Posts Tagged ‘Anti-Virus’

Open Source Anti Virus

I received this inquiry via Facebook:

Hey Dude, do you know of a FREE Anti-Virus solution for older computers?

I tried AVG like you recommended and it won’t work on this old Windows 98 PC.

Did you know there is a completely Open Source Anti-Virus solution?

Well there’s another old standby in my software ‘toolbox’ called Clam Win.  I discovered this thanks to my co-worker, Mike, when I was a field service technician for Dell and roamed the hinterlands along the coastal Carolinas and deep into the heart of cotton country and NASCAR.  That was back around 2004.

Anyway, I investigated to see if it was still around and I am pleased to report that the project is alive and well and going strong.  My Facebook Friend was quite happy to learn this and tried it.  Just like advertised on their home page ClamWin will work on older PCs – all the way back to Windows 98!  That’s pretty astounding – considering that it will lso work on Windows Vista and the new Windows 7 as well.

So, if you’re in the need of an all around Anti-Virus solution, this is another option as well.

AVG Anti Virus 9.0

Those of you that know me well and have gotten the benefit of my advice in the past, know that I am a BIG FAN of AVG Anti Virus.  I started using it in 2005 – the free version – when good old Norton decided to wreak havoc on my computer with their latest upgrade.

After using AVG Anti Virus for almost two years, I got a great offer for a two year subscription for their paid version.  It was only fair and just that I jump on such a good deal.  Especially since these folks had been protecting me without question or cost for two years.  So, I did and I haven’t looked back.

My favorite Anti-Virus software just released a new version (9.0) earlier this week and I made the upgrade.  There were a couple of little glitches.  I chose the manual install of the upgrade so that I could see exactly what was going on. I’m picky that way, being a computer guy.

During the upgrade, AVG complained about my using Zone Alarm and said it would cause conflicts.  So I shut off Zone Alarm and re-tried the upgrade.  It still went ahead and complained – but I overrode those messages and installed anyway.  It has been working fine ever since.

I wanted to wait a couple days before recommending that you make the upgrade as well. Seeing that my version has performed flawlessly, I recommend you make the upgrade.

I believe that those of you using the FREE versions will need to manually download and install the latest version from the website.  You should be good to go.