PC-Cillin v. AVG and Zone Alarm

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GWM

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For several years I have used PC-Cillin Internet Security on my home computer and the corporate edition of AVG on my office computer. Both seem to work well. In the past I have have not switched my home computer to the free version of AVG because I liked the idea of being behind a firewall. I have recently read positive reviews respecting the Zone Alarm fire wall. My registration for PC_Cillin is coming up for renewal again and I am contemplating on switching from PC-Cillin to the free versions of AVG and Zone Alarm. Does anyone have any advice on whether I should switch and the pros or cons of either setup.

Thanks

GWM
 
You could also look at Outpost Firewall, it is more customizable than ZA and I prefer using it. It doesnt however make too much of a difference, but you are going to be using the free version of ZA, which is not all that good. I would probably suggest Outpost over free ZA.

Nice thing about Outpost is that it also contains (optionally, you can disable any extra feature) antispyware, adblocking (for all browsers and even MSN!) and a few other features.

AVG is a pretty good firewall, infact probably the best free one. But if you want to pay for/crack a AV then get Kaspersky or NOD 32, both are a better option and detect and eliminate more viruses than AVG.

I havent used PC-Cillin personaaly but I dont think it is very good, probably a recourse hog, you can check out www.av-comparatives.org for comparisons and info.
 
Thanks for the reply Ekhaatvensters. I have a friend who is using the AVG Home Edition and we are going to setup the Outpost Firewall on her computer to see how it works. You reference to PC-Cillin probably being a resource hog raised a concern I have about whether a separate antivirus program and a separate firewall would use more computer's resources than PC-Cillin.

I checked out www.av-comparatives.org. No mention was made of PC-Cillin so I looked further. I found a favourable comparison chart, positive reviews like this one. and a less favourable comparison chart. I found a review where PC-Cillin was not recommended (I would provide a link but don't see the site in my history). I also came across a forum reviewing PC-Cillin and this "mini review", both of which generated a lot of discussion.

After all of that, I still don't know what I'm going to do. I suspect that there are no clear answers, but appreciate the suggestions.
 
Ja, its hard to decied. Every second review changes your feelings towards a product. But in general Kaspersky and NOD 32 really are the best AV programs out there.

Kaspersky Security Suite also has a built in firewall and antispyware, so its a full package and a very good one apparently, especially v6 which is still in Beta but useable. But it is pay, however you can just enter a serial off the net with no hassles. If you dont mind that kind of thing...

The only problem with Outpost is that you will find it asking you to very program changes every few minutes when your using alot of applications. But ZA also pops up quite freequently with permissions.
However you can change everythig with Outpost and once set up you can have it run in the background silently so it will use up almost no system recourses.
 
"in general Kaspersky and NOD 32 really are the best AV programs out there"

Thanks - I will check them out as well.
 
I would personally go for Avg and zone alarm together. Probably the easiest and best setup to have free. I haven't had a virus on this setup that has ever caused damage to my system or any other problems.

My friend just got a downloader program that downloads crap off the internet without u noticing it. Like visuses, had he had zone Alarm, it never would have worked cause u first have to give th program access from Zonealarm. Thats what I like about this setup, you have complete control.
 
I would go for AVG and sygate ... both are free :) .... and not as resource intensive as zone alarm for example
 
Is anyone familiar with Kerio Personal Firewall 4. This PCMag reviewer preferred it to Sygate, Outpost and Zone Alarm!
 
Funny how nobody mentioned Avast. You folks got anything against it? I only ask because I've been using it (I'm an ex-AVG user), and love the integrated IM AV protection, as well as network (when I shut down my firewall :eek: I get messages that it is blocking intrusion attempts), P2P and the usual POP3 and Exchange protection. It is quick and easy to setup, and I've had no problems with it.

Why the deathly silence then?

Oh, and is it me, or has Agnitium removed their freeware solution (OutPost)?
 
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avr-rulez said:
With plenty of spent P3 pc's lying around - why not get a Linux firewall - like Smoothwall and use the old p3 as a dedicated Firewall , certainly no resources taken from your pc. Check out http://smoothwall.org/
Click to expand...

I like that idea & will definitely keep it in mind should I get access to an extra pc.
 
I have tried Avast and have noting against it, I just prefer using NOD 32 (absoloutley minimal recources) which has better detection and coupling that with a seperate firewall that is more specialised than the built in firewall of Avast.

BTW, when I had ZA it would sometimes (only started happening very recently before i switch from ZA) get disabled. A message would come up after a few seconds saying that the "Vector True internet monitor was disabled, do you want to re-enable".

But this was the work of a malicous program disabliung the firewal so that it can have free access, if you look at that review of avast you will see under cons that it is also easily disabled. If you firewall can be disabled then there is no point in it.
 
Trend Micro Internet Security?

I see in the "antivirus software?" thread these posts re recommended AV software:

w1z4rd said:
trend internet security is about the best option. Just STAY AWAY FROM NORTONS!!!!! and you will be fine.

I currently trying out AVANT, as the MS one touch AV failed me, and I no longer have faith in it.
Click to expand...

nGAGEd55 said:
I also recommend Trend Micro Internet Security, or Kaspersky
Click to expand...

Has anyone else had any positive or negative experiences with Trend Micro Internet Secutiy?
 
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GWM said:
...Has anyone else had any positive or negative experiences with Trend Micro Internet Secutiy?
Click to expand...
i started using pccillin internet security on my home pc because absa (yes, i do bank with them :)) were providing it for free to their customers (and they still are, actually). it's worked pretty well for me - haven't had any problems with it. and i like the fact that it also has a firewall and spyware protection, so i don't need separate apps for that. cnet gives it a rating of 7.8, btw (2006 version)
 
I would definitely recommend

1. Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 ( Firewall/Spyware/Spam included )
2. NOD32
3. BitDefender ( Firewall included )

Free: AntiVir, AVG

Tested earlier this week the Netgear DG834UK Router with the integrated Trend Micro technology at a client's office & it was solid.
Good investment - http://www.netgear.com/products/details/DG834.php

Regards,
 
I would almost go as far as to recommend against PC-cillin. I have found that it makes me pc somewhat unstable and chows resources. Where AVG doesn't use close to as much resources. PC-cillin is also quite buggy and have had many problems with it before.
 
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