Kaspersky Internet Sour
I get a couple of computer magazines on a monthly basis. I may revise that now that the business is gone, but in the meantime…………
The last edition I received of one of the magazines came with a DVD attached with a three month trial of Kaspersky Internet Security. It seemed like a reasonable package, and with three months to run, I felt I had nothing to lose.
I installed it, and it rather high headedly insisted that I remove my current antivirus package and switch off all firewalls. I was prepared to live with that however, and let it do its business.
I must say, I was very impressed with its features. It seemed to take a belt and braces approach which is not a bad thing. For example, it would flash up any arriving email for my approval, and even then it would scan it. If it was suspicious of any (legitimate) program, it gave the option of running that program in a sandbox, thus quarantining it.
The more I looked into the program, the more I liked what I saw and decided that I would let it run its three months, and then I would subscribe.
The next day, I went to open an application (I think it was Word) and it took an age. I’m talking maybe five minutes to open. This concerned me, and my first thought was that something had gone wrong and an errant program somewhere was hogging too much memory, despite all the warning lights being in the green. I decided to reboot anyway, as that can’t do any harm.
Rebooting took about ten minutes. This is a fairly clean machine with 2Gb of memory and a duel core Pentium, so rebooting should be slightly faster than that?
My next thought was that a virus had crept in while Kaspersky was installing. I fired up a full scan.
Twenty minutes later, the scan gauge still showed 0% progress.
For the next few hours, work on the machine was next to impossible. Simple operations, like opening Firefox took maybe ten minutes. Something somewhere was obviously preventing anything from running. By now I was getting worried.
I began to get a wee bit suspicious about my new found friend Kaspersky, so I removed it.
I reinstalled my old antivirus of choice – Avast, and rebooted.
It flew through the process! Programmes loaded like lightening and all was well with the world again.
My machine has been running very happily since.
My conclusions?
Alwil’s Avast – Thumbs up. I’m sorry I doubted you.
Kaspersky – Excellent CD for playing Frisbee with the dog..
It’s nearly three years old, but this page shows the sort of damage to performance virus scanners can do, and how much variation there can be: http://www.thepcspy.com/read/what_really_slows_windows_down/5
Must… not… mention… other… OSs… 😉
That is an intersting piece of research! It’s a pity it’s dated but I notice Avast is way down the list!! 😉
We’ve been using Avast for some time now. It’s very reliable. It just sits there on its stool, checking IDs and not letting in too many guys. Never a complaint. Once in a while it has to bounce some asshole because the asshole is groping a blond and arguing with the bartender, but he gets em’ out quick and quietly, with little fuss.
On top of that, the other workers go about their jobs and hardly notice him.
I have been using Avast for years now and have had no problems with it. Considering its price (free!!) it is somewhat untouchable. That’s what I get for reinventing the wheel!
Been using Avast myself ever since discovering it on the client computers when I worked in the local Internet cafe.
I tell you, it’s done a hell of a job since then. Much better than that McAfee shit that came pre-installed, or even… *shudders* Norton…
Every time I buy a new latop/PC [sounds good? Doesn’t it] the very first thing I do is strip off whatever damned antivirus package they have lumbered me with.
I used to use AVG but had a couple of problems with that. Leastwise, I have no complaints about Avast. Yet.
A wise man knows what tools need to be used for the job at hand. (some anonymous wise guy said that I suppose).
Be that as it way, I’ve been using Avast! for over two years now since giving up on Panda Security Suite which used to do a fine job but became more bloated with each new version. Now I have my “never update/never change my software…ever!” wife using it also. Amazing how much faster her PC runs and how fast the Innerweb has become.
Ummm, is there a “Subscribe to Comments” check box around here somewhere or am I missing the obvious?
The near disaster today was caused by removing a load of stuff that was no longer needed for the business. This in turn led to a lot of crud lying around – hence the reinstall. You can’t beat a lean machine!
‘Subscribe’ seems to have been a casualty of the server move. It’s back up. 😉
Ah, good. I shall make use of it then. BTW, for keeping your Windows install nice and clean I recommend CCleaner (of course) for the basic garbage left lying around on a daily basis and “Revo Uninstaller” for making sure that when you remove a program it removes everything not just some of it. It’s freeware and works like a charm.
Thanks for that Kirk, though there is nothing so thorough as a good spring clean. Apart from anything else, I find I think long and hard about installing any software after!