How many of you techies believe that Virus Protection Software.....

[Mr._johngalt]

What does your local PC guy charge? I've always avoided non-business support because if I charge enough that I'm not wasting my time I feel like I'm fleecing them.

I have no frame of reference, but he is a very low budget operation.
In my case, any kind of computer problem is referred to DW first.
If she can't fix it, I have no choice but to send it out, having no computer
skills whatsoever as was recently demonstrated. I am also at their
mercy when they bill me. I have no way to know what is reasonable
so I just pay.

JG

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I've never used virus protection, and I've never had a virus. I do a scan every once in while with ad-aware, but that's about it. There are basically three ways for you to become infected:

1) Download a virus or run some unknown email attachment. Not something I'd do.

2) Read email or visit a website that exploits some microsoft bug. I don't use an HTML mail reader, I apply security patches often, and I only surf "safe" porn sites.

3) Get hacked. My internal network is NAT'd, which is enough of a firewall for me.

Yeah, I'm somewhat vulnerable, but I'm also vulnerable to identity theft due to my credit card use. Convenience and performance trumps paranoia.

While virus software and antispyware software takes a little performance away and can occasionally cause other problems, I can think of no worse advice than going 'bare' and relying on a NAT firewall (even a good one) as adequate protection. Unless the machine has no viable information, isnt used for any important transactions, and can be restored quickly and easily.

There are root viruses and spyware that arent even detected by current software, let alone removed. You may have several 'occupants' and not even be aware of it. There are viruses that can be picked up by paying an mp3 or a video stream. Opening a web site. Installing software from even trusted sources.

I ran Norton for awhile until Comcast started offering free mcafee, and I've been running microsoft antispyware even prior to them acquiring Giant Antispyware. Highly recommended.

This reminds me of an old pals saying "Just because you ran across the highway 20 times with a bag over your head and nothing bad happened to you doesnt mean its a good idea". Or safe.

 

[MJ]

It rebooted fine, so you're off the hook.

Notice any difference?

 

[Dry Socks]

Notice any difference?

If it's the connection to a DVD player, you'd probably only see a difference if playing a DVD movie.

 

[TromboneAl]

Notice any difference?

No, I haven't. Could be that the CD drive is faster, but who knows? I'm too lazy to open up the machine and see what's connected where.