try COMODO again though.

How does ZoneAlarm have leaks? Every book I have read, every forum I have read says that ZoneAlarm is best. I might try COMODO againg though.

Thanks,

[mphenterprises]

Hi Elijah. Your other Discussion regarding players is similar in nature to this Discussion and I will provide the same response as I did within that Discussion. The applications you are questioning are Free. Download and use the applications for yourself. No amount of laboratory testing or forum opinion can match real world personal testing of your own.

In case you need to find the free version of each application:

Avast - http://www.avast.com...avast-home.html

Comondo - http://www.personalf...d_firewall.html

AVG Anti-Virus - http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/us/frt/0

Zone Alarm Free - http://www.pcworld.c...nloads/file/fid,7228-order,1-page,1-c,firewalls/description.html



These applications are free and you really should trust your own reasoning and common sense skills when finding the application that is right for you.

[Skillz]

Zone Alarm Free has many leaks. Zone Alarm Pro however does not have as much. Zone Alarm Pro and COMODO are about the same. Here is a link to a firewall test conducted by matousec.com.
www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php



I also reccomend Online Armor free. Please note that this test is outdated.

[Elijah]

Hi,

Thanks for your comment. Is there any configuering for COMODO after you install it to make it more secure? I checked out Online Armor. I am using Vista so I can't run that program-yet.

Are there any setting after you install COMODO to make it secure? I would aprecite some help.

Thanks,

[mphenterprises]

Hi Elijah. You already have a current Discussion open regarding the functionality of Comodo. Please refer all specific questions about that application to the Discussion. For those that may have missed Elijah's Discussion, here is the url:

http://forums.pcworld.com/thread/29684