General Discussion

i came across this today:

http://www.bitdefender.com/media/html/gamesafe.html

and what i am wondering is:

1. are we really that naive?

2. do they actually expect us to believe this offers as much protection as norton?

3. when you play do you use antivirus? or do you use antivirus at all?? my logic is if it is a "gaming rig" chances are people are not sitting infront of it looking for ways to get viruses. also i see TONS of problems from game to game with antivirus, spyware, firewall software being the root of peoples problems.

4. would anyone even buy this? i mean if it is equal to conventional antivirus then why use any of the others with their massive footprints?

and finally..

5. are you insulted by companies that put "extreme" or "gaming" or "sli/crossfire certified" on products thinking that the average gamer is just stupid enough to let THAT be the deciding factor in what products they buy? i know i am.

1. Yes, many people are that naive.

2. You just showed how naive you are by thinking Norton is even worth mentioning their name. Norton is one of the worst out there...and you pay a subscription for it pffft!

Bit defender isn't terrible, but its not great either. It was, however, one of the first anti virus programs to make a 64bit compatible version. Now thankfully AVG and some of the others have caught up.

3. About the only time I am not running some sort of anti-virus program is when doing fresh installs of my software. I won't even turn it off to update games unless it is giving me problems, in which case I'll disable it until I am done. Connecting to the internet without an antivirus running is like having one night stands without a condom.

I wouldn't touch Norton or McAfee with YOUR computer.

Norton sucks. I prefer Avast!, AVG is good too, but I just like Avast! better. Both are free and both just plain work. Unfortunatley, Vista has issues with some programs and I've been forced to use Microsoft OneCare, and I HATE it.

Norton Antivirus , should itself be labeled virus !

It is impossible to uninstall it. You need special 3rd party program just to remove Norton

Atop of that , it does nothing, offers laughable protection , eats up ton of resources !

So please do not mention Norton never again.

I presonally am using AVG. Its completely free. And it among best antivirus software.

Kaspersky , that is considered the best, is also a system hog.. do not use it.

Bit Defender is quite good aswell.

Anti-Virus Software Reviews

I currently use BitDefender, but I use the Internet Security version as I already know how to do the other cleaning tasks the Total Security version offers. I have also used Kasperksy and both programs are very good.

BitDefender Game Safe sounds like a good idea in my opinion. Ever happen to be in a group for somewhere and the tank goes afk or something? Instead of just staring at your computer some people rather alt tab and surf around random places. So if you stick BitDefender in Game Safe Mode it doesn't auto update while gaming or hog up your memory. Unfortunately Kaspersky did not have this option and while I did have automatic updates turned off it still slightly slowed down my internet connection as it scans everything coming in.

That list of features you linked is either wrong or outdated. The reason I picked Norton 360 v2 (and left zone alarm internet suite) is the guaranteed vista 64bit support, which according to that link, it's non existent.

NOD32; get it and u will never again think of another one..

Norton aint that bad what i heard, back in the days there were alot of shit with norton and it used to be a system hog. Today Norton should be alot better but why settle with something less then the best. ;)

That link was just the first one I clicked on when I did a Google search. After looking around a lot of those sites I noticed are from either Jan. '08 or earlier. Here's a more recent list I found that ranks them: C-net Anti-Virus Software List

BitDefender isn't even up there, but I definately trust it as I go to a lot of non secure sites and have tested it quite a bit.

actually i use nothing, i havent had a virus in like 5 years at least. i dont know what kind of 1 night stands you go in for but if she is that much of a skank i stay way far away from it.

i used norton as a prime example since it is generally thought to be the industry standard (ya know for people who own pc's, not use them). to me ANY antivirus is a waste of resources, i can reinstall vista and all the drivers faster than i can scan 1TB and there is no less than #0 (which is how much sys resources are gobbled up by NOT using anything). of course THIS machine is a single user gaming rig, the others are 2 user and 1 is a media box the other is for web browsing and word processing. (so yea no kiddies looking for hacks or porn)

IF something is even remotely suspect i use this:

http://virusscan.jotti.org/

and nothing ever hits.

what im thinking more is would you buy special antivirus (based on that link) for gamers? whatever you use is...well i guess it must work for you (i think most of you are REAL paranoid). im sure there is a thread somewhere where people play the "my antivirus is better" game. thats not what i was going for, though i suppose i have learned some things.

now to my lab where i am going to cook up some "crossfire certified" energy drinks and "gamer edition" pork rinds, because it is so on!