Comments on: Is Antivirus Software Really Necessary?

By: Adam S

Adam S — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:25:03 +0000

So has everyone. There are regularly zero-day exploits in Flash swfs. There are still CDs out there with rootkits. There are USB drives shipped with viruses. I don't doubt many people run for years without ever getting a virus or malware, but I still think it's silly to try.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:01:18 +0000

I've used Windows XP successfully for more than 8 years without antivirus software and have never gotten a computer virus (based on the fact that I've experienced no usability problems and never seen any suspicious activity on my router). The few times that I ever installed virus software, it caused far too many usability issues to be worth it. I'm honestly confused how people manage to get themselves infected – what exactly are you all running on your computer?

By: Anders Bo

Anders Bo — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:21:52 +0000

Antivirus is not nessesary. What is important is:

1. To be behind a Router

2. To keep all programs updated.

3. To have some antivirus in your email, e.g. by using gmail, hotmail, google apps mail, or some other provider with built in security. Almost all email have that already.

Then you say what if you run ActiveX, or install programs. ActiveX og instaling programmers are the same, you then give the program or the ActiveX 100% control over your computer. You need to trust the vendor of the software you run and take care. If you want to use antivirus like a huge database over dangerues exe files then its a good thing. But besides that its mosly some kind of money machine for the antivirus company. And besides that is making you computer slower, and can give other types of problem.

By: Adam S

Adam S — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:57:39 +0000

For the record, I don’t believe that I’m really suceptiple to viruses because I consider myself a smart user, but I don’t run without it, because I just think it’s silly NOT to use it.

I get the point. I just don’t think that “because I’m too smart to get a virus” is a good enough reason not to use it when it’s free, unobtrusive, and available.

By: Markus Berg

Markus Berg — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 12:45:38 +0000

You and I apparently have very different usage patterns. I rarely get executables as mail attachments, and when I do I certainly never run them (not even the ones from my family). I don’t download and run random apps off the internet. I have a very select list of priviledged Java apps and ActiveX controls that I allow to run (flash, online banking, vpn… off the top of my head…). Also, I’m behind a NAT router.

On the other hand, I only keep my WinXP-vmware image running for those pesky sites and programs that don’t function properly on this amd64 Fedora host (primarily youtube ). Also, I dual boot occasionally to play Counter Strike, but my point is that I could use it as my primary environment.

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:11:31 +0000

You don’t need AV. I think that either using popular freeware or legally-bought software will keep a Windows PC relatively healthy. Then *occasionally* run an antivirus (do not have shields on to the memory at all times), once a month run adaware’s anti-spyware app and be careful what attachments you open with OE. This strategy has kept my XP completely clean of viruses and spyware for years now.

By: Thom Holwerda

Thom Holwerda — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 03:43:44 +0000

In all honesty, my two Windows XP installs (on my laptop and on my desktop) don’t have AV software installed either. I don’t use these two installs very often (I use Linux mainly because Windows can’t have the titlebar buttons arranged MY way nor can it have doubleclick titlebar=minimise), so I never bothered with it. To be frank: I just don’t give a damn. You’re fighting an uphill battle anyway.

I do have anti spyware, though.