Tools and other software Antivirus + Firewall for HTPC (3 Viewers)

[rtv]

AVG & NOD32
Fritz! web protect & m0n0wall

 

[rsbrux]

Hi *,
I see this thread's been inactive for a while, but I am reinstalling everything and wanted an update. I was using AVG Free w/XP firewall up 'til now. However, I find AVG's pop-up dialogs during updates irritating. I use Avast Home on my destop PC. It seems to get better ratings in reviews, and the pop-ups are less obtrusive, but I'm not sure I want the hassle of periodically getting a new key for my HTPC. This would also be an issue for me with paid subscription products like NOD32, even though they seem to perform better than the freeware/shareware products. Some websites on this subject also refer to Avira AntiVir, which nobody has mentioned here. What would you all recommend now, a year later?
TIA for your feedback!

BTW, I forgot to mention that I also have a HW firewall in my ADSL/WLAN router, otherwise I doubt that XP firewall would be sufficient. Also, this discussion has focussed pretty much on classic antivirus SW, yet more and more reviews suggest using ant-spyware such as Ad-Aware or Spybot S&D as well. What are your opinions on this?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

If you are solely using as a HTPC, I would not even bother using antivirus etc.

For pc still use avg + Spybot SD + Windows Firewall, have firewall activated on router as well.

Regards

 

[rsbrux]

Hi Ray,
Thanks for the feedback. I also use the HTPC for surfing the Internet, participating in this forum, looking for little utilities to make life easier. Since not all of the sites I visit or SW I install are as trustworthy as an Open-Source site with such a large and active community as MediaPortal's, I guess I'll stick with AVG Free.
I am still waffling about adding something like Spybot S&D.
Regards,
Roger

 

[Spragleknas]

cheetah05

Internet mainly, possibly borrowed discs.

Better to have protection, than have not.

If you are solely using as a HTPC, I would not even bother using antivirus etc.

For pc still use avg + Spybot SD + Windows Firewall, have firewall activated on router as well.

Regards

Hehe... changed your mind?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Yes can happen, saying that cannot remember last virus scan, or even Spybot scan that i have done, i just leave it to there live scanning functions.

Funny you can forget what you just said, what was this about.

 

[Gixxer]

i use mcafee as i got a legal license from my university. i had karspesky before and when i install mcafee i saw that kaspersky was not detecting some virus so i delete it. works pretty good

just stay away from norton, i got it free with my laptop and first thing i do when i recover my laptop is delete it.

in near future when i built my dedicated htpc i was thinking of no antivirus. cause if its really a dedicated pc only mp and windows updates will occure using internet. and i can just use network to check with my other computer just in case.

 

[mikael]

...I was using AVG Free w/XP firewall up 'til now. However, I find AVG's pop-up dialogs during updates irritating...

You can set AVG Free to update only on system startup and to display no popups when doing so. In this way you'll have a transparent virus protection that updates automatically and runs on low system resources...

 

[Deco]

^^^ What Mikael said

Been using AVG and Windows Firewall, no problems!

Deco.

 

[rsbrux]

mikael, Deco,
Thanks for the tip. I have disabled the notification, but I rarely restart my system. Usually, I leave it in Hibernate (S4) mode instead of shutting it down. How often do you guys restart your systems, and how?
TIA!