Lazybit - Latest comments on Why I don't use an antivirus

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

mobile phone [Visitor] — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:17:32 +0000

Yea I have never had a anti virus. Actually because i couldnt afford it (I didnt know about free ones) and I got sick of all the updates and popups from the antivirus free try that came with my computer. So far my computer runs better than my husbands breand new laptop whch has anti virus software on it. That and you can go on the internet and read mail on your phone and those dont have antivirus software.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

Jose Manuel - [Visitor] — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:33:59 +0000

Agree 100% with what you say.
I work on IT since 95 and never used AV, they are "worse than viruses", because freeze the system when you most need it :) round-the-clock.
Despite all precautions, just browsing "untrusted" sites, eventually my computer gets infected. I notice this pretty quickly because the system runs slowly, then I use task manager to identify the process and autoruns to analyze the programs started automatically and that's it.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

ron smith [Visitor] — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:17:32 +0000

I had a lecture I gave all of my CAD/CAM students about viruses. I had them bring the wort baddest most nasty thing the could find and put it on a CD. They about flipped when I put all of those files in a folder marked "do not execute". At the end of the semester I deleted the folder and ran an antivirus scan. Of course nothing.
The above article is a very good piece and it should be mandatory for sisters and mothers who freak over such things like ten year olds.
The only thing I would add to the article is a bit on Norton Ghost, which should you make a mistake and get infected, has daily recovery points by which you can go back to some period that was known to be clean and then "completely" rebuild everything bit by bit without any interference from Microsoft.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

sdfsd [Visitor] — Fri, 28 May 2010 07:35:35 +0000

There are plenty of free anti-virus programs, and they're not all bloated and slow like Norton.

Avast for example is effective, free and relatively light weight.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

fromusofa [Visitor] — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:04:38 +0000

I 've never used any antivirus or any other type of security software...nor I have any firewall(hardware or software) installed on my computer..and no automatic updates, no indexing, no bullshit, no unnecessary services or programs running in the backgroun that I don't regularly use ...I just load core OS, an internet browser snd classic media player...and just read my emails, news, watch few videos...including porn and that's it. never had any trouble but if things ever go wrong I can just re image the machine in few mins and I am back online again...so why bother with rest of bullshit....my machine is ready to browse the web in less than 30 secs after turning it on and when I shutdown it gets turned off in 10 secs or less....bye bye.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

Wizard Prang [Visitor] — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:48:16 +0000

Lots of good info here (even you, Nate);

In the past, I have used AVG Free, though I use Firefox w/NoScript for most of my surfing.

Those who are disciplined with where they go and what they allow on their machine can manage with an AV; for those who can't control their surfing habits, a dualboot with Linux might be a good idea.

I've started using Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free, and doesn't seem to have an appreciable effect on machine speed.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

Frostbite [Visitor] — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:13:07 +0000

I haven't used it in over 5 years myself either. I just did my once a year scan and found 35 "infected" files which just turned out to be modified cheat engines I use. I don't really have a need for antivirus, ever since the update back in XP that added a mandatory firewall I haven't had any issues. Also helps to have a router.

In response to: Why I don't use an antivirus

Alex [Member] — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:01:09 +0000

Smythrj, you bring a good point, but I must say that it doesn't mean that a consequence of that should be the installation of a cumbersome antivirus that can convert a modern system into a turtle.

The article advocates the use of common sense - which is a 100% positive thing to do.

"Just cause you cant see it doesn't mean its not there."
Nor does it mean that it is there. Using the same logic one could argue that god exists simply because we don't see him/her/it.

Alexander Ewering, you bring a very good point. You wrote yourself that the problem is in the software that is not handling the data correctly. It is a matter of software design - those who write programs that naively assume that they receive "good" input will eventually get what they deserve.

So the morale of the story is that people should be picky about the programs they use.

Nate, as another reader pointed out, you shouldn't be using Internet Explorer in the first place. But even if you do, the installation of an ActiveX component requires human intervention - you have to click on "yes, install it". Clicking on things without reading about them is stupid, but a minimal dose of common sense cures that.