avg versus avast, which is best freeware antivirus

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Henley
  • Start date Start date
I'm not under the impression that AVG deals with any email system
except OE.
Click to expand...

It will work with Eudora - has a specific plugin for it, which Avast
apparently does not, according to their site documentation anyway.
I use Pegasus as well, wish that it did.
Click to expand...

Don't think AVG will work with Pegasus.
 
Mike said:
I've been impressed by avast to the extent that i uninstalled my
norton 2002 which i've kept updated but it intereferred with too many
things and crashed my system too often. Avast works well, found a few
viruses that microtrend housecall completely missedd, and i like a few
features such as the p2p and IM protection, the boottime virus check,
and the database thingie too.

I'm yet to try AVG but it looks interesting; i wonder which one of the
two, or if there's yet another free and nag-free antivirus that is
even better, is the best freeware antivirus. I wonder what you guys
think.
Click to expand...

My progression was NAV-AVG-Avast-AVG.

I could see little difference between AVG and Avast, other than AVG has
a better interface.

My reason for shifting back was after every program update, Avast tried
to call home. I dislike programs that do that so shifted back to AVG.

GA
 
I'm not under the impression that AVG deals with any email system
except OE.
Click to expand...

Indeed. And the normal AVG scans is unable to detect any virus
attachments stored in the pegasus mail because it's encoded. Some other
antiviruses (commerical) can do it though.

So I'm not sure what AVG was detecting. Perhaps you have saved some
attachments?


Aaron
 
Aaron - 15.10.2003 14:04 :
Indeed. And the normal AVG scans is unable to detect any virus
attachments stored in the pegasus mail because it's encoded. Some
other antiviruses (commerical) can do it though.
Click to expand...

which (even commercial) programs can handle email and emails with
attachments?

actually I'm using BitDefender6.5 that should do that but does'nt.

System: WinXP HOME SP1, Netscape7.1, BitDefender
 
Aaron said:
Indeed. And the normal AVG scans is unable to detect any virus
attachments stored in the pegasus mail because it's encoded. Some other
antiviruses (commerical) can do it though.

So I'm not sure what AVG was detecting. Perhaps you have saved some
attachments?


Aaron
Click to expand...
<snip>

You live and learn! What a catch 22 situation...use pegasus to try and avoid
the many security problems of OE (caused by hackers hate of all things M$)
and the freeware virus scanners won't protect you....use OE and you subject
yourself to the previously mentioned security problems!! Well I am back to
using OE and keeping updated with security fixes.
Regards
Dave
 
Maureen Goldman said:
I'm not under the impression that AVG deals with any email system
except OE. I use Pegasus as well, wish that it did. (There is a
Pegasus-related scanner that can be added for attachments when saved
or opened, which can be configured for the various AV types.)
Click to expand...

AVG works great with The Bat!. In fact, there's a specific AVG email
plug-in module, but I don't know if it's just for The Bat! or works with
other email software that handle plug-ins.

Steve . . .
 
wheelgat@c- said:
AVG works great with The Bat!. In fact, there's a specific AVG email
plug-in module, but I don't know if it's just for The Bat! or works with
other email software that handle plug-ins.

Steve . . .
Click to expand...
The Bat! is not freeware.

I currently use AVG antivirus and the e-mail program Kaufmans Mail
Warrior 3.61b. Is there any way to get it to work with AVG ( or Avast)
or some other freeware antivirus/freeware non-OE e-mail program
combination?

Thanks,

Mike
 
The plugin only works with OE5 and OE 5.5 AFAIK, it doesn't work with OE6,
email scanning is mostly miss. I use POPFile and AVG would see POPFile
working with the infected emails, but would not even alert the fact that OE
was getting them and archiving them.
It will work with Eudora - has a specific plugin for it, which Avast
apparently does not, according to their site documentation anyway.
Click to expand...

Avast does not use plugin's for email scanning but rather scans the email by
proxy. You can use this with almost any email client.
Don't think AVG will work with Pegasus.
Click to expand...

Probably works as well with Pegasus as it does with OE6.
HK
 
Gordon Abbot said:
My progression was NAV-AVG-Avast-AVG.

I could see little difference between AVG and Avast, other than AVG has
a better interface.

My reason for shifting back was after every program update, Avast tried
to call home. I dislike programs that do that so shifted back to AVG.
Click to expand...
My reason for shifting in the first place was that I was getting 50-60 swen
virus attachments per day as spam. With POPFile doing it's job, AVG would
bring up a dialog detecting the virus POPFile was working with. I was
forever clicking the Okay button to dismiss the dialogs. As I have OE check
the mail every 30 minutes, I was being interrupted while in the middle of
doing somethingm it proved to be quite a pain. With Avast, I can have the
warning silently dismiss itself, removiong the attachment from the email so
no damage can be done. AVG would not remove the attachment, nor would it
alert that OE was getting one, AVG only became aware of the virus when
POPFile tried to save it in it's archive. Althoug I believe that AVG is a
great product, and I have never had a technical problem with it, I think
that Avast does a way better job with email. JMO
HK
 
You live and learn! What a catch 22 situation...use pegasus to try and avoid
the many security problems of OE (caused by hackers hate of all things M$)
and the freeware virus scanners won't protect you....use OE and you subject
yourself to the previously mentioned security problems!! Well I am back to
using OE and keeping updated with security fixes.
Click to expand...

Seems you have more to learn then. Pegasus isn't subject to malware in
messages, and it doesn't allow you to Run file attackments. It's
perfectly safe to use out of the box. There's no way you can get
infected while using it. And no need for antivirus software while
using it.

