Any free good virus scanners working under XP 2600?

[pr-man 1]

?

[pr-man 1]

anyone tried this one under XP?

 

http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_downl.cfm

[pr-man 1]

hmm says at install not compatible

[jaywallen 0]

Yes, be careful with the Grisoft product. I've had some conversations with tech support over both their commercial and freeware versions. Although they claim that the latest freeware version works properly under WinXP I have not been able to get it to do so. Installing an older version under RC2 caused system failures on one test machine from which I had to recover by booting in Safe Mode, uninstalling the AVG software, and then STILL having to resort to a restore to a previous configuration. No real harm since the OS does an admirable job of protecting itself, but it was pretty annoying.

 

I had one notebook running a 2600 (legitimate) which appeared to take the AVG installation just fine, and there were no immediate problems on reboot. But system behavioral problems did start cropping up, and they all traced back to the anti-virus. I removed it, and the problems went away.

 

I'm using the old InoculateIT PE (withOUT the on access scanner running since it isn't compatible) on my personal machines and am being very careful about my handling of files, attachments, etc. CA's replacement product for InoculateIT PE, the commercial EZ Armor thing, still isn't compatible with WinXP, though they say they will have a compatible system out by the end of October.

 

I think most AV software, commercial or otherwise, is having a problem with WinXP's method of loading drivers in parallel since they may require a specific order of loading in order to get their on access scanners to work properly. This is probably also the problem with much of the firewall software like Zone Alarm.

 

At least that's the way it looks from my chair.

 

Regards,

Jim

[pr-man 1]

hehe Jay you may want to tell them that, look what they emailed to me as a response

 

Under Windows XP,

 

there could be warning "the software is not compatible with

 

Windows XP" - in such case, please ignore the warning and

 

install the software anyway. We can support Windows XP

 

since version AVG Anti-Virus 6.0.273

[jaywallen 0]

Hi,

 

Yeah, that's the same canned response I got AFTER I reported the problem to them!!! I hope they pull their heads out soon!

 

Regards,

Jim

[JBoDEAN 0]

Why are 3 seperate posts regarding virus scanners in xp, of the same topic required PR MAN?

 

 

ONE post is enough

[jaywallen 0]

Beg your pardon. Are you official thread police or something? Give the guy some slack. No one was answering.

[JBoDEAN 0]

Im just saying, if you look at the main page, there are AT LEAST 4 threads, all with replies, dealing with the SAME THING.

 

VIRUS PROGRAMS FOR XP! One post, guy even has a list of what DOES and DOESN'T work.

 

;(

[jaywallen 0]

I repeat the question. Are you official thread police or something? It's not like this forum is exactly overrun with posts. And it's not as though there was any definitive information about freeware programs in any of the other threads pertaining to this issue.

 

While it may be true that there's nothing wrong with looking around and / or searching before posting, there's also nothing wrong with a little civility. I imagine the forum moderators can handle the task of dealing with duplicate threads, thread drift and the other slightly irksome minor details of netiquette without help from self-appointed forum marshalls. We're talking about a few lines of text here. Not bandwidth hogging. In the grand scheme of things, your point is Lilliputian. Is it the type of thing you would bring up when face-to-face with people? If not, then I don't see the need to bring it up in a message base. And if you do make a point of correcting people in this manner when face-to-face with them, I'd be surprised if you have all of your teeth.

 

Regards,

Jim

[ofelas 0]

Hear, hear; gotta agree with jaywallen.

 

To answer the original question-Sophos Anti Virus works incredibly well under both Win2000 & WinXP; it is aimed at NT based OSs.

 

You can download a fully functional eval at http://www.sophos.com

 

You can get free e-mail notifications of new viruses & links to download their antidote files, and while each eval copy expires in 90 days, you are prompted to download & install another eval copy (also free & fully functional) to use for the next 90 days.

 

No nag windows or popups, and it's caught viruses which Norton products have missed.

 

Hope this helps.

 

BTW, JPW, how the heck have you been ?!

 

ZA & ZA Pro have about a 50% success rate of loading up on my Latitude C810 running WinXP Pro (legit Dell Preferred Partner copy)

 

So, I run Norton Personal Firewall 2002 on my XP notebooks-not my favorite software vendor, but the firewall works flawlessly under XP...

[jaywallen 0]

Hi, ofelas!

 

I suppose I'm cranky today.

 

Thank you for posting that link. I had forgot about them.

 

Regards,

Jim

[ofelas 0]

Oops...just edited my earlier post & saved, only to see you'd already replied...

 

Yup, was cranky earlier due to burning problems under XP...but got them all sorted out now.

 

Then, also, without diving into long winded political discussions here on my end, the current events haven't been too helpful; been having long secure discussions with my recent former colleagues..

 

Take care, friend,

 

Chip

[jaywallen 0]

Be safe, friend. Be safe, everybody!

[pr-man 1]

thx guys, actually i did try to delete the other post I made but it would not let me.

[jaywallen 0]

Sweatus minimus.

 

 

I hope you find something that works for you. Be careful when installing, believe the warnings, and remember that Safe Mode and an immediate uninstall can be your best friend if you experience troublees following an installation.

 

Regards,

Jim