I'm creating this thread to answer my own question and also set up a goto resource for the tech savy members to help the less savy members. I.E. myself.

After suffering from an annoying virus I had the hard drive wiped and windows xp reinstalled, along with some more ram to increase the speed. Now that everything is fresh and new I'm looking for a good antivirus program that isn't going to hog all of my resources. What are the recommendations from those s2ki computer guys?

 

Microsoft Security Essentials is good and is free. Also, make sure your computer is up to date with all the service packs and other updates installed, and switch your browser from IE to firefox or chrome if you haven't. Other than that, using common sense should keep things under wraps.



Or this

 

ok first off get rid of XP that is the worse operating system and has more virus than miatas at track days. get windows 7 at least. and avast! is a very good anti-virus as well as AVG both can be found at download.com for safe download at a good known source. but I tend to lean towards AVG. others like norton or mcaffe are garbage and are to taxing on the systems resources(memory, processor, chip set) and slow internet usage not to mention cost money where as avast! and AVG are free to normal users because they use you to make their paid for accounts such as large corporations who need to protect sensitive and confidential stuff and keep it safe, by using the general public to find new viruses. like tommy said use firefox or google chrome they tend to be faster while browsing.

 

Whatever you do, never use Trend Micro. I work in the IT field, and we have a huge virus,Trojan,malware breakout at my company.

 

How do people like firefox vs. chrome? I haven't tried chrome but used firefox in the past.

Previously I used AVG but wasn't really that impressed. I'm asking now so I can stick with whatever antivirus I end up using in the future. XP will be staying.

Has anyone used vipre? I was recommended that by one computer guy. Really wanted to verify before jumping in on one guys opinion.

 

I prefer Chrome, but in the end you are going to like whatever you're used to. They are both good.

 

Everything VPS said was pretty accurate. Norton is a huge resource hog but also gets more positive hits than other brands, but is it worth it? not for the average user. McAfee has a bunch of issues and is a resource hog as well. AVG is good and won't really slow down your PC, but it's a little annoying because it alerts you for every little thing so you need to be comfy with changing the settings to get it right for you. There are other solutions such as webroot which are also very powerful. I personally don't run any anti-virus software because of my router, firewall, home network setup, but I'm a nerd.

 

I'm another proponent of Avast, advising all my family members to use it (or else I won't perform any other PC support for them ). Its free, updates its virus definitions quite regularly, scans 24/7...and most impressively, across ~ 8 family members, plus my own PCs...zero infections over 4years running now.
I also encourage folks to utilize MalwareBytes. Not anti-virus, per se, but anti-malware...and maintains a good definition set, thus far. It too offers a free version. However, the free version places more responsibility on the individual -- to manually update its definition set...and to manually run/scan the product for malware.
Both items can be downloaded at www. downloads.com (you close the space...I didn't want to link in case new s2ki.com owners have isseues with that).
- Dave

 

I agree with VPS_AP1 about AVG. I have heard good things about Avast too, but I haven't used it.

Here's my tips.

I use only AVG on every desktop/laptop. The free version.
I use Ad blocker for Firefox.
I use Peer Guardian for Torrents.
I use SpyBot for the occassional scan. I don't use or install the system Tea Timer, but I do use the host file poisoning that they call Immunization.
I Do NOT allow third party cookies / Prompt for all cookies. This might be annoying to some to constantly accept/deny cookies on new sites.
I Do NOT allow pop-ups on any sites other than ones I trust.
I occassionally use MalwareBytes.
I use the default windows software firewall.
I have no port forwarding on my router's firewall (PnP only).
Every so often, I go through the registry and remove things that start-up automatically in the background (Quicktime, Adobe Speed Launcher, etc).
-HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
-HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Once
-HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
-HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Once

 

why do you wanna keep XP? is it you cant justify spending for windows 7 or is there a program that you have hat wont work on anything but XP?
if you didnt like AVG go with avast! I have it on 3/4 of my computers and love it but it all depends on which one you like. if you want whenever i can find time to come and get that stuff done to the front of my car and head lights that we talked about during the parade laps. I got windows 7 that I can get to you for free.