You can Save attackments to a download folder and scan them on-demand
if you wish, but most email attachments from unsolicited sources
should simply be deleted. That's all there is to it. No need for
realtime antivirus at all.

Frankly, it's absurd to use either Outbreak or Outlook Depressed when
there are excellent and free alternatives which have been designed
with security in mind.

It's a similar situation with browsers. Eradicating IE (except for
unfortunate Win XP users) is the single most important thing a user
can do. Far more important than using alleged software "protection".


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg
 
Aaron - 15.10.2003 14:04 :


which (even commercial) programs can handle email and emails with
attachments?

actually I'm using BitDefender6.5 that should do that but does'nt.
Click to expand...

Does Bitdefender actually state that?

Sigh what a can of worms I opened. I was not implying that being able to
scan into pmail stored attachments is a big advanatage, in that form it
cannot be run, so it's harmless.

A (very) few antiviruses like KAV can actually scan it even in that form
,but it's not that big a deal.




Aaron
 
Seems you have more to learn then. Pegasus isn't subject to malware in
messages, and it doesn't allow you to Run file attackments. It's
perfectly safe to use out of the box. There's no way you can get
infected while using it. And no need for antivirus software while
using it.
Click to expand...

To add on, when Pegasus receives the attachments they are stored in a safe
form that cannot harm the computer, that is why most AV don't detect it.

You have to manually save it first and then RUN it. When you manually save
it outside Pmail, then all antiviruses including your realtime scanners
will scan it like a oridinary file.
and detect it.
But if you don't save it, it isnt harmful so it doesnt matter.

See? If it can harm you, AVG will pick it up, if it can't harm you, AVG
doesn't detect it.

You can Save attackments to a download folder and scan them on-demand
if you wish, but most email attachments from unsolicited sources
should simply be deleted. That's all there is to it. No need for
realtime antivirus at all.
Click to expand...

For those who are not as security minded as Art, leave your AVG resident
scanner on. Upon saving the attachments outside pegasus mail, if you try to
run it, the AVG scanner will get it.

But for those who can't stand the idea of a harmless attachment sitting on
your system and must remove it at the momemnt of download, switch to AVAST
it will support any email client using pop3.
 
The plugin only works with OE5 and OE 5.5 AFAIK, it doesn't work with OE6,
email scanning is mostly miss. I use POPFile and AVG would see POPFile
working with the infected emails, but would not even alert the fact that OE
was getting them and archiving them.


Avast does not use plugin's for email scanning but rather scans the email by
proxy. You can use this with almost any email client.
Click to expand...

Okay, that's good. Only problem I see with Avast vrs AVG then is the
lack of bootup scanning on Windows 98 (it will do it on 2000 and XP)
and a slightly less well designed interface.
Probably works as well with Pegasus as it does with OE6.
Click to expand...

If it scans using a proxy, then it should work with Pegasus.
 
Seems you have more to learn then. Pegasus isn't subject to malware in
messages, and it doesn't allow you to Run file attackments. It's
perfectly safe to use out of the box. There's no way you can get
infected while using it. And no need for antivirus software while
using it.

You can Save attackments to a download folder and scan them on-demand
if you wish, but most email attachments from unsolicited sources
should simply be deleted. That's all there is to it. No need for
realtime antivirus at all.

Frankly, it's absurd to use either Outbreak or Outlook Depressed when
there are excellent and free alternatives which have been designed
with security in mind.

It's a similar situation with browsers. Eradicating IE (except for
unfortunate Win XP users) is the single most important thing a user
can do. Far more important than using alleged software "protection".


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg
Click to expand...

All well and good to say I need to learn more but I had to go no the info I
could google at the time.. I didn't open any attachments just the Pegasus
program. On opening it (offline) the message containing the virus (according
to AVG) kept multiplying in the inbox. As AVG notified me of the worm and it
seemed to my ignorant self to be actively operating I presumed the worse. I
couldn't find any information to tell me when not to worry so I acted with
the presumption that the information about the worm that stated a keylogger
and other components could be installed and hidden with random names was too
dangerous to chance the fallibility of the antivirus software I used. Being
a mere mortal with only an average knowledge of how the software I use works
I decided to start at the beginning as the best option. I forgot to mention
that the other 4 family members who use the computer are even less computer
literate than I am which is exactly what M$ count on. I got sick of
instructing them on new interfaces for freeware and have decided to
minimalise the amount I install to those programs I use myself. M$ have done
an excellent job at making their GUI uniform and relatively easy for the
average user to go from home to work or school. When I get my laptop back
(on loan to my son) I won't have to worry and the family computer can
degenerate into M$ oblivion.
Regards
Dave
 
I'm yet to try AVG but it looks interesting; i wonder which one of the
two, or if there's yet another free and nag-free antivirus that is
even better, is the best freeware antivirus
Click to expand...

I use both: I've scheduled AVG check of "\system32" at every startup,
while I use Avast for realtime protection & email.
I also use AVG for automatic control of downloaded files (by
StarDownloader).

Simone
___________________________________________________________________________

" Avercela con i qualunquisti, è una forma di qualunquismo ? "
 
Aaron - 15.10.2003 14:04 :


which (even commercial) programs can handle email and emails with
attachments?

actually I'm using BitDefender6.5 that should do that but does'nt.
Click to expand...

For what's it worth I notice that F prot Dos does now.
 
@Quote(I'm not under the impression that AVG deals with any email system
except OE.).. etc.
To avoid email/virus problems, use a text-only program.
You can also choose to first check with that one,
and then use your normal program after suspicious stuff is deleted.
I use Mailmoa (www.moazon.com) all the time for my email.
So then, no email scanning is necesarry.
By the way, I use AVG.
 
Back
Top