Is anti-virus for XP needed?

Now that I have WinXP running on my Mac (behind a Linksys router with firewall) do I need to get an AV program? If so, is there anything out there for free or low cost? I'm only going to use XP for one or two programs as well as those few websites using Active-X.

Thanks,
Al

 

Antivirus is still needed

Hi,

yes AntiVirus software is still needed. It is just as easy to get and spread antivirus when running Windows XP virtualized.

There are some free AntiVirus software solutions, but I use F-Secure.

 

Definitely needed. I recommend the free version of AVG AntiVirus. Download from
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free

 

I have never and will never bother using anti-virus software for XP.

If you do the following, you don't need to bother with anti-virus software:



1. Get a good firewall. There are free ones like ZoneAlarm free edition.

2. Don't be stupid and let anything have access to or out of your computer (thats what the firewall is for. If it alerts you something is trying to connect, unless you KNOW what it is, and WHY its doing it, then deny the connection.) This is always ALWAYS the biggest hurdle when trying to get someone who always has virus-ridden/spyware-ridden PC's to overcome.
tc.

3. Use spyware sweepers (multiple ones, like adaware, ewido, etc.) Due to the sheer volume of vulnerabilities in XP, and the huge number of people trying to exploit them, you will inevitably get infected with spyware. There IS a difference between spyware and viruses.



My last PC before I got my MBP went through only 1 XP install over 4 years, no reformats, and ZERO viruses in that time. Sure, I had lots of spyware at times that I cleaned up; but no viruses/tojans. Ever.

You just need to be careful about your network activity.

Some people may say its just easier to use anti-virus software. But the fact is you get a HUGE performance burden. Especially if you use it actively, having it scan email etc etc. For me, that would be an unacceptable slowdown, as I use a lot of memory/cpu intensive suites as it is (Photoshop, VisualStudio.NET, Eclipse, Netbeans, ant build tasks for large projects, etc.)

 

For you it may not be necessary to have AntiVirus software, especially since you know how to tackle that problem (but you still get hit by spyware). No offense but no matter how careful you are you may still get hit by viruses, spywares etc. if you run Windows. That is why for many others it is better for them to use AntiVirus (and AntiSpyware) software, especially since they don't know so much as you and I do.

I use AVG on my PCs and VMs on my PC and Macbook and the performance hit is negligible. If you use Norton, though, then the performance impact is quite visible. Norton is really a resource hog.

 

you have a choice at home and in small shops...but in large companies (especially publicly traded, sarbanes-oxley compliant shops), the mandate is for antivirus to not only be installed, but daily definitions update and locked down settings. no choice in the matter at these large shops. in shops managed by saavy sysadmins, virtual systems like parallels are binded and controlled as tightly as physical pc's. shops that have behind-cutting-edge sysadmins, you can count on mandates covering these virtual computers as well as physical computers. two large shops even have "virtual computer" entries in active directory.

i have four macs. one macbook pro, one 12" powerbook, one g4 tower and one g5 xserver....these all have clamxav installed and configured to scan desktop/email/downloads/expanding files - along with nightly scans of entire computer (quarantine folder in /Users/Shared). i have two pc's...one real pc (dell c400 laptop) and one bootcamp (partition on macbook pro)....these both have nav and are set up the same way as the macs...with the exception that active scanning is on (as per sox mandates at my client shops).

it's a tough choice...whether to have nav installed on a mac. despite the relative immunity to viruses/trojans/etc., i would never allow my mac computers to become party to infection of any pc computers at home or at a client shop. that being said, i use clamxav which is unintrusive and doesn't cause a noticeable performance hit (since it only scans as outlined above). however, i would never run any windows computer without norton antivirus installed and configured. i don't have a choice in that matter given my profession.

ps, in production environments, where i.t. has desktops locked down, proxy servers in place, domain filtering/blocking in place, and tight control over what can be downloaded/uploaded, AND where i.t. isn't bound by sox compliance...i could see not having any antivirus installed at the desktop (however, in shops that run this way, you can bet that your sysadmins are scanning everything that hits their servers).

don