Panda's guide to maintaining your comp! - Page 2

polobunny · October 28th, 2006

I switched my computer to AntiVir, I have to say this antivirus greatly improved in the last years.
In fact, seeing virus.gr latest test, it's better than AVG Free to detect known virus but AVG is better at detecting what could be virus (heuristics).
It's also better than Avast and alot of commercial solutions.
And between me and you, it's quite less a ressource eater than alot of better solutions too.
For those that didn't see the test-> http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/...p?id=82&mnu=82

screwballl · October 28th, 2006

yeah I did some research a month or two ago when someone was so adamant about how NOD32 was the best ever made... but when I did the actual digging for websites that did tests and checked and double checked all the testing plus did some of my own testing (LOVE the VirtualPC). I found that of all of them used (I tested 6 different ones but was generic tests), AVG is the best for a new person not really familiar with a PC but AntiVir scored consistantly among the highest on all the tests (biased or not).

Blondie · October 29th, 2006

Great guide. I'm sure it will be of some help to someone coming in. Have AntiVir on my lappy, pretty easy to use.

I have a few suggestions:

#1 - NOD32 works with WinXP 64, might be good to note. May want to mention panda & housecall. I suggest those get run once a month possibly more depending on someone's surfing habits. If someone games, I'd run it more, same with newer users & for teens / kids

I don't feel that the normal user that has safe surfing habits needs to do 2 - 5 that often. I don't run anything for the registry. This windows build has been going since June 2004, and is past due for a reformat. Since I have an image, it doesn't take me long.

#6 - For a house that gets vac'd once a week and no pets, cleaning the case every 2 to 3 months is a good rule of thumb here. I usually do it with the change of the seasons. A decent paint brush, to me is essential to get dust out of the prossesor fan. I also remove the vid card and clean it out of the case. Another great tool I found was a 2 sided brush, one end is made of red "strings" looped together. The other side is a round 1/2 inch paint brush. This is my favorite tool. Wish I knew where to buy it. It was an impulse item at Comp USA a few years ago, never saw it again.

#8 - I'm from the school of "if it ain't broke". While I do update the video drivers for the gamers in the house, I don't usually bother for web surfers until it gets reformatted. Now, this does not include whatever comes up at Windows Updates, those are pretty important. Personally, I don't think updating the chipset (btw, check you're spelling) drivers is that important & may actually cause problems depending on the mobo used. I have an Nforce 2 mobo. At one time, my chipset drivers got updated. It was the worst nightmare I've ever had with this computer. My only option was a reinstall of the OS.

#9- I have 7 computers in the house. We usually upgrade something on each of them once a year. Again, if you practice safe habits & don't do a lot of software installs, a year is more realistic.

#10 - Note - you get better airflow with the sides on and if you run a system without sides, you may be making a heat issue since the fans can't do their job.

**gvblake22** · October 29th, 2006

I've used AntiVir for a while and have absolutely no complaints about it. Great software and you sure can't beat the price!! :thumb:

Sovereign · October 30th, 2006

Did anyone mention PerfectDisk? It's the best defragger I have ever used. Granted the "test" that was run that showed PD to be better than Diskeeper was run by Raxco, the makers of PerfectDisk. However, it appeared to be a scientifically sound test with all variables controlled except the program used. In short, PerfectDisk is well worth its price. Five automated passes during the weekend I was home reduced my drives (150GB Raptor and 2x250GB RAID0) to zero fragments.

Panda Man · October 30th, 2006

OK! If it makes you guys happy I'll give antivir a spin >:|

lol, and I'll add it to the list.

October 28th, 2006	#12
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,277 Blog Entries: 6	yeah I did some research a month or two ago when someone was so adamant about how NOD32 was the best ever made... but when I did the actual digging for websites that did tests and checked and double checked all the testing plus did some of my own testing (LOVE the VirtualPC). I found that of all of them used (I tested 6 different ones but was generic tests), AVG is the best for a new person not really familiar with a PC but AntiVir scored consistantly among the highest on all the tests (biased or not). Thanks HL and Corsair! My opinions are my own and not representative of this site or its members.

