anti virus

@deadguy Said
email software my have vulnerabilities...so it's not necessary for you to even click on the email title to activate the virus. Even if it's in the bulk folder you still download the infected file (which may be a simple script in a picture) and you are infected.

these are not "scare tactics"...these are reality

@jonnythan Said
Then explain how I use IE, Outlook Express, and Thunderbird and have never, ever been infected on any of half a dozen computers?

The fact is that it's very easy *not* to get infected with viruses if you simply use your head.

@deadguy Said
I recommend Zone Alarm Security Suite: it features a 3 level firewall, email protection, antivirus and antispyware. The good thing about it is that it doesn't slow down your computer at all (i even tested it on a computer with a 800 Hz Duron processor and 64 mb of RAM and it didn't slow it down at all)

@bandylank Said
I recomend you DONT use ZoneAlarm or anything from ZoneLabs, f***ed my computer and now blocls all net traffic on my flatmates even though its uninstalled.

@jonnythan Said
That's really all it takes. Use your head. If I don't trust something not to contain a virus, in the vast majority of cases I simply won't use it. In the other cases, I will save it to my computer, then scan it for viruses. End of story. Virus-free for 10 years and running.

@jonnythan Said
*groan*

Get off it, man.

I run a single scheduled full-system virus scan once a week using Clamwin. Never found a single virus.

Before that, I would do a once-a-month scan using Trend Micro's highly rated free online virus scanner. Never found a thing.

I also do a once-a-month full system scan with Ad-Aware and another with Spybot. Never found a thing except tracking cookies.

I properly secure my network and my machine. I don't open untrusted email attachments. I don't run random ActiveX controls. I don't run random executables from the internet.

That's really all it takes. Use your head. If I don't trust something not to contain a virus, in the vast majority of cases I simply won't use it. In the other cases, I will save it to my computer, then scan it for viruses. End of story. Virus-free for 10 years and running.

@deadguy Said
you probably configured it wrong !!! i use ZL products for 3 years now, on a personal and corporate level and i never had any problems with it

@jonnythan Said
ZA is a well-known PITA program that doesn't like to listen to the user and has a broken uninstall process. At least, that's how it was a couple of years ago. They could have improved since then, but a "security suite" is a broken idea to begin with anyway.