October 29th, 2006	#13
Blondie Hmmm... Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 438	Great guide. I'm sure it will be of some help to someone coming in. Have AntiVir on my lappy, pretty easy to use. I have a few suggestions: #1 - NOD32 works with WinXP 64, might be good to note. May want to mention panda & housecall. I suggest those get run once a month possibly more depending on someone's surfing habits. If someone games, I'd run it more, same with newer users & for teens / kids I don't feel that the normal user that has safe surfing habits needs to do 2 - 5 that often. I don't run anything for the registry. This windows build has been going since June 2004, and is past due for a reformat. Since I have an image, it doesn't take me long. #6 - For a house that gets vac'd once a week and no pets, cleaning the case every 2 to 3 months is a good rule of thumb here. I usually do it with the change of the seasons. A decent paint brush, to me is essential to get dust out of the prossesor fan. I also remove the vid card and clean it out of the case. Another great tool I found was a 2 sided brush, one end is made of red "strings" looped together. The other side is a round 1/2 inch paint brush. This is my favorite tool. Wish I knew where to buy it. It was an impulse item at Comp USA a few years ago, never saw it again. #8 - I'm from the school of "if it ain't broke". While I do update the video drivers for the gamers in the house, I don't usually bother for web surfers until it gets reformatted. Now, this does not include whatever comes up at Windows Updates, those are pretty important. Personally, I don't think updating the chipset (btw, check you're spelling) drivers is that important & may actually cause problems depending on the mobo used. I have an Nforce 2 mobo. At one time, my chipset drivers got updated. It was the worst nightmare I've ever had with this computer. My only option was a reinstall of the OS. #9- I have 7 computers in the house. We usually upgrade something on each of them once a year. Again, if you practice safe habits & don't do a lot of software installs, a year is more realistic. #10 - Note - you get better airflow with the sides on and if you run a system without sides, you may be making a heat issue since the fans can't do their job. Wave Master: Gigabyte GA-7NNXP, Barton 3200, 1 gig PC3200, BFG 6800, Ultra X-Finity 600W, DVDRW, 750 Zip 80, 160 & 200 gig hard drives Dual Xeon folder: SilverStone SST-TJ05S-X, Gigabyte GA-9ITDW, Intel Xeon 3.2 Irwindale 800MHz x2, Geil 1 GB DDR2 PC2 4300x2, BFG 6600 GT OC, Ultra X-Finity 600W, DVDRW, Akasa AllInOne, WD Caviar RAID Edition 120x2, Win XP MC 05

October 30th, 2006	#16
Panda Man Meow means woof in cat. Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Elba, AL Posts: 1,910	OK! If it makes you guys happy I'll give antivir a spin >:\| lol, and I'll add it to the list. Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe @ 2.80GHz Cooler Master GeminII - Thanks Rich and HL! GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB @ 726/962 CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2-800 OCZ GameXStream 600W PSU Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA150 16MB cache HDD Seagate 500GB 7200ROM SATA300 16mb cache HDD Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 ZyXel m-202 802.11g adapter Antec Nine Hundred Creative 5.1 speakers Viewsonic Optiquest q20wb 20" LCD

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October 28th, 2006	#11
polobunny T-Rex Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 5,310 Blog Entries: 6	I switched my computer to AntiVir, I have to say this antivirus greatly improved in the last years. In fact, seeing virus.gr latest test, it's better than AVG Free to detect known virus but AVG is better at detecting what could be virus (heuristics). It's also better than Avast and alot of commercial solutions. And between me and you, it's quite less a ressource eater than alot of better solutions too. For those that didn't see the test-> http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/...p?id=82&mnu=82

October 29th, 2006	#14
gvblake22 Modder-ator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Tempe Desert Posts: 6,543 Blog Entries: 1	I've used AntiVir for a while and have absolutely no complaints about it. Great software and you sure can't beat the price!! :thumb:

October 30th, 2006	#15
Sovereign Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 74	Did anyone mention PerfectDisk? It's the best defragger I have ever used. Granted the "test" that was run that showed PD to be better than Diskeeper was run by Raxco, the makers of PerfectDisk. However, it appeared to be a scientifically sound test with all variables controlled except the program used. In short, PerfectDisk is well worth its price. Five automated passes during the weekend I was home reduced my drives (150GB Raptor and 2x250GB RAID0) to zero fragments.